April 20, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Couples who play prominent roles in charities are making a lot of headlines lately.
And Dan Prives, a nonprofit finance expert who is the author of Where Most Needed, believes nonprofit groups should use these stories as impetus for creating policies about having married — and non-married — couples on their payrolls.
To illustrate the potential conflicts that can arise when couples work together on charity causes, Mr. Prives points to recent stories about Don and Deirdre Imus, who hold half the seats on the board of Imus Ranch; the recent controversy involving Paul Wolfowitz and Shaha Riza at the World Bank; and the divorce of the celebrity philanthropists Paul McCartney and Heather Mills.
“Of course many charities have policies that deal with these couple situations, but many do not, even large institutions like universities,” Mr. Prives writes. “Even when organizations recognize the need for a policy, it is not obvious what the policy should be, especially in areas that do not involve financial controls.”
Does your organization have a policies on the role of married couples on the board or staff? If it does, what does it say? Click on the comments link just below this posting to share your experiences.
