CA Sunil Kumar, FCAFCA · Governance Frameworks & Books
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Where to start: the problem you face, or the goal you want to reach

Pick the problem your organisation is facing, or the goal you want to reach: donor trust, grants kept and won, a system-led organisation. Each one leads to a free guide, a $10 Quick Assessment where there is one, and the self-assessment toolkit that covers it in full. Your own team runs every assessment; prices are one-time.

Start from the problem you are facing

Is our FCRA registration safe?

For CEOs and finance heads. It bites now: FC-4 for 2025-26 is due by 31 December 2026, the 2026 Rules add a test of foreign contribution actually utilised, and purposes and States must be confirmed through FC-6F by 21 June 2027.

Can our Board show that it oversees FCRA?

For Boards and audit committees. It bites after an audit finding, before renewal, or when a funder asks for evidence of oversight rather than a compliance certificate.

Will donors and CSR partners trust our governance?

For CEOs, fundraising leads and Boards. It bites at funder due diligence, CSR partner selection and grant renewal, when the question moves from “are you compliant?” to “show us how you are governed.”

Compliance costs us too much, every year

For finance heads and CEOs. It bites in the year-end rush, in audit season, and when the same gaps are fixed again each year with outside help.

Is our donor and beneficiary data handled lawfully?

For CEOs, programme and IT leads. It bites as India’s DPDP law phases in: every NGO holds personal data about donors, beneficiaries, staff and volunteers.

How do we come across as a credible institution?

For CEOs and Board chairs. It bites at the annual report, with a new funder, or after a leadership change, when reputation depends on more than programme results.

I’m a new CFO or finance head

For finance professionals stepping into a wider role.

Or start from what you want to achieve

Earn and keep donor trust

Donors stay with organisations that can show how they are governed, not only what they achieved. A structured self-assessment gives your Board and funders a shared, evidence-based picture.

Retain existing grants and win new ones

Renewals and new proposals increasingly turn on due diligence: governance, financial controls, compliance and data protection. Knowing your gaps before a funder does lets you close them and answer with confidence.

Become system-led, not person-led

When controls, approvals and records live in systems rather than in one person’s memory, work moves faster, handovers are safe and the organisation survives the departure of a key leader.

Raise the value of your institution

Boards, funders and partners value an organisation that can show maturity, not only activity. Measuring governance maturity, and improving it year on year, is how that value is built and shown.

Prepared by CA Sunil Kumar, FCA, Chartered Accountant and author of books and self-assessment toolkits on governance, FCRA and DPDP compliance. This page is general information, not professional advice. Questions: sunil@sunilkumarfca.com