10 Simple Ways to Protect Your Career From Ethical Slip-Ups

Ethical issues seldom announce themselves in advance. If they did, they would be easy to avoid. Often, unethical seeds arrive quietly and lie dormant until they erupt into an organizational or career-damaging quagmire.

As Association of Fundraising Professionals President and CEO Paulette Maehara has said, “Most ethical violations come about from omission rather than commission. People get into ethical trouble because they fail to pay enough attention to the ethical implications of familiar activities.”

Whether you are a fundraising newcomer or an old hand, here are 10 simple reminders to help keep your fundraising career out of ethical hot water.

1. Put your organization’s mission first.

The first rule of fundraising is that most donors give to a nonprofit organization because they believe in what the organization stands for. They trust the organization will do what it says. The only way to earn that trust is to ensure that you — and your organization — put the organization’s mission ahead of any personal interests.

2. Protect your donors’ intent.

Donors have a right to have their gifts used for the purposes they specify. That’s only fair. It’s also the best way to retain donor trust. As a fundraiser, you are in the best position to know the intent behind each donation, and it is your professional responsibility to ensure that your organization knows, understands and honors that intent.

3. Keep scrupulous records.

Fundraisers come and go; leaders and organizations change; institutions lose memory. The only way to keep track of donor intent (and avoid ethical challenges later) is to keep scrupulous written records. Organizations without such records and without active awareness of donor intent are asking for ethical trouble.

4. Educate your leadership.

Often, nonprofit CEOs and board members who lack a background in fundraising are tempted to accept or use donations improperly or to enter into improper incentive compensation schemes. This is especially true when an organization is hard-pressed for cash. In these situations, it is the duty of fundraisers to educate their leaders about fundraising ethics, including donor intent, the proper use of donated funds and compensation programs that do not put personal financial interest at odds with the organizational mission.

5. Be sure case statements and agreements are accurate and unambiguous.

Many accusations of ethics violations occur because donors and organizations have different expectations about the conditions of a gift, or consultants and clients have different expectations about work to be done. These actually are contractual — rather than ethical — problems. To avoid them, make sure your case statements, solicitation materials and consulting contracts are accurate, specific and clear.

6. Get witnesses.

If you’re dealing with a vulnerable donor or a situation that might give the appearance of a conflict of interest, your best bet is to provide full disclosure to your organization’s leadership and get reliable witnesses to any gifts or transactions — preferably your donor’s personal legal counsel.

7. Keep restricted funds separate from unrestricted ones.

This is all about donor intent again. Organizations in financial need sometimes are tempted to “borrow” restricted donor funds and use them for general operating or other purposes. Fundraisers have an obligation to ensure that donated funds are used for the donor’s intended purposes. It is in the interest of the organization — and, indeed, the voluntary sector — to do so. This means, if necessary, standing up to organization leaders and fiscal officers to ensure that donated funds are properly recorded and accounted for.

8. Leave what’s not yours.

This is like what you learned in kindergarten. When you leave an organization, it is tempting to take the list of donors you have worked so hard to develop to your next organization. Don’t do it! If you have developed a list for your old organization, the list belongs to it. If you want to contact some of the donors who might be interested in your new organization, get permission from the old organization first. Otherwise, you’re not being fair, and you’re asking for trouble.

9. Leave personal relationships at home.

Although good fundraisers cultivate close relationships with donors, those relationships should be with your organization, not with you personally. Don’t confuse relationships you develop with donors with the personal relationships you develop outside of the fundraising arena. And don’t exploit either one!

10. Keep your compensation a separate matter from the funds you raise.

Probably no other subject raises more questions about what is and is not ethical than fundraising compensation — salaries, bonuses, fees for service, commissions, benefits and the like. The subject is too detailed for this short article, but remember the basic ethical principle: As a fundraiser, what you are paid should depend on the work you do, and not solely on the gifts that happen to come to your organization during your tenure there. That way, your self-interest will not conflict with your organization’s mission or your donors’ wishes.

These little reminders are not everything there is to know about fundraising ethics. For more information and guidance, consult the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Code of Ethical Principles and Standards of Professional Practice. You can find the Code by visiting the AFP Web site: www.afpnet.org. For answers to specific questions not addressed in the Code, e-mail Rebecca Knight at RKnight@afpnet.org.

William A. Harrison is a freelance writer and the president of Harrison Consulting Group, Inc., a consortium of professional business writers and editors located in Vienna, Va. He is a contractor to the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Contact him via www.harrison-group.com