Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (EFCA)

TEAM has been a member in good standing of ECFA since April 2005.

The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability is an accreditation agency to promote fiscal integrity and sound financial practices among member organizations. Founded in 1979, it comprises over 2,000 evangelical Christian organizations which qualify for tax-exempt, nonprofit status and receive tax- deductible contributions. As of 2006, the total income of ECFA member organizations is reported to be approximately $15 billion.

ECFA was founded with the establishment of seven standards of accountability that cover board governance, the requirement for audited financial statements, the requirement for public disclosure of the audited financial statements, the avoidance of conflicts of interest, and standards regarding fundraising activities. Evangelical charities apply for accreditation and are required to submit information that is reviewed and evaluated against the standards. Those meeting the standards are accredited and granted a seal of approval.

The mission of ECFA is to assist religious charitable organizations to gain and maintain the public respect and confidence in the operations of the respective charity through the compliance with the standards, and to protect the donor public from possible unethical conduct in the management of the affairs of the charities. The mission statement is as follows: “ECFA is committed to helping Christ- centered organizations earn the public’s trust through developing and maintaining standards of accountability that convey God-honoring ethical practices.”

The ECFA members are organized charities in the US, typically 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 evangelical organizations, ranging from very large national ministries to smaller local ministries and churches. Members are required to submit annually a renewal document which includes the recent copy of the audited financial statement and answers to a number of questions related to the membership standards. Field reviews are conducted on a regular basis by ECFA employees and representatives typically on location.

As an accrediting organization, ECFA attempts to protect the integrity of its seal. ECFA has taken action against member organizations that are unable or unwilling to comply with the Standards for Responsible Stewardship. Typically, members are allowed to resign but in some cases are suspended for a period of time that the ECFA determines is sufficient to put “affairs” back in order. The ECFA learns of Standards violations both through results of field audits which are conducted on a regular basis by ECFA employees as well as complaints received directly from the public.