I vote "nay" on the commission for a fund raiser.  A commissioned fund
raiser does put both the fund raiser and the organization in a ethical
quandary. When your livelihood is based on the funds you raise,
questionable tactics might be used. You owe it to your donors to provide
faithful and ethical stewardship. Also, put yourself in the donors'
shoes:  If that person is aware that the fund raiser is on commission
how will she respond?  How do you respond to a salesperson that is on
commission, you are guarded for fear you will be swindled and hustled out
of your money. Commission has a negative image, does your organization
want to project that image?  Like any employee, you place a level of trust
that they will perform the duties of their position.  A fund raiser has internal
incentives, to do a good job and to create an impressive portfolio for
the next position. Fund raisers hold themselves to a professional and
ethical standard, I would be weary of a fund raiser willing to work on
commission.

Amy Kleinert
Marketing Manager
South Bend Regional Museum of Art
South Bend, Indiana


On Thu, 3 Aug 2000, Jerrie Clarke wrote:

> We are beginning plans to advertise for and hire a development person to
> raise money for our endowment and some special projects.  We've researched
> salary for that position, and I've seen a few posts on this List in the last
> year concerning the range of salaries.  A member of our Board suggested we
> offer a commission along with a base salary.  That seems to be a standard
> practice in some fields.  Has anyone heard of that or does anyone's museum
> do that?  Is there any kind of ethical issue involved?  Would any of you
> involved in fund raising accept a smaller salary with that option?
>
> Jerrie
>
> Jerrie Clarke
> Curator of Collections
> Valdez Museum
> http://www.alaska.net/~vldzmuse/index.html
>
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