Earlier in the year NCVO produced an ethical code that identified four principles that every UK charity should uphold:
beneficiaries first
integrity
openness
right to be safe.
Given the huge number and diversity of charities, it is impressive to have identified such a small set of over-arching principles. It made me consider whether it would be possible to develop such a code for all philanthropic individuals and institutions. It turns out there are a few contenders which I have set out below. As you review these, I invite you to think what your four would be – I have come up with mine at the end.
The Institute for Global Ethics has surveyed thousands of individuals and organisations and concluded that the following five values dominate all the value statements out there:
- honesty
- responsibility
- respect
- fairness
- compassion.
As Peter Karoff (see references) says “all philanthropy is personal” so it makes sense to start with values and these five would be a good starting point for anyone’s giving. But is there a set that are more specific to philanthropy?
In “The Spirit of Philanthropy and the Soul of Those Who Manage It” Paul Ylvisaker set out 11 commandments for those who work in philanthropy. These are well worth reading and include:
- Be ready to speak out and act on your own
- Assess your own motivation
- Be compassionate as well as analytical
- Don’t ever lose your sense of outrage
- Don’t ever lose your sense of humour
Together they provide a great guide for practitioners in the field to live by but fall short of a universal ethical code.
When it comes to the perspective of those seeking funding, Joel Orosz put forward the following bill of rights for grant seekers:
The right to …
- Receive a clear statement of the foundation’s funding interests
- Have all communications answered
- An explanation of, and timeline for, the foundation’s proposal review process
- A prompt acknowledgement of receipt of a proposal
- A timely and unambiguous funding decision
- Receive an explanation of the reasoning behind funding decisions
- Have all requirements for the grant relationship clearly spelled out, in writing
- Have all reports completely read and carefully considered
- To be informed if continued funding is a possibility.
Written in 2000, this is similar to recent attempts to improve grant making practice such as IVAR and Esmee Fairbairn’s principles of grant reporting. It is depressing to think that getting a response has to be written down as a right. This set is important for good practice, but again it does not work as an ethical code.
A closer fit comes from Social Justice Philanthropy. Their six principles are
- Focus on root cause
- Include the people who are impacted
- Be more accessible and diverse
- Be accountable, transparent and responsive
- Contribute knowledge, skills and access (as well as money)
- Use all assets and investments
And finally, this set comes from the Federal Association of German Foundations:
Foundations should:
- Incorporate diverse and participatory organisational structures
- Listen
- Share their power
- Be transparent
- Work together in partnership and networks
- Promote innovation
- Acknowledge and learn from mistakes
- Take a long-term view
- Give more than just money
I don’t agree with supporting innovation as a fundamental principle, as sometimes funding good, existing work is what is needed. But if the others in this list were followed, it would help with current efforts to shift power from funders to those they fund.
With all these examples in mind, if I take on NCVO’s challenge of coming up with just four principles, mine would be:
- Act with Integrity – being fair, proportionate, responsive, and speaking out
- Share Power
- Be Open – to listen, to learn, to doing things differently and be transparent
- Be Humble – you can only do so much yourself, you need to work with others
How do these compare with your four?
References:
https://www.ncvo.org.uk/policy-and-research/ethics/ethical-principles
https://www.globalethics.org/What-We-Do/Consulting/Code-of-Ethics.aspx
Karoff, H. Peter (2005) The public and private persona of philanthropy: The donor challenge. New Directions in Philanthropic Fundraising, no.47
Ylvisaker, P. (2008) ‘The Spirit of Philanthropy and the Soul of those who manage it’ in Kass, A. (ed) Giving Well, Doing Good, Indiana University Press
https://www.ivar.org.uk/publication/new-principles-for-grant-reporting/
https://www.vertrauen-macht-wirkung.de/neun-thesen-fuer-die-stiftung-der-zukunft/