New column every Monday: "The Fundraising Guru"--Feb. 4, 2008
Fundraising Ethics 2: Can YOU answer the question, "When do YOU have the guts to blow the whistle?"
by Dr. Stephen L. Goldstein, author of the bestselling 30 Days to Successful Fundraising (available at www.amazon.com) and host and executive producer of "Fundraising Success" on WXEL/National Public Radio (available 24/7 at www.wxelpodcasts.org).
Ethical is as ethical takes responsibility for preventing or cleaning up an unethical situation. But who's got the guts?
First, some observations about unethical behavior from an Associated Press article of Jan. 29, 2008 by Pete Yost. They create a backdrop to the kinds of situations in which fundraisers may find themselves--along with the kinds of questions they too often need to answer:
1. "Overall, three out of five government workers acknowledge witnessing violations of ethical standards, policy or law over the past year, according to a survey released . . . by the Ethics Resource Center. The Washington-based nonprofit research group has studied organizational ethics trends for several decades.
2. "At the local level, 63 percent of government employees observed at least one type of misconduct, ranging from abusive behavior by superiors to bribery. At the state level, the comparable figure was 57 percent; at the federal level, 52 percent.
3. "The trend lines in government point toward more misconduct in the future, not less, said Patricia Harned, the center's president.
4. "The center says 30 percent of the incidents go unreported and there are too few systems in place for combatting misconduct when it is exposed.
5. "One reason for the low reporting figure is that 17 percent of employees who did report misconduct said they experienced retaliation. One in four government workers believe that leaders tolerate retaliation.
6. "The state of ethics in the public and private sectors is comparable, in some cases worse. For example, the study said that 8 percent of those surveyed reported witnessing alteration of documents; a similar survey among private sector workers showed 5 percent of business employees had witnessed such misconduct.
7. "The center says the proven solution to the problem is what experts in the field refer to as a strong ethical culture. When employee believe that leaders can be trusted and when supervisors set a good example of ethical behavior, misconduct is reduced by 52 percent and retaliation is as much as 89 percent lower, the survey found.
8. "The problem, however, is that less than one in five government workplaces have comprehensive, well-implemented ethics and compliance programs.
The center's findings were based on polling 774 government employees, 1,929 business employees and 558 nonprofit employees.
So, the questions for this week are: "Do you have the guts to blow the whistle on unethical behavior? And if yes, when would you?" Email your comments and questions to Stephen Goldstein at trendsman@aol.com.
by Dr. Stephen L. Goldstein, author of the bestselling 30 Days to Successful Fundraising (available at www.amazon.com) and host and executive producer of "Fundraising Success" on WXEL/National Public Radio (available 24/7 at www.wxelpodcasts.org).
Ethical is as ethical takes responsibility for preventing or cleaning up an unethical situation. But who's got the guts?
First, some observations about unethical behavior from an Associated Press article of Jan. 29, 2008 by Pete Yost. They create a backdrop to the kinds of situations in which fundraisers may find themselves--along with the kinds of questions they too often need to answer:
1. "Overall, three out of five government workers acknowledge witnessing violations of ethical standards, policy or law over the past year, according to a survey released . . . by the Ethics Resource Center. The Washington-based nonprofit research group has studied organizational ethics trends for several decades.
2. "At the local level, 63 percent of government employees observed at least one type of misconduct, ranging from abusive behavior by superiors to bribery. At the state level, the comparable figure was 57 percent; at the federal level, 52 percent.
3. "The trend lines in government point toward more misconduct in the future, not less, said Patricia Harned, the center's president.
4. "The center says 30 percent of the incidents go unreported and there are too few systems in place for combatting misconduct when it is exposed.
5. "One reason for the low reporting figure is that 17 percent of employees who did report misconduct said they experienced retaliation. One in four government workers believe that leaders tolerate retaliation.
6. "The state of ethics in the public and private sectors is comparable, in some cases worse. For example, the study said that 8 percent of those surveyed reported witnessing alteration of documents; a similar survey among private sector workers showed 5 percent of business employees had witnessed such misconduct.
7. "The center says the proven solution to the problem is what experts in the field refer to as a strong ethical culture. When employee believe that leaders can be trusted and when supervisors set a good example of ethical behavior, misconduct is reduced by 52 percent and retaliation is as much as 89 percent lower, the survey found.
8. "The problem, however, is that less than one in five government workplaces have comprehensive, well-implemented ethics and compliance programs.
The center's findings were based on polling 774 government employees, 1,929 business employees and 558 nonprofit employees.
So, the questions for this week are: "Do you have the guts to blow the whistle on unethical behavior? And if yes, when would you?" Email your comments and questions to Stephen Goldstein at trendsman@aol.com.
posted by Dr. Stephen L. Goldstein at 6:35 AM
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