Evening star., 1936-11-26
|CHEST AUDIT UNIT
CHECKS RETURNS
"Behind the Scenes" Group
Will Continue in Full 0per-
alton Until Monday.

dtl0n Untli M0nQdy.
Handling the thousands Of pledge
cards, checks and cash that poured
into the Community Chest campaign
for the benefit Of IS different agencies
Of this city for the next year, the
Audit Unit of the Chest will continue
in full operation until Monday night
in temporary quarters at 1922 Fifteenth
street, to audit belated returns which
are still coming in to swell the Chest
total.
This unit behind the scenes" during
the campaign had a personnel of about
200 people during the height Of the
drive. and still is to be beehive OF
activity until all pledges are audited,
and acknowledgements are in the mails
for contributions up to Monday night.
The Chest campaign itself ofdcially
closed Tuesday.
Head Of the Audit Unit is James A.
Councillor of Councillor g. Buchanan,
c. P. A., who directs the complicated
activities of an organization which In
reality spread beyond an audit itself.
The actual work Of auditing is only
one of the many features of the plant"
at 1922 Fifteenth street.
Pr rides Safeguard.
The new system has grown out Of
what was described back in 1880 as
the campaign audit" consisting mere
ly of casual and supervisual inspec-
ton of the pledge cards. together with
the counting and depositing of accom-
panying cash. At that time, it was
recalled by Chest leaders, the pledge
cards were taken over by the Chest
Office. With some confusion and re-
sulting disorganization of normal ac-
tivities OF the Chest, ledger accounts
for installment pledges were set up and
acknowledgements and bills written.
The work took number of weeks to
complete and there were no adequate
safeguards against the loss of pledges
to say nothing Of possible collections
which might have been lost because Of
delayed billing and the disruption Of
normal work in the Chest ONCE.
Elwood Street, at that time director
OF the Community Chest, realized the
inefficiency Of that type Of campaign
audit. He consulted with Councillor Sz
Buchanan and this firm of certified
public accountants, with collaboration
of James v. Brownell, branch manager
of the Underwood Elliott Fisher Co.
designed and presented to the Chest,
without cost, the campaign accounting
system now in use. The system was
first used in the 1881 campaign.
Improvements Evidenced.
improvement in the results were
evident at once. Whereas, in 1890,
with about 10000 pledges, the first
bills were not received by subscribers
until late in May and early in June,
with the Inauguration of the new plan
in the 1881 campaign. which produced
approximately 10000 pledges. more
and speedier work was accomplished.
Not only was the audit work properly
Included on the same evening that
the work was delivered by solicitors at
report meetings. but all statistical
figures were compiled, installment
ledger accounts opened. acknowledge
ments written. initial bills completely
prepared for mailing, and subsequent
bill forms headed up with the name
and address of the subscribers, to-
gether with other pertinent data, all
within the same working day. In this
process, every cash item and every
pledge card was kept under absolute
control until all results for the day
were balanced out and every penny
accounted for, either as cash in bank
or as an lnstallment balance to be COL
lected.
Receives No Compensation.
Chairman Councillor personally su-
pervises the setting up and operation
Of the Audit Unit, and receives nc
compensation for the service. The
supervisory positions in the organiza-
ton are largely filled by regular stan
members of the firm of Councillor &,
Buchanan and their time, together
with the time of necessary employees, is
paid for by the Chest at actual cost
to the firm.
Comparison Of cost between the old
plan and the new shows that in 1881
with 10000 pledges, the actual cost
of completing all the work was slightly
less than the cost of the preceding year
with half as many pledges. So the
cost per pledge was cut in half. bills
were ready for mailing at the close Of
the campaign, all accounts were under
perfect control, the Accounting De-
partment Of the Chest continued func-
tioning in its normal manner and at
a substantially decreased cost and was
of course, ready to receive and account
for payments on deferred pledges i'm
mediately.
Another item that plays q large part
in reducing the cost Of the audit is the
contribution by Washington merchants
Of about $4,000 worth Of equipment
loaned without cost.
Still Seek Contributions.
Although the campaign ended Tues
day, workers in all units still were
seeking contributions in order to make
their quota, If possible. One Of the
heartening features of the campaign,
according to Coleman Jennings, cam
paign chairman, was the number Of
increases in gifts reported. In the
Special Assignment Unit alone, these
increases amounted to approximately
$4,000. Another feature was the
number Of people, who. after making
their regular contributions and realiz-
ing that the campaign was not
progressing at the rate it should, sent
in additional gifts.
Among those making additional gifts
was Lady Lindsay, wife Of Sir Ronald
Lindsay, British Ambassador. After
making . substantial contribution,
she sent . personal letter to Chairman
Jennings, stating that she had noticed