November 28, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Nonprofit Challenge: Integrating Ethics Into the Purpose and Promise of Our Nation’s Charities
By Doug White
Every nonprofit organization should develop its own code of ethics, writes Doug White, academic director at the George H. Heyman Jr. Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising at New York University.
Guidance on how to operate openly is especially important. Charities must be careful to understand the difference between disclosure and transparency. Disclosure is “the act of proactively telling people what you are doing, and transparency is the process of intentionally calling their attention to what you are doing.”
While Mr. White says that charities must determine for themselves what kinds of policies they wish to adopt, most nonprofit organizations will want to post their three most recent IRS Form 990s and audited financial statements on their Web sites. Additionally, groups should share the results of capital campaigns and provide a breakdown of donations.
Mr. White also recommends that charities seeking guidance view a report by Independent Sector, a coalition that represents hundreds of nonprofit organizations, titled “Principles for Good Governance and Ethical Practice.” Above all, charities should avoid self-congratulatory ethic codes. He writes: “A nonprofit must always be looking inward and stripping away any pretense that it is somehow better than other organizations.”
Palgrave Macmillan, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010; (888) 330-8477; fax (800) 672-2054; http://www.palgrave.com; 248 pages; $40.00; ISBN 978-0-230-62392-7.
