Giving Institute study says ethical breaches hurts all charity fundraising. Ethical conduct is a crucial component of non-profit fundraising, according to a survey by the Giving Institute, a Glenview, Ill.-based association of consultancies to charities.

This finding -- gleaned from a poll of 445 professionals who work for or with non-profits -- is more of an eye-brow raiser when it's paired with another data point: more than half of those surveyed said they had witnessed unethical behavior.

Spotlight

Paying percentage-based commissions to fundraisers is the area likeliest to result in unethical behavior, according to the survey.

The Giving Institute says its survey is meant to help individuals decide when and how to make donations.

"Knowing that people in the field intend to follow ethical principles and think they are an important component of fundraising should bring confidence to donors," says Giving Institute chairman George Ruotolo.

A resounding 83% of those surveyed say that media coverage of breaches in ethical conduct by fundraisers has damaged the image of fundraising profession as a whole.

"It's important for the media to shed light on those instances where organizations aren't living up to a strong ethical code," says Ruotolo. "We at the Giving Institute feel this makes for an even stronger call for fundraising professionals to ascribe to a code of ethics that disallows the activities that tend to make headlines."

The Giving Institute, formerly the American Association of Fundraising Counsel, was founded in 1935 to promote professional and ethical standards in non-profit fundraising and to lobby politicians. It has a code of ethics. -FWR

Purchase reproduction rights to this article.