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They Weren't Criminals Until They Stole Your Money



headshot of Tom Williams in a blue dress shirtTom Williams
Retired Consultant

It’ been awhile since I blogged on embezzlement and regrettably, I’m feeling compelled to revisit this dark topic.  The recent situation that sparked this writing is my learning of a familiar organization experiencing a valued staffer that embezzled a six figure amount of the money donated to their mission.  As I shared in my previous blog, this sickens me professionally and saddens me for the work of all the great people that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars now being for naught.  Disgustingly this action succeeds when we drop our complete nonstop attention to safeguards.

While I certainly encourage you to dig through our Nonprofit Network blog library and read “3 Dangerous Myths About Nonprofit Embezzlement”, today I want to share a different insight that may generate conversations within your organization.

Did you know that 93% of people who embezzled funds NEVER had a criminal record before?  This fact from Marquette Report on Embezzlement is one that deserves some sincere reflection.  Ponder the implications of this data about the 3,000+ embezzlers the Michigan State Police see annually (for profit and nonprofit).  This means that all our safeguards are not to stop criminals from taking our organization’s hard earned money.  Our safeguards are actually intended to eliminate an opportunity for a “trusted” person to take advantage of our negligence and take their first step over to the dark side. 



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3 Dangerous Myths about Nonprofit Embezzlement

   

headshot of Tom Williams retired consultant in a blue dress shirt

Tom Williams
Consultant

Typically, I like to use this blog space to share eye-opening ideas and tools to build your organization’s capacity so that more good is done in your community. But today I am compelled to step away from that and reflect on the ugly side of nonprofit life that ties my stomach in knots: embezzlement. Please, let me be clear: I am driven to share this, not for any sense of sensationalism, but rather because if you are aware and informed, you will be better prepared to prevent, detect, and recover any losses in the event that your organization is victimized in an embezzlement scheme.

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