Fundraising

Fundraising

Sometimes people worry about whether charities are ethical in the way they raise money.

Here are some ethical guidelines for charity fundraising:

• Charities will regularly review the ethics of their fundraising methods
• All requests for funds will be truthful
  • they will accurately describe the charity's work
  • they will accurately describe the intended uses and destinations of the donation
  • they will not encourage unrealistic expectations of what the gift will achieve
• Donations will be used to support the published purposes of the charity and in line with the purpose for which they are solicited
• Spending on fundraising and administration will be kept as low as is cost-effective
• Charity accounting and accountability will comply with the highest legal, accounting and ethical standards and be fully transparent
  • Charities will regularly report on their financial activities
  • Charities will make clear the percentage of income spent on raising funds
  • Charities will make clear the percentage of income spent on administration
• All requests for funds will respect the dignity and privacy of those who may benefit from the donation and the dignity and privacy of potential donors
• Fundraisers will not be over-persistent
• Fundraisers will disclose any conflicts of interest that may arise
• Lists of donors will not be sold

Fundraising on commission

One controversial issue in charity fundraising is paying fundraisers according to how much money they raise.

Some people argue that if this raises more money, then it's a good thing to do. They point out that commission-based sales are highly effective in commercial business.

Other people believe such fund-raising is fundamentally unethical for reasons such as these:

• the charitable element may come second to personal gain and the interests of donors and recipients may suffer
• since the charity doesn't seek to profit from donations, nor should the fundraiser
• such fundraisers may lack involvement in the charity's purposes
• the fundraiser may use excessive pressure on potential donors so as to maximise their own payment
• the fundraiser may maximise contributions that count towards commission rather than those that yield the greatest long-term benefit for the charity
• the fundraiser is part of the charity 'team', and if they gain personally from their activities when other team members don't, this will lead to bad feeling
• the donation that benefits the fundraiser may be the result of the long-term general work of the charity, rather than the work of the fundraiser who 'signed up' the donor
• the element of personal gain may cause potential donors to become disillusioned and lose faith in the charitable cause

The general principle that charities should be transparent and ethical suggests that they should make clear to a potential donor whether the fundraiser will benefit personally from any funds raised, and to what extent.

Unethical gifts

Another issue is whether a charity should accept a donation from a source that is said to be ethically dubious, or whose behaviour is inconsistent with the aims of the charity.

An example might be of a donation from a company whose products are either produced unethically, or which cause harm even when used in the intended manner.

Salvation Army founder General Booth had no doubt that the good that would be done with dubious funds outweighed any wrong in accepting such a donation. He is alleged to have said "I shall take all the money I can get, and I shall wash it clean with the grateful tears of widows and orphans."

But a charity may suffer long term loss of credibility with donors and volunteers if it is seen to accept funds from sources that are incompatible with the stated aim of the charity.