Tweet

Keeping your Non-profit Ethical

Guest post by: michelle crossley

Article Overview: One would expect a non-profit organization to maintain higher ethical standards than any of the for-profit business organizations. However, the unfortunate fact is that ethical standards of non-profit organizations in general are on the decline, and not much better than those of the for-profit enterprises. A recent report by the Ethics Resource Center says that the decline in ethical standards of the employees at non-profits is at its lowest level in the last 10 years.

Keeping your Non-profit Ethical

Here are a few key suggestions to help you keep your non-profit ethical in all its conduct and dealings as far as possible:

Lead by example

The values and ethics in any organization pass down from the top. As the head of the non-profit, if you are able to maintain a highly ethical and transparent image, it will have a positive influence on the entire organization. It is important to practice your values in critical situations and never compromise or give in under a pressure situation. That sets a sterling example for the rest of the organization to emulate.

Communicate your values adequately

Make sure that your passion and zeal for maintaining the highest moral and ethical standards is communicated to your employees at every level. This requires a constant reminder because people tend to forget as time goes by. Address your employees, give them motivational talks, and make sure that they completely identify themselves with the larger objectives and principles of your non-profit organizations.

Hire new employees judiciously

Make every effort to ensure that the new employees you are hiring for your non-profit contribute to the ethical environment, and not become a burden on it. Conduct a thorough background check, verify their claims, and seek references from new prospective recruits for your non-profit. This will ensure that any scope for ethical compromises is filtered out at the origin point itself.

Educate your employees about the consequences

Many times the employees are unaware of the legal implications of their actions. The correct preventative approach would be to make them aware of the possible risks and legal wrangling that can ensue if the organization or a particular employee indulges in unethical conduct. The dividing line between ethics and legality can be very thin at times, and the employees must be fully aware of this reality.

Keep your non-profit’s finances totally above-board

The highest standard of ethics can be maintained if you keep your finances and book-keeping completely transparent. If the organization has nothing to hide, it will reflect positively on the employees. They will gel with the transparent and ethical culture of the organization. Financial dealings and financial statements can be the litmus test of your non-profit’s ethical conduct. Therefore, ensure that your non-profit passes this test with flying colors every financial year.

Related Articles
  Starting a Non-Profit
  Ethical Transformation of a Leader
  Strategic Thinking Planning for Nonprofit Organizations
  Nine Commitments That Will Emphasize Business Ethics and Company Core Values Are Extremely Crucial To Your Business
  Nonprofit PR Marketing With a Mission
  “Building An Environment of Ethical Behavior. Ten Tips From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach ”
  Business Ethics Guidelines: An Ethical Action Test From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
  Starting A Nonprofit
  Social Media: A Highly Effective Tool for Non-Profits
  Using Your Nonprofit Organization's Website To Generate Revenue
  Accepting Responsibility and Making Ethical Decisions
  Open the umbrella brand strategy
  Ten Commitments to Ethics and Personal Conduct For Business Coaches – From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
  A Better Way to Live
  Decisions Decisions Decisions
  Sales Training – Salespeople, Let Me Sell You a Bridge!
  “BUSINESS ETHICS MUST BE PRESENTED, PRESERVED AND PROMOTED”
  SMEs - supply chain and ethics
  Working with Ethical Gray Areas
  The Benefits of Having a Coach in Your Corner

Article Tags: ethical compromises, ethical standards, nonprofit ethical



Related Forum Posts
Re: New member from the USA - [quote="Ethical":cf54b60n][quote="Mal Tindle":cf54b60n]Hi Ethical, Welcome to the forum, it's good to see new people getting involved in any forum and you have picked one of the very best. I haven't been a member too long but am a regular now because of the support and resources available here which are most impressive. I see you work in the recycling of ink cartridges and I wish you well with that and attracting traffic to your site. best wishes, Mal.[/quote:cf54b60n] Thanks for your welcome,Mr.Mal,are you located in the USA,or the UK o'GB.or some other locale?,and if may I have your permission to ask,What kinda(kind of) entrepreneurship are you involved with?,as anything in life,education,and correct info...is the key to success,and Profesional forum attendance,is enlighting.Thanks again for your welcome.[/quote:cf54b60n] Hi Again Ethical, Thank you for your reply, I live in the UK and don’t have a product as such to sell like you but I am an Internet Marketer and owner of the ‘Work From Home Gems’ site below. I specialise in finding and recommending different ways to make money on the internet as an affiliate. I very much enjoy working in this sector and hope to work full time from home in the future. Don’t forget to set up your signature as recommended by GT above as this is a simple way to ad the URL of your website and this will show on every post you make, best wishes, Mal.
Re: How to Stay Motivated - Thanks for posting this, Matthew. Keeping the motivation strong is something I've really been struggling with. Donna, I think I was just not pushing as hard as I need to and getting maintenance instead of progress.
Re: New member from the USA - Hi Ethical, Welcome to the forum, it's good to see new people getting involved in any forum and you have picked one of the very best. I haven't been a member too long but am a regular now because of the support and resources available here which are most impressive. I see you work in the recycling of ink cartridges and I wish you well with that and attracting traffic to your site. best wishes, Mal.
Re: Tactics for Blog Traffic - Keeping up with your blog with a new post at least once a week should be atop every blogger's to-do list. The Google "Freshness" approach rewards new, original content.
Re: Need suggestions on domain name registration. - Keeping a hyphen in domain is not bad and it does not affect on seo.You will get lots of sites with hyphen in domain that are ranking higher in google.The main factor is you must have the unique contents.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Starting a Business a Brave Move or a NoBrainer

Basic Operating Question (BOQ) for Empowerment

Local Marketing: 3 Simple Low-Cost Strategies

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.