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Tue, 20 Feb 1996 14:26:31 -0800 |
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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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