Colorado's nonprofit sector has proposed a set of self-regulatory guidelines in the wake of recent scrutiny at both the state and federal level.

The trade group representing Colorado nonprofits has circulated a draft seeking comment on topics ranging from discouraging pay for board members to encouraging agencies to conduct annual reviews of their CEOs.

"This is a voluntary program to help the sector demonstrate that transparency and accountability begins at home through self-regulation," said Charley Shimanski, president of the Colorado Nonprofit Association.

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee has taken a particularly critical look at nonprofits in recent years after abuses were uncovered at a number of prominent organizations in other parts of the country.

Just last week, Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman announced a task force that will advise him on whether legal and regulatory reforms are needed for the sector. Coffman also hopes the task force can work on ways to increase charitable giving in the state by bolstering consumer confidence in nonprofits.

"We view this (nonprofit draft proposal) as an important document to improve and solidify donor confidence in charities," said Jonathan Tee, spokesman for the Colorado of Secretary of State's office, which oversees charitable groups.

Many large nonprofits already have imposed governance and financial policies along the lines of the Sarbanes-Oxley law governing private companies.

"The challenge is a lot of the smaller ones really haven't had some guidelines they could follow," said Juan Botello, chief financial officer at Mile High United Way.

Botello, who gave input for the draft, said his organization and other large groups also would benefit from suggestions such as having a CEO succession plan.

The recommendation that nonprofit board members receive no compensation other than reimbursement for expenses would prove controversial for private foundations that make it a common practice. But Shimanski said the proposals are largely aimed at "public charities," the groups that provide services, rather than the foundations that provide funds to those agencies.

Comment deadline

• The Colorado Nonprofit Association wants to develop self-regulatory guidelines for the 18,000 or so nonprofit agencies throughout the state.

• The trade group set a deadline of Aug. 31 for comments on the draft, which can be found on the home page of its Web site: www.coloradononprofits.org.