Contingent Compensation

Summary:

A listing of the articles in the Nonprofit FAQ that discuss the problems with paying fundraisers a percentage of the funds raised.

• Practical Issues about Percentage Fees (5/31/96) :: (http://www.nonprofits.org/npofaq/11/11.html). Reasons why agencies should not be tempted to enter into such arrangements.
  
  
• Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability Bars Percent Fees (Revised on 11/9/98) :: (http://www.nonprofits.org/npofaq/16/36.html). ECFA -- http://www.ecfa.org/ -- certifies and audits the financial affairs of about 800 Evangelical Organizations. In 1998, ECFA's standards were revised to bar percentage fees.
  
  
• Can Fundraisers be Paid a Percent of the Amount Raised? (Revised on 8/26/98) :: (http://www.nonprofits.org/npofaq/16/39.html). This is a highly controversial issue on which the professional associations are unanimously agreed that such arrangements are unethical. Many views are expressed in this item.
  
  
• Further on Contingent Compensation (Percentage Fees) (Revised on 8/27/02) :: (http://www.nonprofits.org/npofaq/19/17.html). Another compilation of an online debate on the ethics and practical implications of basing compensation for fundraising on a percentage of the funds raised.
  
  
• The NSFRE Code of Ethics :: (http://www.nonprofits.org/npofaq/11/23.html). Excerpts pertaining to fees for consulting from the National Society of Fund Raising Executives' Code of Ethical Principles and Standards of Professional Practice.
  
  
• What should we look for in a fundraiser? (Revised on 1/19/00) :: (http://www.nonprofits.org/npofaq/18/26.html). What should you look for in a fundraiser? How and how much should they be paid?