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 Press Release
July 9, 2007 Will Benefit Smaller Ministries and Churches
ECFA Announces New Affiliate Membership
WINCHESTER, VA – The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), an oversight and accreditation organization, today announced the creation of a new "affiliate membership," which will greatly benefit smaller ministries and churches.
"Over the past year, ECFA’s board has carefully considered offering more flexibility in membership options, while enhancing the growing credibility of ECFA’s seal with the donor public," said Michael Batts, ECFA Board Chair. "One of those options is our new affiliate membership. The new affiliate membership will not require a costly CPA audit required for ECFA’s accredited membership. Affiliate members instead submit either CPA-reviewed or CPA-compiled financial statements annually to ECFA."
ECFA surveys found that costs have risen significantly for nonprofit CPA audits, primarily due to recent Sarbanes-Oxley requirements. Approximately 75 percent of all nonprofits, including both ministries and churches, are small. For organizations with a few hundred thousand dollars of annual revenue, these costs can be significant. As a result, the ministries and churches often shy away from both ECFA membership and involvement with CPAs.
Affiliate members receive all traditional ECFA benefits, including continuing education provided by ECFA staff at regional seminars, on-line seminars and classes, and other conferences. They also will be identified on the ECFA website as affiliate members and will be able to display the ECFA affiliate member seal.
Affiliate membership is a great way for smaller ministries and churches to begin the journey toward full accreditation. Affiliated members meet all Seven ECFA Standards of Responsible Stewardship. Like their accredited-member colleagues, affiliate members embrace the highest standards for nonprofit organizations.
Founded in 1979, ECFA provides accreditation to leading Christian nonprofit organizations that faithfully demonstrate compliance with established standards for financial accountability, fund-raising and board governance. Members include Christian ministries, denominations, churches, educational institutions and other tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations. Collectively, these organizations represent more than $18 billion in annual revenue.
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