Another Brazos Valley non-profit agency is facing controversy related to its finances.
Officials with the United Way of the Brazos Valley (UWBV) say they first noticed financial irregularities last fall. Since then, internal and third-party audits have shown the agency has been plagued by poor financial management.
Officials with the charity insist they have found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, but the internal investigation continues.
Adding to the list of problems is a down economy, contributing to a 20 percent drop in the United Way community campaign fundraiser in the Brazos Valley.
Pledges are also down through the Texas A&M employee contributions option. Officials say the numbers were down about 12 percent in 2009, followed by seven percent the next year.
UWBV officials say there is an estimated $300,000 shortfall, an amount that would force nonpayment to area non-profits unless steps were taken. Ironically, one of the short-term steps the agency has taken has been to suspend payments since December.
The suspension was to investigate the irregularities and make sure there were no overpayments to nonprofits agencies, officials say.
Payments are scheduled to resume on Friday, March 23, with agency officials adding that they did not think it would take this long to clear up the inconsistencies.
Three members of the UWBV board of directors (Phil Shackelford, Ken Fogle, and Tom Wilkinson) met with members of the media on Thursday. Fogle is the incoming board chair, while Wilkinson is the immediate past chair.
Click below to hear the official statement from UWBV, read by Ken Fogle:
United Way Statement, March 22
Click below to hear Phil Shackelford, Ken Fogle, and Tom Wilkinson speak with the media:
United Way Press Conference, March 22
The UWBV issued a release Thursday outlining the two main problems the organization faces, as well steps it is taking to rectify them.
The following is the text of the release issued Thursday (March 22) by the United Way of the Brazos Valley:
United Way of the Brazos Valley is committed to strengthen the community’s trust by being good stewards of the resources the public has entrusted to us. During a lengthy and thorough review of our financials, United Way became aware of a trend that has led to a decrease in cash flow. This decrease has required a delay in payments to our partner agencies that provide vital services to many across our region. United Way staff and its Board of Directors have completed the initial financial analysis and will make a payment to our funded partners on Friday, March 23, 2012.
There are two primary issues affecting the United Way as an organization, including:
- An increasing gap between pledged funds and actual donations received in our Community Campaign, as well as the State Employee Charitable Campaign. We believe this is due to the economic downturn and job losses our area has experienced in the last few years.
- Poor budget forecasting and insufficient accounting procedures performed by staff and the Board of Directors.
The United Way executive committee and finance committee have been meeting on a frequent basis to resolve these issues and develop our plan for moving forward.
Our plan includes:
- We have hired the accounting firm Seidel, Schroeder & Co. as a consultant to help complete an internal review of financials for the last three years, and to improve our accounting procedures.
- We are working on securing an engagement letter with a third party accounting firm to perform a mid-year review of our operational procedures and finances.
- For the long term, we have also hired Seidel, Schroeder & Co. as our contract controller to ensure that we have professionally managed budgets, with appropriate detail so that staff and board members will know the financial health of the organization.