by Robert I. Evans and Avrum D. Lapin What would you do if you were the executive director, the campaign chair, or board member of a reputable nonprofit organization and a wealthy individual steps forward promising a multi-million dollar gift? In all likelihood, you will accept the gift graciously and then transmit warm gratitude to the donor. Depending on the size of the gift, you may probably offer a prominent, permanent naming opportunity to memorialize the support. Sounds like a straightforward process that hopefully occurs regularly at nonprofits around the world. But what happens if that same donor becomes a national headline due to immoral, untoward, or even criminal behavior? What if that well-intentioned man or woman even goes to jail because of some bad doing? Has this individual … Continue Reading
An Ethical Guide for Jewish Charities
A couple of years back, the London based Jewish Association for Business Ethics hosted a seminar on the ethical challenges for Jewish charities. Simultaneously they released An Ethical Guide for Jewish Charities. Dayan I Berger, an expert in Jewish law, told the attendees that they have an ethical and pragmatic duty to investigate the source of their donations. Indeed, sometimes, to reject them. Charities, in particular Jewish ones, have a responsibility “not to bring the institution of charity into disrepute by associating with or receiving tainted money,” he said. “It belittles the concept of charity altogether.” And when a charity is presented with “dubious money”, Berger insists they have a duty to reject it. Accepting the money, even when it would do great good for the … Continue Reading
Most Fundraisers Face Few Ethical Challenges
Four out of five charitable fundraisers encounter ethical challenges, situations or dilemmas once a month or less, according to a website survey by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). Participants in the poll were asked how often they faced an ethical challenge, situation or dilemma during their professional work. Fifty-eight percent reported less than once a month, while 24 percent said once a month. Just eight percent responded that they encountered ethical challenges two or three times per month, while the remaining ten percent reported facing such challenges at least once a week. "Ethics is critical to the success of fundraising and philanthropy, so it's important to understand just how often fundraisers face ethical situations so we can have resources ready," said Paulette … Continue Reading
Trust, Transparency and Ethical Conduct
When it comes to issues of trust, transparency, and ethical conduct, the question for UJA-Federation of New York has never been “Have we done enough?” Instead, they push to answer tougher questions: What more can we do to raise the standard? How can we be more transparent? What measures do we need to take to avoid conflicts of interest? Every decision and every investment needs to be made with full transparency. At the recent General Assembly in Washington, D.C., John Ruskay, UJAFed NY's executive vice president and CEO, spoke on a panel titled “Betrayal, Redemption, and Reward in a Post-Madoff World.” As the panel touched on many of our core themes, John has graciously made his remarks available to us: For me, this session comes down to the question in the forum … Continue Reading
Saying No
eJewish Philanthropy welcomes London journalist Celina Ribeiro with her post, Looking a Gift Horse In the Mouth. At what point should a charity ‘just say no’? At a seminar on ethical challenges for Jewish charities hosted by the Jewish Association for Business Ethics, I was struck by the comments of one of the speakers. Dayan I Berger, an expert in Jewish law, told his audience of Jewish charity representatives that they have an ethical and pragmatic duty to investigate the source of their donations. Indeed, sometimes, to reject them. Charities, in particular Jewish ones, have a responsibility “not to bring the institution of charity into disrepute by associating with or receiving tainted money,” he said. “It belittles the concept of charity altogether.” And when a charity … Continue Reading
Sustainability and Philanthropy—Can Walmart Show Us the Way
Sometimes things crystallize all at once. The New York Times reporter, Stephanie Rosenblum writes this week that Walmart, the behemoth retailer whose ethical, environmental and worker treatment record has been so poor that it will now require its manufacturers supplying goods to its stores to adhere to stricter ethical and environmental standards. This is big news. If Walmart is capable of raising its bar I am hopeful that our ethically and morally strong but often-slow-to adopt-change community will soon make some headway here as well. … Continue Reading
Philanthropy and Politics
a guest post by David Roth and Ardie Geldman The Olmert-Talansky affair has placed the interplay between philanthropy and politics on page one. Several months ago, the prime minister was accused of accepting a number of envelopes filled with cash from Morris Talansky, a US fund-raiser, for personal gain and/or political purposes. This was soon followed by another criminal investigation of Olmert involving the billing of multiple nonprofit organizations for the same overseas fund-raising trips. While these scandals have received extraordinary attention because they implicate a sitting prime minister, there are other examples of interaction between philanthropists and Israeli politics. The name that most often comes to mind in this context is Arkadi Gaydamak. The Russian-born tycoon has donated … Continue Reading
Big Money’s Influence
We bring you these three articles, two of which are from the mainstream international media, as they all pose questions that need to be asked in our world of Jewish philanthropy, regardless of who sits in the Prime Minister's office. This is neither a discussion of politics or the law. Both of which are topics we will stay away from on this blog. from the New York Jewish Week: Financial Questions for Olmert's Charity New Jerusalem Foundation never spent a significant amount of funds raised in American South for Israeli terror victims in 2002. from Reuters: EXCLUSIVE-How Israeli PM wooed, and lost, Christian dollars An Israeli investigation into fraud and corruption has turned a spotlight on how Ehud Olmert, when mayor of Jerusalem, raised funds from rich American Jews. Less in … Continue Reading
Pretty Expensive Overhead
According to a special investigative report in the Los Angles Times, for-profit fundraising businesses kept 35% of donations received by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. A comprehensive review of state records filed over a decade, indicates the problem of paltry returns extends well beyond what has been reported in recent years among benevolent societies for police, firefighters and veterans. It affects charities large and small, well-known and obscure. The data analyzed included all commercial fundraising campaigns reported to the California Attorney General's office from 1997 through 2006, excluding those involving thrift store sales or vehicle donations. The data cover both California-specific efforts and national campaigns that included solicitations within … Continue Reading
Rabbi and Banker Plead Guilty to Tax Evasion
(U.S.) Federal prosecutors secured guilty pleas Friday from a Tel-Aviv based banker and a New York based rabbi for their involvement in a decade-long international tax-evasion scam centered around an Orthodox Jewish sect that defrauded the U.S. government of millions in tax revenue. Joseph Roth, 66, an account manager for Israel-based United Mizrahi Bank, and Rabbi Moshe Zigelman, 60, admitted to their parts in a scheme in which people made bogus tax-exempt donations to charitable organizations related to Spinka, an Orthodox Jewish sect. Read more from the Los Angles Times. … Continue Reading
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