For a light-hearted look at what might be going through the mind of a person stealing from your ministry, check out how to Steal Like A Boss, from Charles Hall’s blog, CPA-Scribo.
Mr. Hall illustrates how a fraudster can get from “this is stealing” to “this is a loan”, or even better, to “this is the pay raise I’ve been deserving for quite some time now.”
That’s called rationalization, the process of persuading yourself that something you know is wrong is actually okay.
The article also describes a few different ways to carry out a fraud scheme. That is opportunity.
It also describes what could drive a person to steal. That is called motivation.
If you want a really quick read on fraud might look like with some hints on the risks of fraud taking place in your charity, check out the article.