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Annual Reports   2006 - 07 Annual Report   2005 - 06 Annual Report   2004 - 05 Annual Report Financial Reports   2006 Form 990

United Way for Southeastern Michigan (UWSEM) is one of 1,300 United Ways nationwide, and operates independently of United Way of America (UWA).

UWSEM maintains the highest standards of professionalism, accountability and transparency in our stewardship of contributor dollars and financial management. Internal control procedures include a rigid system of checks and balances that prevents the same individuals from handling transactions in isolation, and deters questionable activities. 

As a matter of practice, UWSEM segregates responsibilities to limit employee involvement to specific functions within the process that are interdependent so that any irregularities that could occur are quickly discovered. The controller and other accounting staff report to the chief financial officer and are assigned individual duties to safeguard against possible wrongdoing. No one staff member is able to process any transaction from start to finish.

Our finance committee (made up of volunteers who are high-level financial professionals) oversees accounting and auditing procedures and regularly monitors the reconciling of funds in complete detail. An independent accounting firm audits UWSEM books annually -- and we change firms every five years to preserve the integrity of the process. The finance committee and board of directors must review and approve the annual audits.

UWSEM is committed to maintaining the most effective financial control practices available to ensure that any type of financial impropriety is prevented or quickly identified and appropriately addressed.

United Way of America Excellence Standards

At the 1999 Annual Meeting, United Way of America membership adopted membership eligibility criteria that formally states that each member will "adhere to a locally developed and adopted code of ethics for volunteers and employees, which includes provisions for ethical management, publicity, fundraising practices and full and fair disclosure." The 2004 Platform for Excellence Standards (UWA Standards) is the current standard.

Find out how we rate among other industry standards:

» Our Guidestar Report

» Our Charity Navigator Report