Where Most Needed

The Illinois Auditor General had a field day with the Illinois Conservation Foundation (EIN 37-1340071 Form 990), a 501(c)(3) started by the state's Department of Natural Resources to raise money for conservation activities.  Here's the AP report that gives an overview of the findings.

This organization is not to be confused with another Conservation Foundation (EIN 23-7221206 Form 990) of Naperville, Illinois.  But that organization might be worth looking at, too, as an example of an organization with a million dollar budget, eight staff, and a director earning $105,000 per year.

But the back-and-forth between the auditor and the agency provides a rare public report of how management and auditors can fail to see eye-to-eye.  Shortly after this audit report, director Jess Hansen was asked to step down by acting DNR chief Sam Flood.  A chief fiscal officer has also been hired. 

The audit report cites a number of deficiencies in basic bookkeeping, governance, and management (e.g. no budgets and no minutes for board committees).  There's a typical audit comment that the director is failing to report time on a time sheet.  But the most fun is the couple of pages I extracted (Pdf 50 Kb) with an exchange about questioned credit card purchases, like cigars, hunting clothes, wading boots, golf fees, and membership in a hunting organization.  If you are interested, the entire 72-page audit report is available here (Pdf 2.4 Mb).  The Form 990 adds the information that one of the agency's more expensive fund raising event ($47,583) was a "Celebrity Quail Hunt." 

There are thousands of charities like this one started by governmental entities at the state and local levels.  They are not always subject to state audit, like this one, and the audits are not always so readily available.  Here is one example of what can go wrong even when the state is keeping pretty close tabs.