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AbstractAccountability, Performance Reporting, Comprehensive Audit:
An Integrated Perspective, by Guy LeClerc, W. David Moynagh,
Jean‐Pierre Boisclair, and Hugh R. Hanson. Ottawa:
CCAF‐FCVI (Canadian Comprehensive Auditing Foundation‐
Fondation Canadienne pour la Verification Integral),
1996. 373 pp., $85.00 (Canadian, plus shipping) cloth.
Managing for Accountability: Preserving the Public Trust in
Public and Nonprofit Organizations, by Kevin P. Kearns. San
Francisco: Jossey‐Bass, 1996. 255 pp., $27.95 cloth.

AbstractThis article describes a model that can be used to predict which nonprofit organizations are vulnerable to financial problems. The model is based on financial indicators developed by Tuckman and Chang (1991), adapts methodologies that have been developed in the for‐profit sector to predict financial vulnerability, and was empirically tested using a multiyear Internal Revenue Service database provided by the National Center for Charitable Statistics. Both internal and external stakeholders can use the model when making allocation decisions during the strategic planning process and in evaluating financial risk.

Donors claim that information about the fund-raising methods used by a charity is important to them, and the press periodically high lights fund-raising scandals and abuses, which fuels negative public attitudes. However, there is little systematic empirical research about fund-raising practices. This study examined professional solicitor contracts using information provided by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Bureau of Charitable Organizations. The nature of the contracts, the impact of these contractual arrangements on the amount of funds the clients ultimately receive, and the relationship between actual and predicted returns were examined. Results showed that charities using professional solicitors tended to be larger and concentrated in the advocacy, disease/disorder, and public safety subsectors. Most campaigns generated few contributions and resulted in a small return to the charity, with many charities receiving nothing from the solicitations made in their names. Solicitors compensated by fixed-fee rather than by commission generated more contributions and provided proportionately greater returns to charities.