Having seen first hand a similar situation unfold, the most heartbreaking feeling is finding out a friend broke your trust. That said, you really can't fix the issues and protect friends at the same time. Things have to be cleaned up and trust restored.
The Board needs to be highly vigilant about pushing for transparency and getting outside independent help to get to the bottom of things.
I repeat. Financial mismanagement and abuse is not something you try to fix in-house. The reason being you really don't know who has had their hand in the cookie jar (on purpose or accidentally) and there is going to be incentive by some to not expose the skeletons and the laws broken.
People want to protect friends but the Board really needs to retain professionals to run a forensic audit, get a full picture of what happened, and put in the proper financial controls. Cost isn't an excuse. Many law and accounting firms offer pro-bono services to non-profits, and I'm sure there would be plenty of firms who would be happy to help Hacker Dojo clean things up.
The Board needs to be highly vigilant about pushing for transparency and getting outside independent help to get to the bottom of things.
I repeat. Financial mismanagement and abuse is not something you try to fix in-house. The reason being you really don't know who has had their hand in the cookie jar (on purpose or accidentally) and there is going to be incentive by some to not expose the skeletons and the laws broken.
People want to protect friends but the Board really needs to retain professionals to run a forensic audit, get a full picture of what happened, and put in the proper financial controls. Cost isn't an excuse. Many law and accounting firms offer pro-bono services to non-profits, and I'm sure there would be plenty of firms who would be happy to help Hacker Dojo clean things up.