Accounting and Assessment Systems to Promote Social Change

Individuals and institutions that give to ELEVEate expect their funds to be used wisely, and for the business practices and program assessment procedures adopted by ELEVEate to reflect the best practices in the industry.  Donors get satisfaction from knowing that their investment in ELEVEate effectively promotes social change by paving the way for girls to acquire lasting skills that enrich their lives, foster dignity, and improve the status of their families and communities.  In addition, more educated girls are better positioned to help their children have productive lives allowing investments in ELEVEate to span generations.  Documenting the gains and informing donors of the impact their philanthropy is having, is a fundamental enterprise undertaken by the leadership of ELEVEate in order to evaluate the performance of ELEVEate in meetings its goals.  

The By-Laws adopted by the Board of Directors of ELEVEate requires that ELEVEate put in place and maintain systems that ensure high-levels of accountability and transparency in three areas: financial practices, selection of grant recipients, and performance of benefactors.  The system ensures that the selection process undertaken to identify beneficiary girls is fair and clear.  In addition, the performance and progress of all girls who receive aid is tracked over time.  From a donor perspective this system provides detailed qualitative and quantitative information allowing them to see the impact of their contributions.  

Audit and Assurance System

In the financial area, a state of the art double entry accounting system is used by ELEVEate to track revenues and expenses.  Organizations receiving a grant must provide a mid-point report including receipts in order to receive the second half of the grant funds.  In addition, the grant contact requires submission of a final report and associated receipts. 

An annual financial-audit, and associated report of ELEVEate’s books, is conducted under the auspices of the Department of Accounting in the Williams School of Business at Washington and Lee University in Lexington Virginia, USA, and is provided to the Board of Directors of ELEVEate and is posed on the ELEVEate website.  Moreover, annually an External Auditor will prepare a report for the Board of Directors of ELEVEate on the performance of any organization that receives a grant from ELEVEate.  This field-audit is conducted to ensure that funds are used for the purposes for which they were provided, that the funds reach their intended beneficiaries, and that records are in place and maintained in a manner consistent with good practice.  The field auditor inspects financial records and interviews some of the beneficiary girls, selected at random from the beneficiary list, to confirm they receive the grants they are entitled to.

Each year the Chief Financial Officer of ELEVEate, as required by Virginia law, files an annual report (Form 990) on the actions and performance of ELEVEate.  This report is available on-line at the ELEVEate website.  This report identifies both the share of donor funds invested directly to meet the mission of ELEVEate and the portion of funds allocated to cover administrative expenses. 

Grant Recipient Selection

Procedures are in place to announce, to the community in Kaolack and the regional townships, the availability of grants from ELEVEate for birth certificates and to make available the application form.  Girls eligible for a Senegalese birth certificate, who are unregistered, must complete an application and submit it to a representative of ELEVEate.  Applications are forwarded to the Executive Director of ELEVEate, who chairs the selection committee that consists of three members of the Board of Directors.  Selection is based on school performance to date, the student’s essay which sets out their career goals, and family need.  Girls who receive a birth certificate are also eligible for a grant to provide school materials needed during the regular school year, and the summer, if they attend the Kaolack Summer School for Girls.   A record is maintained of each birth certificate purchased, including a digital photograph of the document. 

Performance of Birth Certificate Recipients

Detailed records are maintained on the academic achievements of each girl provided with a birth certificate through a grant from ELEVEate.  Information is collected on; whether they took the Secondary School Entrance Examination during the next round of examinations, and if so whether they passed the exam.  If they failed, do they intend to take it again, and if they take it again the outcome.  In addition, the data base developed indicates if a girl attended the Kaolack Summer School for Girls.  If so, records are constructed to document if they attend the summer school before or after she took the Secondary School Entrance Exam.  Finally, after participating in the summer school, information is collected on whether she subsequently takes the Secondary School Entrance Exam, and if so how well she performed.  This allows ELEVEate to document how successful the organization is in meeting its mission of expanding the number of girls who complete secondary school, and hence if donor funds are used effectively. An annual Performance Report is available on the ELEVEate website.