Domain 6: Ethics, Accountability And Professionalism Flashcards
(28 cards)
Accountability
An obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for ones actions. In nonprofit terms, accountablity is the process of opening oneself and the organization to scrunity, voluntary external review, and feedback from stakeholders.
Annual Report
The most common tool used to exhibit transparency and detail stewardship. Typically produced at the end of the fiscal year for the organization, it is a comprehensive report of all revenue and expenses. Additionally, it shows how the organization used the resources it recieved in order to advance its mission and explain how successful those efforts were.
Audit
An evaluation of fundraising procedures, policies, and results by an organization, usually conducted by a third-party entity.
Consultant
A fundraising specialist hired by an organization to recommend solutions to problems, provide advice and offer guidance.
Charitable Deduction
The value of a gift of cash securities, or property transferred to a legally recognized charitable organization, deductable for income, gift, and estate tax purposes. Typically, this refers to the portion of a gift that is deductible from the donors income subject to federal income tax.
Conflict of Interest
A situation in which a person in a position of trust is faced with competing professional and personal interest.
Donor Intent
A donors expecation of how a gift will be used and what outcome may be expected from the use of the gift are defined as donor intent. Donor intent is the guiding principle of how gifts should be accepted and used. All efforts should be made to honor donor intent regardless if the gift is restricted or unrestricted- even unrestricted gifts have the implied purpose of furtherring the organizations mission.
If an agreement with the mission and policies of the organization cant be reached the gift should not be accepted if the organization can not carry out the donors wishes.
Donor Recognition
The creation and implementation of a system of recording and thanking donors that is accurate and timely. The process is critical to both transparency and donor retention.
Donors must acknowledged and thanked in ways that are meaningful and appropriate to the gift level.
Things to consider for Donor Recognition:
- Review legal requirements of your region to deterrmine your organizations obligation for receipts and disclosure.
- Organizations should have a written policy for recording, recognizing, and acknowledging gifts, and it should be reviewed on a regular basis.
- Ensure that gifts are recorded accurately in a secure database
- In general, donors should be thanked within 48 hours of making a gift
- Gift acknowledge can be and often are seperate from receipts. These are more personal in nature and stress both the benefit to the organizations mission and the gratitude of the organization
- Include a contact person in the acknowledgement for the donor to contact should they have questions about their gift or the organization. This may or may not be the signatory.
Donor Records
Donor records should be kept clean and updated with a high priority on accuracy. Records should include but are not limited to:
1. Full name and salutation
2. Address
3. Email address
4. Giving history (with dates, amounts, and related donor appeals)
5. Volunteer history (where applicable)
6. Preferred method(s) of communication
7. Preferred method(s) of giving
8. Event participation (where applicable)
9. Appeals sent/recieved (via all forms of communication)
10. Donor relationships (to staff, to the board, to other volunteers/donors)
Ethical Fundraising
The sum total of appluing transparency, accountablity and the donor bill of rights to all aspects of fundraising. The ethiccal fundraising professional does not seek personal gain, but rather puts the donor first and the organization second in all fundraising activities.
Fiduciary Duty
The legal obligation to act on behalf of another or others with resources that have been entrusted.
Gift Acceptance Policy
A best practice that establishes what types of gifts your organization is willing to accept and provides an explanation for donors on what is acceptable.
Some consideration for the policy include:
1. Include the advice of legan counsel with language in the policy for donors to seek professinal counsel
2. Be clear and specific about types of gifts that will not be accepted
3. Spell out any specific arrangements such as special acknowledgements and/or naming rights, as well as terms and conditions for removing names from organizations or physical space
4. Distribute the policy to the development team, executive staff and board members
5. Share the policy on the organizations website
6. Determine who will review the policy and how often the review will occur
Gift Instruments
The legal vehicles that define how and when a gift will be transferred and used (sometimes called a gift agreement). Large or complex gifts may require arrangements such as securities, real estate, appreciated works of art, or gifts that provide donors with certain tax benefits.
Common elements of gift instruments:
- Date of the agreement
- Legal names of the donor and recipent
- Detailed description of what is being contributed and the amount (cash) or quantity (personal property assets) or legal description (private or commercial real estate)
The
Legal Standards
Prevailing local and regional laws and rules that determine how gifts are solicited and used.
Mission Statement
The articulation of the purpose of an organization, including who it serves, the implied community need, and how the organization meets the need.
Professional Development
Ongoing training and learning for the development professional.
Professional Mentoring
The practice of advising or training a younger or less experienced colleague.
Professional Standard
Accepted best practices and ethical codes of conduct of a sector. In the nonprofit sector, those professional standards are best expressed in the donor bill of rights, international statement of ethical principles in fundraising and member organization document like AFP
Public Trust
Public trust (in a nonprofit context) refers to an organization created for the benefit of the community or to meet societal needs.
Stewardship
The process of accepting and managing resources that have been entrusted to the organization through philanthropy. Good stewardship culminates in reporting to donors that funds were used as intended and the results of that use. Task that are typically associated with good stewardship include but are not limited to:
- Honoring donor intent
- Maintaining accurate and secure donor records
- Reporting on both restricted and unrestricted gifts
- Keeping donors appraised of endowment results
- Timely execution of annual results and all government required reporting
Transparency
The process of allowing the public access to information that sheds light on an organization stewardship of gifts, program outcomes, and daily operations.
What role does donor intent play in deciding how to use a gift of property?
Donor intent should be honored as long as it does not violate your gift acceptance policy.
