“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. Stakeholders 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.
All nonprofits provide some community benefit. Accountability also includes ensuring that you are effectively providing this benefit service. Funders are looking for an impartial 3rdparty agency that has scrutinized and evaluated the policies, ethics, best practices and fiscal controls of the nonprofit organization. Add in the fact that in the last decade there has been an increase in the level of scrutiny of the nonprofit sector by government and foundation sources. Donors are looking to measure organizations trustworthiness. Nonprofits are also facing tech-savvy users (Millennials and Generation Xer) who are scrutinizing organizations before they give or even volunteer.
The Kansas Nonprofit Centre believes that raising the level of ethical and accountable practices is very important for all Kansas Nonprofits. 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 responsibly governed organizations should and do operate.
