tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post114355457557079452..comments2024-03-24T11:30:08.199-07:00Comments on Can you believe?: On giving and receivingJohan Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-1144072382922695132006-04-03T06:53:00.000-07:002006-04-03T06:53:00.000-07:00Thank you for the mention of Thom Jeavons! By the ...Thank you for the mention of Thom Jeavons! By the way, that book he wrote was mentioned in the preamble to the FUM financial guidelines. I still highly recommend it. I'm sure he's going to be an incredible resource at Indiana University--it sounds like an ideal position for him.Johan Maurerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-1143840305246719152006-03-31T13:25:00.000-08:002006-03-31T13:25:00.000-08:00As another fundraiser, I just want to point out th...As another fundraiser, I just want to point out the Association of Fundraising Professionals' code of ethics forbids accepting compensation on a commission basis. <BR/><BR/>From <A HREF="http://www.afpnet.org/ka/ka-3.cfm?content_item_id=1068&folder_id=897" REL="nofollow">AFPnet.org</A>:<BR/><B>Compensation</B><BR/>16. Members shall not accept compensation that is based on a percentage of contributions; nor shall they accept finder's fees.<BR/><BR/>Also, Robin mentioned the wonderful book co-authored by Thomas Jeavons -- he is General Secretary of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting -- until TODAY, 3/31/2006! See the PhYM notice <A HREF="http://www.pym.org/pm/comments.php?id=2834_0_3_0_C" REL="nofollow">here.</A> (Love his <I>pazbart</I>!)<BR/><BR/>Chris M.<BR/><A HREF="http://chrismsf.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">Tables, Chairs & Oaken Chests</A>Chris M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05125825966802002625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-1143812399596062712006-03-31T05:39:00.000-08:002006-03-31T05:39:00.000-08:00Robin: Oh, my, this just happened! Thank you for y...Robin: Oh, my, this just happened! Thank you for your faithfulness; that can't have been a light or consequence-free decision.<BR/><BR/>After coming from Europe, I spent most of my growing-up years in Cook County, Illinois. Maybe that's why I'm not tempted to generalize that corruption is exclusive to other countries. In my teenage years, I remember WBBM ("where the news is no sooner done than said") broadcasting intriguing interviews with the secretary of state about why certain voting-booth manufacturers were favored over others. This was the secretary of state whose closet was found, after his death, to contain shoeboxes of cash. Mike Royko wrote a book in which he explained, if I remember correctly, how the city's Latin motto of "city in a garden" could be changed by fixing just a few letters into the motto "where's mine?"Johan Maurerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-1143779090315968182006-03-30T20:24:00.000-08:002006-03-30T20:24:00.000-08:00Thank you Johan, these are nicely done. Another po...Thank you Johan, these are nicely done. Another point I wanted to make is that ethical lapses are not restricted to Africa or any country, continent or group. I myself just left a U.S. based, non-Quaker job (today!) over what I perceived to be violations of your very reasonable standards. Nothing illegal, just unacceptable. And very sad.Robin M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10336915224193704866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-1143764546412011872006-03-30T16:22:00.000-08:002006-03-30T16:22:00.000-08:00I originally proposed these guidelines as part of ...I originally proposed these guidelines as part of my Cary Lecture for Baltimore Yearly Meeting in 1995. The financial guidelines which follow are the fourth section of a larger set of guidelines. This version includes some revisions and were the guidelines I presented to the Friends United Meeting board and used among staff:<BR/><BR/>FRIENDS UNITED MEETING WILL COLLECT AND SPEND MONEY ETHICALLY<BR/><BR/>(Here I acknowledge my gratitude for some of these ideas to Richard Foster and his <A HREF="http://www.renovare.org/" REL="nofollow">Renovaré</A> organization, to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, and to Thom Jeavons for the relevant sections of his book, <EM>When the Bottom Line is Faithfulness.</EM> - JFM)<BR/><BR/> 1) FUM will obtain an independent audit of its finances annually. The most recent audited financial report will be made available to anyone who asks for it, and to all members of the General Board and Trustees. All recipients of FUM funding, including mission partnerships, are entitled to full information about FUM finances and are expected to submit audited accounts of their own finances. <BR/><BR/> 2) FUM financial reports will clearly show what has been spent on fundraising. These expenses will not be concealed under educational or other categories. When an appeal has a legitimate educational component, or when an educational item has a fundraising component, a good-faith effort will be made to cost out the division accurately.<BR/><BR/> 3) FUM will accept unrestricted donations to its whole program, and will accept restricted donations for specific parts of its program. FUM will not accept donations which are to be forwarded to organizations unaffiliated to FUM and unrelated to FUM's mission. All donations which are accepted will be acknowledged except when the donor requests otherwise.<BR/><BR/> 4) Restricted gifts will only be spent on the program area intended by the donor. When this is not possible, the donor will be contacted for permission to reallocate the gift and to be offered a refund if reallocation is not satisfactory. Tax-deductible gifts will not be used to pass money to any named individual for personal use. <BR/><BR/> 5) Programs which are dependent upon restricted gifts, such as volunteer mission placements, may include administrative and fundraising costs in their budget. Such budget provisions must be limited to no more than is actually needed to ensure the integrity of the program.<BR/><BR/> 6) FUM will make every effort to avoid accepting a gift from or entering into a contract with a prospective donor which would knowingly place a hardship on the donor or endanger the donor's future well-being.<BR/><BR/> 7) When FUM sends incentives, premiums, gifts, etc., to donors in return for contributions, the fair market value of these items (when significant by U.S. Internal Revenue guidelines) will be reported to the donor and will not be represented as tax-deductible. Gifts in kind will be acknowledged with a receipt accurately describing the gifts without placing a monetary value on the gift; the latter is the responsibility of the donor. We will inform the donor of Internal Revenue reporting requirements for all gifts from USA donors in excess of $5,000.<BR/><BR/> 8) FUM will attempt to live within its means, so that we don't have to turn to donors for emergency contributions or endanger our long-term ministry commitments to catch up with ourselves financially. As long as FUM is in operation, the principal balance of donor-designated endowments which have been accepted by FUM will not be spent, except by permission of the donor or of a court.<BR/><BR/> 9) FUM will work with member meetings and yearly meetings to encourage good stewardship of all members, recognizing that Friends' first financial obligations are to family and local meeting, and to economically poor people, and also recognizing that the majority of FUM's funding comes through yearly meetings. <BR/><BR/>10) FUM will not exaggerate financial needs or create artificial emergencies to raise funds. We will be extremely careful in the use of photographs of people experiencing hardship in order to avoid stereotyping people or violating their privacy, and in order to avoid manipulating donors. We will not overstate what a particular donation can do in order to convince a donor.<BR/><BR/>11) FUM will always welcome donors and other visitors to its offices and program sites and will always respond honestly when anyone asks for details about our work.<BR/><BR/>12) FUM will endeavor to pay its staff according to reasonably comparable salary levels for similar jobs in the areas where staff live. FUM staff do not expect to maintain extravagant lifestyles. Transportation and hospitality costs for traveling staff are to be reported according to staff procedures, and are to be kept to a reasonable standard of modest comfort.<BR/><BR/>13) FUM's building construction and maintenance, office equipment and supplies, paper purchases, fundraising materials, waste disposal and other areas of economic and environmental impact will be overseen with a concern for a reasonable balance of simplicity, functionality and ecological stewardship.Johan Maurerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-1143729446549743092006-03-30T06:37:00.000-08:002006-03-30T06:37:00.000-08:00Eden gave me permission to post her reply here:Dea...<EM>Eden gave me permission to post her reply here:</EM><BR/><BR/>Dear Johan,<BR/><BR/>I would, of course, be very interested in your ethical guidelines. I think this whole subject needs as much discussion as possible, and I'm always eager to see how others have tried to put it in writing.<BR/><BR/>As for the "professional fund raisers" bit -- I was a bit surprised by how the final wording came across. What we intended to caution against was the way that African "professional grant-writers" take advantage of grass-roots organizations in Africa. They typically convince the organization that grant-writing is a terribly complicated science, and that their professional skills are necessary. They then take 30% of the grant as their fee. I have seen projects fail because of this skimming. I have also seen a project fail because the original grant proposal, written by a "professional," was based on ludicrous market data (of course, the donor bears some responsibility for having funded the project in the first place!). So the point was that the actual community that intents to implement the project should be the ones to state, in their own words, what they want to do. It's OK for project proposals to be simple. It doesn't have to be rocket science. And we are highly suspicious of "mercenaries" who are taking advantage of Africans in this way. So, that was the caution that led to that phrase being inserted in the guidelines. I'd be very interested in whether there<BR/>is other wisdom on this point.Johan Maurerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-1143604679730997642006-03-28T19:57:00.000-08:002006-03-28T19:57:00.000-08:00I had originally interpreted that to mean that imp...I had originally interpreted that to mean that implementers should not use professional fundraisers as intermediaries between themselves and their sponsoring agencies. However, maybe my optimistic assumptions are wrong and I should raise this question with the writers.<BR/><BR/>When I first joined the FUM staff as general secretary in 1993, we were using a professional direct mail agency in New York. I ended that relationship and wrote my own appeal letters and developed systems to bring that whole function back into the FUM staff. On the other hand, we also began issuing attractive annual reports with program summaries and financial reports, something that apparently had not been done for years, if ever. And later on, we contracted with a Quaker fundraiser, Henry Freeman, to help with our fundraising. We would not have contracted with someone who did not share our values.<BR/><BR/>Although at FUM I would not have wanted a disinterested fundraiser mediating relationships with our implementing partnerships, I definitely approved of those same organizations learning good, ethical fundraising for their own local situations. Our own hospitals in the USA are constantly raising charitable funds; why shouldn't Friends Lugulu Hospital do the same among the considerable number of middle-class Kenyans? (Among all Kenyans, for that matter.)Johan Maurerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-1143585987480942972006-03-28T14:46:00.000-08:002006-03-28T14:46:00.000-08:00I wasn't so much worried about your list, as about...I wasn't so much worried about your list, as about point #2 for implementers that says specifically that paid professional fund raisers should not be used. <BR/>For me, there is a distinction between people who know how to write and manage a fundraising appeal and who are paid appropriately for their work and the charlatans who use this knowledge to bilk donors and implementers out of their rightful funds.<BR/><BR/>One of my favorite books on fundraising is Growing Giver's Hearts, by Thomas Jeavons and Rebekah Birch Basinger. It is about how fund raising is both a pastoral ministry to donors and a necessary part of the ministry of good works. One of my favorite chapters is on the Apostle Paul, who they liken to the Church's first fundraising executive. Asking not for himself, but helping those who have money to find ways of helping those who are suffering.Robin M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10336915224193704866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-1143576002509853932006-03-28T12:00:00.000-08:002006-03-28T12:00:00.000-08:00I'm married to a wonderful, gifted, dedicated fund...I'm married to a wonderful, gifted, dedicated fundraiser. I have no excuse for leaving fundraisers out of that list, except perhaps as they are included among the administrators. There are definitely wonderful fundraisers, many of whom, in my experience, have very good pastoral skills.<BR/><BR/>Appreciatively,<BR/><BR/>JohanJohan Maurerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-1143567262352516102006-03-28T09:34:00.000-08:002006-03-28T09:34:00.000-08:00Wonderful. Although, as a paid professional fundra...Wonderful. Although, as a paid professional fundraiser, I worry that my work would not be considered as valuable as the other dedicated administrators, accountants, bankers, translators, etc. I know there have been plenty of ethical lapses among fundraisers as much as any other profession, but like anyone else, that doesn't mean there aren't good fundraisers..Robin M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10336915224193704866noreply@blogger.com