I do not want to sound hasty here but my gut feeling is that the missing funds are most likely a result of years of financial mismanagement. I commented about this and the ANA board in my last post:

http://sajha.com/sajha/html/OpenThread.cfm?ThreadID=86733#799747

Non-profits, by its nature, are supposed to be transparent about every activity they pursue - they should, in large, disclose these to their members. The general health of the organization can only be assessed through its financials - so this too should be part of the disclosure. They are required by federal law to submit Form 990 to the IRS - in the absense of balance sheets and profit & loss statements, ANA should be able to distribute a copy of the 990 to their members. The form should tell you the amount of equity (net worth) they have built up. I have decided long ago not to become a member (my own choice, of course) - however, if you are a member I urge you to contact ANA and request a copy of the form.

I hope that senior members of the board have been honest in their dealings and what is reported on the 990 is in fact the reflection of true business reality of the past P&L. Accounting can be such a dirty game - to that end, ANA can hire an external auditor (at their own expense) to provide some assurance to the members and the community - and rebuild some lost credibility - that their hands are clean.

I do not know much about ANA and its leadership team (please ignore if they are doing these already) - but if I happened to be in their position I would do whatever I can to undo the reputational damage and stop the train from derailing. We should not let a national cultural organization such as ANA go defunct - it is not the existence of the organization that's in question its the people who run it - although some restructuring and overhaul is called for. As an adamant believer of honesty and hard work, I believe if the funds are really missing then the executive board needs to be held accountable and impeached if required (I'm sure the bylaws cater for this). Once the funds are found, why not start by announcing a merit based college scholarship fund for an aspiring young talented nepali to give the organization another go?

And lets not judge ourselves or fellow nepali with that of ANA's behavior as it merely represents an average nepali american in my opinion. With a slight modification from one of the most competent individuals in the world, let this be the guiding light:

"When a management team with a reputation for (incompetence) tackles a (non-profit) business with a reputation for (good) economics, it is the reputation of the (non-profit) business that remains intact."