How can a nonprofit organization be absolutely assured that moneys are not being misspent and that there are no ripoffs?

Product-oriented firms ought to be concerned and protective of their public image; even more so nonprofit organizations such as schools, police departments, hospitals, politicians, and most of all, charitable organizations, should be concerned. Let us consider here the importance of public image for representative nonprofits.
Large city police departments often have a poor image among important segments of the population. The need to improve this image is hardly less important than for a manufacturer faced with a deteriorating brand image. A police department can develop a “marketing” campaign to win friends. Examples of possible activities aimed at creating a better image are promoting tours and open houses of police stations, crime laboratories, police lineups, and cells; speaking at schools; and sponsoring recreation projects, such as a day at the ballpark for youngsters.
Public school systems, faced with taxpayers’ revolts against mounting costs and image damage owing to teacher strikes, need conscious effort to improve their image in order to obtain more public support and funds.
Many nonbusiness organizations and institutions, such as hospitals, governmental bodies, even labor unions, have grown self-serving, dominated by a bureaucratic mentality so that perfunctory and callous treatment is the rule and the image is in the pits. Improvement of the image can only come through a greater emphasis on satisfying the public’s needs.
Nonprofits are particularly vulnerable to public image problems because they depend solely on voluntary support. The need to be untainted by any scandal becomes crucial. In particular, great care should be exerted that contributions are being spent wisely and equitably, that overhead costs are kept reasonable, and that transparency affords little opportunity for fraud and other misdeeds. The threat of investigative reporting must be feared and guarded against.