Fundraising for Social Change, 8th Edition

chapter FORTYWhen You Encounter Ethical Dilemmas

In our everyday language, we use a lot of words and phrases related to being a good person fairly interchangeably: a person might be honest, have a lot of integrity, always tell the truth; they might be highly principled, decent, fair, or just. Although philosophers and linguists (and the dictionary) can probably sort out the nuances of meaning among these words, we hope that all of us are doing our best to be all of the above. However, ethics are usually grounded in a large moral and political framework and involve issues of a broader nature than personal behavior. This chapter looks at some problems that can't be solved simply by applying accepted standards of honesty or integrity, but require in addition some broader ethical considerations, as well as an understanding of oppression.

Fundraisers often run up against dilemmas that test their honesty, but right and wrong behavior are still fairly obvious. Here are some examples: It is dishonest to tell funders or donors that you are engaged in a certain kind of program if you are not, no matter how much money they might give you if they think you are. It lacks integrity to take on a program area or a piece of work just because someone has offered to fund it. It is not fair to other board members to agree to put your donor's unqualified son‐in‐law on the board in exchange for a major gift. Jokes that make fun of people with disabilities or that are racist or sexist, no matter ...