Hi. I wanted to know who you are accountable to both financially and for your personal conduct. Is there an independent third party who audits your books? Is there a way to discipline anyone in your group if they get off track? I am not suggesting anyone is off track, but I'd like to know how you handle these kind of issues. If you could send me a reply sometime when you have a minute that would be great.

 
 
Thank you for your e-mail about Probe accountability.

The easy way to answer your question is to say that we are members in good standing of ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability). To be a member we have to prove that we do all of the things you asked about.

For example, we must have an independent audit every year. It must be submitted to the Probe Board of Trustees. No Probe staff member is a voting member of the Board of Trustees. It must also be approved by an Audit Review Committee which is a committee of the Probe Board of Trustees that also has at least one member of the Probe Directors.

We have on file every audit as well as our Form 990 for every year. They are available for inspection. I believe you can also access them through the ECFA web site. If not, I know you can obtain a copy through them or Probe.

I could go on and on if you would like. However, if you are familiar with the ECFA, you should already be familiar with their requirements for every member of the organization.

I might add that there are many fine Christian organizations that I support and believe in that aren't members of ECFA because they don't qualify in one or more areas (don't conduct an annual audit, don't have a completely independent Board of Trustees, etc.). Probe Ministries has been a member in good standing every since we joined more than a decade ago.

I hope this helps answer your questions. God bless you.

Kerby Anderson
Probe Ministries