Financial Accountability
Steps of Love merged with Esperanҫa in October 2021. At Esperanҫa we take our responsibility to our supporters, sponsors, partners, and donors very seriously. We recognize our duty to use contributions as they were intended and as effectively and efficiently as possible. Therefore, we have established procedures to ensure your gifts have the maximum impact on the students we support.

Program Oversight
Representatives from Esperanҫa visit the program in Puerto Penasco frequently to perform detailed reviews of facilities and operations. They also visit students and their families to conduct interviews to ensure they’re receiving the benefits and services promised to our supporters.

Financial Oversight
To ensure contributions are used efficiently and as they were intended, we strictly monitor the use of funds granted to our partner. In addition to requiring AIM Penasco to submit detailed monthly financial reports, an Esperanҫa representative performs regular, in-person audits to ensure the validity of financial transactions and supporting documentation.

Commitment
Esperanҫa is committed to continue funding Educarte and its programs in Mexico through the continued generosity of previous Steps of Love donors and current donors of Esperanҫa.
Esperanҫa monitors use of funds granted to our partner, Educarte, as follows:
1. We require our partner to submit monthly reports detailing and describing all expenses associated with their charitable operations for the month.
2.We review the reports to ensure expenditures are appropriate and funds were used for the intended purpose.
3. We perform periodic audits (usually monthly) of selected expenses and petty cash to ensure the validity of transactions and related supporting documentation.
4. We review AIM's monthly bank statements to ensure all expenditures have been properly reported.
5. We perform ongoing field inspections of partner operations, including reviews of internal control procedures.