“Nonprofit executive and boards need to realize that there can be no compromise when it comes to ethics,
and there are no easy shortcuts to success. Ethics need to be carefully sown into the fabric of their organization.” ~Unknown
Arguably the public holds nonprofits to higher ethical standard than government or businesses. Many donors have a lot of confidence in a charitable organization. But there has been a shift. Stakeholder are starting to rebel in response to nonprofits ignoring their responsibility to stakeholders. These responsibilities extend well beyond checks and balances in the financial system or misreporting performance statistics – they extend to governance.
In the last decade there has been an increase in the level of scrutiny of the nonprofit sector by government and foundation sources. Nonprofit are also facing tech savvy users (Millennials and Generation Xer) who are scrutinizing organizations before they give or even volunteer.
All nonprofits provide some community benefit. Accountability also includes ensuring that you are effectively providing this benefit service. Many times organizations are so busy with providing the best service for the client that Nonprofits can no longer operate with “good” intentions or ethics. Donors are looking to measure organizations trustworthiness. Funders are also looking for an impartial 3rd party agency that has scrutinized and evaluated the policies, ethics, best practices and fiscal controls of the nonprofit organization.
The Kansas Nonprofit Centre (Centre) believes that raising the level of ethical and accountable practices is very important for all Kansas Nonprofit’s. The Centre is introducing two (2) programs that Kansas nonprofits will be encouraged to participate in
1) Wise Giving
2) Standards of Excellence
Kansas nonprofits must comply with the local laws, State of Kansas laws and federal laws. Both of these programs go further. Not only are fundamentals evaluated but it will help describe how well managed and responsible governed organizations should, and do operate.
Overview, both programs will provide the organization a baseline and will assist in setting appropriate benchmarks so each organization can fulfill its obligations to its clients, donors and the public.
