Accountability

There is nothing more important to Mesa United Way (MUW) than the trust and confidence of our donors.

Accountability for United Way and our community partners is maintained with regular finance and program reports, audits and on-site visits.

We adhere to stringent, standardized operating and accounting procedures, meticulously comply with generally accepted accounting standards and practices, and strive for increased clarity in reporting of our operations. Our consistent standard demonstrates the ability of MUW to remain the trusted partner of those who work to make our community a better place to live for everyone.

United Way is the leading charitable institution in Mesa representing the wishes of our donors through our program review and funding process. Volunteers work year-round to carefully weigh the needs of the community to ensure that generous contributions are used in the most efficient, effective manner possible by local community partners.

The finance committee chairman reports the financial status of MUW at all executive committee and board of director meetings. The finance committee of MUW meets regularly to discuss MUW's finances and with an audit firm.

In 2004, local United Way chief executive officers from across the United States overwhelmingly approved enhanced membership standards to increase accountability above its existing standards. These standards are a requirement of membership in the United Way system. The comprehensive upgrades to the standards will make United Way reporting practices more consistent across the country.

Specifically, the enhanced standards require that:

• All members agree to participate in, and submit to United Way of America, a community-driven self-assessment of their community impact work, financial management, decision-making and organizational governance. These assessments will be reviewed by a group that includes United Way volunteer and professional leaders and outside experts in areas such as financial management, governance and ethics.
• All local United Ways agree to report full revenue and expense data to United Way of America for third-party review.
• The 170 largest United Ways - representing 75 percent of the $3.9 billion raised in the 2001-2002 annual campaign - will also submit their annual reports, IRS 990 forms, financial audits and codes of ethics to United Way of America for third-party review.

We are confident that extensive safeguards currently exist to ensure the safety of the generous contributions made by the people of this community to Mesa United Way. We know that trust can never be assumed - it is earned.