A Penny for Your Thoughts by Mindy Starns Clark Page B

Smythe enterprises operated, and most of that information I had gleaned from the brochure I had read in the reception room that morning.
    “How about you, Callie?” Judith asked. “What do you do exactly?”
    I eyed her cautiously for a moment. There was something odd about her demeanor, and I wondered if she had checked me out after finding me in her father’s office that afternoon and knew exactly what I did.
    “I work for the J.O.S.H.U.A. Foundation,” I said. “I’m the Director of Research.”
    “I told you, dear,” Marion added. “She works for Tom.”
    “Director of Research?” Judith asked. “What exactly does that mean?”
    I put down my fork, glancing at Marion.
    “I verify the integrity of charitable organizations,” I said, “to see if they’re spending their money wisely and if their programs really do what they say they will do. Basically, I make sure they’re everything they claim to be.”
    Judith looked at me, truly interested now.
    “And if they are?”
    “Then we give them a grant.”
    “And if they’re not?”
    I shrugged.
    “Depends. Most of the time we just reject their grant proposal. In a few odd cases, we’ve actually helped bring out fraud or criminal charges.”
    “What were you doing here?” she asked. “Did Feed the Need apply for a grant?”
    I hesitated.
    “Different situation,” I replied finally. “Seems your father had an ‘in’ with our president, Tom. The usual rules didn’t apply.”
    “What are the ‘usual’ rules?” Marion asked. “I mean, how do you judge a nonprofit organization? How do you ‘verify its integrity,’ as you put it? I assume it has to do with how the money is spent—administrative and fundraising dollars versus program dollars and all that.”
    “That’s only part of the picture,” I said, “though overhead versus outlay is the first thing we look at. All nonprofits file a Form 990, information that they are mandated by the IRS to provide to the public.”
    “That’s good,” said Marion.
    “It is. That way, I can know, going in, the sort of percentages we’re talking about.”
    “What’s a good percentage to look for?” Judith asked. “I mean, if a nonprofit spends 50 percent of its income on expenses, is that bad?”
    “Fifty percent should certainly raise some red flags,” I replied. “But it really depends on the organization and how it classifies its expenses. Newer companies are going to have higher start-up costs. And certain types of nonprofits have more administrative expenses than others.”
    “So how do you know whether a nonprofit is really legit or not?” Judith asked. “I mean, I’m sure there are companies that play with the figures to make them look better than they are.”
    “We use a lot of different criteria,” I replied. “There are voluntary watchdog groups, for example. Nonprofits can sign up and hold themselves accountable to these stricter guidelines. That’s always a good sign.”
    “Feed the Need belongs to more than one, I’m proud to say,” interjected Marion. I nodded, remembering that several accountability groups were listed in the fine print on Feed the Need’s brochure.
    “What else?” Judith asked.
    I hesitated, taking a bite of the shrimp cocktail that Angelina had just placed in front of me. The shrimp was perfect, the sauce a tangy complement to the seafood.
    “It’s kind of hard to say,” I answered after swallowing. “If the foundation is considering a sizeable donation, we try to get a look at the books and redo the calculations ourselves.”
    “So basically it’s a matter of mathematics?”
    I speared another shrimp, hesitating.
    “No,” I said. “The math is just the first step. Once things check out on paper…”
    I stopped, stalling with another bite of shrimp, wondering how much to say.
    “Go on,” urged Marion. “Once things check out on paper…”
    “I don’t usually talk about this,” I said finally.
    “Oh, come on,” Judith urged.