New Charity Guidelines Deal With Overhead, Executive Pay and More

Independent Sector has released the 2015 edition of the seminal “Principles for Good Governance and Ethical Practices,” a set of 33 principles broadly accepted by many nonprofit and philanthropic organizations as the foundational guide for charities’ and foundations’ self-governance. The release marks the first substantive changes to the guide document since the initial October 2007 publication of the Principles. The guide has been downloaded more than 250,000 times with thousands of printed copies in distribution.

The 2015 edition of the Principles contains legal background and principles on a broad range of topics including legal compliance, effective governance, financial oversight, and responsible fundraising. Changes in the 2015 edition include eight areas in which the ethics and governance landscape has transformed since the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector first convened to develop these standards nearly a decade ago. Updated content in the Principles include new implications for nonprofits and foundations:

• How technology affects giving in a digital world and risk related to data security
• New charitable business and social change models, such as donor-advised funds and social impact investing, and their opportunities and pitfalls
• The need to balance organizational transparency and individual privacy
• The evolving debate on overhead costs

For more information, please visit independentsector.org.