Another day, another nonprofit scandal. This time, the district attorney’s office is investigating SF SAFE, a crime-prevention nonprofit that received more than $5 million from the San Francisco Police Department from July 2018 through March 2023.
Who knew that crime prevention required limo service, trips to Tahoe and luxury gift boxes brimming with Silver Needle Tea, tea infusers and snacks?
To be fair, funds were also misspent on items such as pest-control products and rust-stain remover. But with the nonprofit’s board openly accusing its executive director of forging checks and outright theft, that can of Bug-B-Gone barely raises an eyebrow.
Nevertheless, the Board of Supervisors held a hearing this week to express its collective shock and outrage at the latest nonprofit meltdown.
Outrage? Sure. Shock? Not so much.
We have designed a system that not only allows this behavior, it facilitates it.
Two months ago, the city controller issued a report detailing the financial and operational health of 197 nonprofits that “either receive City funding above a certain threshold, contract with multiple departments or were selected for fiscal monitoring based on a risk assessment.”