I just read Anne Butterfield's message,  forwarded by
          Elaine Gurian, regarding grant writing/fund raising on
          commission.

          Anne is absolutely correct on all points except for the "has
          been unethical in the past" part.  In my experience, recent
          trends make it even more unethical now than it has been in
          the past.

          There are many grant writers and fund raisers who
          currently work on commission, primarily because it is very
          attractive to an organization who doesn't have a lot of
          up-front money.

          This is bad news for many reasons.  First, if you pay a
          grant writer/fund raiser after they have raised the funds,
          you are pretty certain to be paying them from the proceeds.
          For federal grants, this is illegal.  For fund-raising,
          unless you have clarified that purpose up front and gathered
          unrestricted funding (or restricted funding) for exactly
          that purpose you may be deceiving your donors.
          On a grand scale, this could be considered fraud.

          In addition to being illegal in several instances, it is
          generally considered unethical because the grant writer/fund
          raiser is forced to put the success/failure of the award
          over the success/failure of the project, and the dollar
          amount of an award over the capabilities of the organization
          to manage it.

          This is especially true if the grant writer/fund raiser is
          outside your organization.  He/she may not care what kind of
          award is negotiated, and could promise the funder everything
          including the kitchen sink, without considering whether or
          not it is the kind of project the recipient intended, or
          whether they have the experience/resources/etc. to carry out
          the promised activities.

          I know there are many many grant writers/fund raisers out
          there who would never ever consider putting their own needs
          above the needs of the organization.  But there are bound
          to be a few rotten apples in the barrel, and a small
          non-profit who got caught in a fraudulant and/or government
          payback situation would be in serious trouble.

          For these reasons, the National Society of Fund-Raising
          Executives (NSFRE) and the Council for the Advancement and
          Support of Education (CASE) have adopted codes of ethics
          which prohibit their members from engaging in grant
          writing/fund raising activities on a commission basis.  I
          know the National Council for Resource Development is also
          considering adopting a similar code of ethics.

          So tread cautiously and follow the rest of Anne
          Butterfield's advice.

          Kathy Lear
          Columbia River Exhibition of History, Science and Technology
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