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Positive Outcomes from Discussion on Bad Nonprofit Apples |
| Written by Malcolm Furgol, on May 11, 2010 |
Knowing how to anticipate and react to bad apples in the nonprofit sector is an important part of responsible nonprofit management. The current budget crises effecting nonprofit funders makes it vital that organizations work harder than ever to be transparent and ensure confidence in the sector. To address this issue the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington held a discussion yesterday, inviting nonprofit organizations in the DC area to participate.
As a result of the discussion, several points were established as recommended action items:
- Externally communicate best practices for nonprofit management.
- When reacting to reports of a bad apple be clear and concise in communicating your organization’s perspective so that your audience can understand the context of the situation.
- Condemn misconduct, not specific organizations.
- Take advantage of opportunities such as providing commentary to WAMU in order to further disseminate your message.
As facilitator Walter Smith with DC Appleseed said, “If you don’t communicate then you forfeit the story.”
An intriguing concept brought up by Smith was the idea of creating an
institutional mechanism for mobilizing resources regarding dealing with
bad nonprofit apples. By self-policing the sector and actively
encouraging best practices, the negative impact of bad apples could be
kept to a minimum.
Bomani Johnson at the
Community
Foundation for the National Capital Region emphasized that it is
imperative that funders are involved in the discussion, and must build strong
relationships with the organizations they support in order to encourage
best practices.
As an example of best practices to follow, facilitator
Darryl Jones at
Maryland Nonprofits
shared a valuable resource with attendees, “An Ethics and Accountability
Code for the Nonprofit Sector” by the Standards for Excellence
Institute. Information on the publication can be found online.
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