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In an ethical quandary
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Dear Kim,
Recently the primary cultural center in our town, always known for its progressive arts and film premieres, accepted a large donation from a corporate weapons manufacturer in our state. Our cultural center has promoted many programs related to peace making and the questioning of war, and some
of us in the community feel the acceptance of this corporate gift is in conflict with the center's goals and mission. I have been unable to find articles discussing the ethical dilemma facing progressive nonprofits that accept corporate funds. What are your thoughts and can you make any
suggestions on where I can read further about the subject?
Thanks,
In an ethical quandary
Dear Quandary,
Your dilemma illustrates why all organizations should have a Gift Acceptance Policy, which forces you to discuss these issues while they are still theoretical and make a decision about what kinds of gifts you might or might not accept before they are offered to you. There are a number of
articles that have been written on this topic: the
National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy has a booklet on creating Gift Acceptance Policies. I have a very popular article called "The Perennial Question of Clean and Dirty Money" which you can
download from my website at
www.grassrootsfundraising.org.
However, the organization has already accepted the gift and it is already causing problems. Here are some questions you may want to raise with the cultural center before you get too upset.
- Did the organization solicit the gift? If not, it is possible that someone in the corporation likes the work of the cultural center and wants to support it, and that this person arranged for the gift. Perhaps a board member works for this corporation and is having his or her gift
matched. Organizations sometimes accept gifts that are employee-driven because they reflect the commitment of the employee and not the corporation.
- Did the gift come with any strings attached? Your letter does not indicate any. A "gift" from a corporation that insists on having its name on the program or asks that you tone down your work is different from a gift that is simply given to do your work. That doesn't mean the
organization should accept it, but I think it has a different flavor.
- How much is the gift? I have seen organizations spend hours and hours debating the ethics of taking a donation from some person or place, and then it will turn out that the gift is tiny. There needs to be some kind of threshold that would cause you to be upset. You can't trace the
source of all your money and for all you know, other funding is indirectly derived from the weapons business. If the gift is under $2,500 I would be less concerned than if is over $5,000.
- Do you think it will affect the mission of the cultural center? And if so, how has it come about that the mission is for sale? Using these questions as points of discussion, as well as referencing the articles above, will help you sort through the issues in deciding whether to let this
go or to ask the cultural center to give the gift back.
It is a sign of health that the organization has people like you involved and caring about the work that it does.
Hang in there.
Kim
If you have a question you would like Kim to answer please email reading@idealist.org with the subject line "Dear Kim". Please note: Due to the large volume of email received, Kim will not be able to answer all the questions asked or respond
to emails personally.
