In the past, I have done entries here and here looking at why Sarbanes-Oxley wouldn't work for non-profits and examining their governance challenges.

But there are signs that non-profits are taking governance seriously.

According to the National Board Governance Survey for Not-for-Profit Organizations conducted by the bean counters at Grant Thornton, reported here, has found that half of nonprofits now require board members to make an annual contribution of at least $5000. This mirrors the situation at public companies. Just as directors at those companies are now expected to own stock, non-profits now expect their directors to make a contribution.

Other interesting findings: 87 per cent of non-profits have adopted policies in line with Sarbanes-Oxley, 80 per cent have introduced term limits and seven out of 10 now have policies around the receiving of gifts.

One of the big challenges here is that there are non-profits and non-profits. It's a huge area and there are many different types of non-profit organizations serving different constituencies. Creating a hard and fast set of rules to suit all of them is hard work. Some would say impossible.