The Panel on the Nonprofit Sector invites public comments on the draft principles on self-regulation posted on its website on Friday:

[T]he Panel appointed a special Advisory Committee on Self-Regulation last spring to assist in developing recommendations for strengthening the system of self-regulation of charitable organizations. That committee has spent the last eight months considering standards and principles established by over 50 self-regulation and accreditation systems that monitor different types of charitable organizations. Based on that work, it has developed a set of 29 principles of effective practice that all charitable organization should aspire to follow and that all large institutions (public charities with $1 million or more in annual revenues and private foundations with at least $25 million in assets) should be expected to follow.

The Panel now invites … comments on those draft principles. The Committee will be considering at its meeting on January 25 all comments submitted by January 24 before making its recommendations to the Panel. Any comments received after that date will be reviewed by staff and relevant comments will be shared with the Panel.

The Committee is also considering options for strengthening and expanding existing systems of self-regulation and accreditation to provide a more powerful mechanism for educating and encouraging charitable organizations to comply with these principles. It hopes to recommend an improved self-regulation system that could build the confidence of donors and the public that charitable organizations adhere to high standards of governance, transparency, and accountability. The Panel will share those recommendations for public comment in the coming weeks before issuing its final report in late Spring, 2007.