Free · Certificate included
Fraud Prevention
Protect your nonprofit's funds and reputation from internal and external fraud.
What you’ll learn
- Recognize common fraud schemes in nonprofits — skimming, expense, payroll, and vendor fraud
- Explain the fraud triangle and why opportunity is the part you can actually control
- Apply internal controls and segregation of duties that deter fraud
- Spot behavioral and financial red flags before a small loss becomes a large one
- Know exactly what to do — and not do — when you suspect fraud
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Create a free account →Course outline
- 1
Why fraud finds nonprofits
Nonprofits run on trust — trust from donors, from the community, and among a close-knit team.
5 min Quiz Interactive - 2
The fraud triangle
Decades of research point to three conditions that are present in almost every fraud.
6 min Quiz Interactive - 3
The schemes: how nonprofit fraud actually happens
Fraud isn't usually a dramatic heist. It's small, quiet, and repeated — money skimmed before it hits the books, a padded expense report, a "ghost" on payroll, a…
7 min Quiz Interactive - 4
Segregation of duties & internal controls
If opportunity is the side of the triangle you control, internal controls are how you control it.
7 min Quiz Interactive - 5
Cash handling & everyday safeguards
Cash is the highest-risk asset a nonprofit touches — it's anonymous, untraceable, and often collected in chaotic settings like events and collections.
5 min Quiz Interactive - 6
The board, the audit & whistleblower mechanisms
Controls inside the office only go so far.
6 min Quiz Interactive - 7
Red flags & what to do on suspicion
Fraud usually leaks warning signs long before it's discovered — in both the person and the numbers.
5 min Quiz Interactive
Sources & further reading
- Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) — Occupational Fraud 2024: A Report to the Nations
- National Council of Nonprofits — Internal Controls for Nonprofits
- AICPA — Audit Committee & not-for-profit financial oversight resources
- Nonprofit Risk Management Center — Financial risk and fraud prevention resources
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