Ethics Q & A
December 20, 2004
By Jane Garthson, Mills
Garthson & Associates
The question:
Do you use real questions from readers?
Jane says...
The number of readers who sent me their real situations during this first year of the column is gratifying. Many of their questions have made it into columns, changed to hide any identifying details. They are often combined with similar questions from other readers or from my past experience.
Other readers give me great satisfaction by writing to say that a particular column solved an immediate issue for them, even though mail from another reader prompted the column. Most of our problems are not unique!
I do not consider all the questions that are submitted. The most common reason is that the writer needs a lawyer much more than they need an ethics advisor, and I cannot give legal advice. And some situations are so unusual that the other parties to the situation might guess the source.
The column is not the way to get answers to complex or urgent problems. You can contact me directly with no obligation to discuss consulting services. I acknowledge that not all of my readers are authorized to make financial commitments for their organizations.
Most decisions you have to make for yourself anyway, getting advice from colleagues and friends you trust on anything major. So I will from time to time give advice about making better ethical decisions for yourself. You make many decisions every day, often quickly, and need to internalize what to consider when you spot ethical considerations.
Because you are operating within nonprofit organizations, your first consideration should be the mission. Identify at least three alternative courses of action, and ask how each alternative promotes or detracts from the organization's mission. If you can, do this with colleagues rather than alone. They may improve the list of alternatives as well as the analysis.
While many ethical questions may appear unrelated to the mission, some choices would waste resources that could be better used for mission achievement. And some may take too long to implement when you have a mission relating to direct service to those in urgent need. Are you going to turn homeless people away on cold nights because you chose to focus on building housing for next year? If so, an ethical decision would include helping such clients get access to alternatives shelter.
On the other hand, some choices may be quick fixes that offer little towards long term results. Organizations devoted to biodiversity or reduction in global warming or an end to war need to make sure that even small decisions support incremental improvements towards a desired future.
As well, your mission is grounded in organizational values of how it will be achieved. These may provide guidance for selecting among alternatives. However, a list of words tends to provide very little guidance. Good statements of ethical values or principles include organization-specific definitions along with frequent dialogue about how to apply the values.
Remember also that missions can be reviewed to reflect a changing world. If consideration of the mission keeps leading to alternatives that seem wrong to you, encourage your board to review the mission. However, until the board develops and approves a change, the current mission must guide you. No individual in a nonprofit has the power to amend the mission or the right to work against it.
I will cover other ways to evaluate alternatives in ethical decision-making in future columns.
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Because nonprofit organizations are formed to do good does not mean
they always are good in their own practices. Send us your ethical questions
dealing with volunteers, staff, clients, donors, funders, sponsors, and
more. Please identify yourself and your organization so we know the questions
come from within the sector. No identifying information will appear in
this column.
To submit a dilemma for a future column, or to comment on a previous one,
please contact help@charityvillage.com. For paid professional advice about an urgent or complex situation, contact Jane directly.
