Table Of Content

AN INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS FOR NONPROFITS AND NGOs CRAIG HANSON An Introduction to Ethics for Nonprofits and NGOs Craig Hanson An Introduction to Ethics for Nonprofits and NGOs Craig Hanson The School of Arts and Sciences Palm Beach Atlantic University Palm Beach, FL, USA ISBN 978-3-031-23076-9 ISBN 978-3-031-23077-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23077-6 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. 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Cover illustration: gremlin This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland For Paul, who held down the fort. Contents Introduction: A Framework for Analyzing Moral Situations 1 Ethics, Naive vs. Nuanced 2 The Is/Ought Distinction 3 Relativism 5 Deontological Ethics: Duty and Law 7 Teleology: Judging Cases by Consequences 12 Insights from Medical Ethics 15 Virtue Ethics and Feminist Ethics 17 Practical Tips for Instituting Ethics in Your Institution 20 Conclusion 24 Bibliography 24 From Theory to Action 27 Ethics vs Law 27 Demanding the “Right” Answer 29 The Informed Argument 32 Applying Moral Theories 33 Collating Our Observations 47 Boards and Oversight 51 Covid-19 Vaccine Policy in a Medium-Sized NFP 57 The Helpful Board Member 59 When Democracy and Mission Collide 60 The Employee with Family on the Board 63 vii viii Contents Social Enterprise vs. Social Service 65 The Board Member’s Pet Project 68 Regime Change and the Perils of Being a Hero 70 The Possessive Major Gifts Officer 72 When Personal Problems Threaten the Mission 75 References 77 Moral Dilemmas in Executive Leadership 79 Meltdown in Monrovia 82 Cutting Vital Services 84 Changing Staff’s Job Descriptions 87 Child Sponsorship in the Afterschool Program 90 Accepting Crypto Donations 92 The White Savior in the Dark Continent 93 Internship or Exploitation? 95 Graft at the Top 97 References 99 Money, Finance and Fundraising 101 Misallocation of Resources or Unreasonable Donor? 104 Lean or Starving? On the Tyranny of Low Administrative Cost Rates 105 That Time When Your NFP Became his PR Crisis Response Plan 108 A Successful Event 110 Missing Money at the Group Home 111 Bribery or Just Doing Business? 112 Coalition Building or Finder’s Fee? 114 Inheriting an Albatross 116 The School for Civil War Orphans 118 The Best President We Could Ever Dream Of 120 The Post-Mortem “Take” 121 Missing Money? 123 “Give Me a Child You Don’t Care About” 124 References 126 Intercultural and Cross-Cultural Ethics 127 Short-Termer Headaches 137 “Hire a Young Woman” 139 In Our Country They Would Be Married 140 What Counts as Diversity Numbers? 142 Vaccine Resistance in Vulnerable Communities 144 The At-Least-Somewhat Racist Missionary 147 Later that Evening, in the Same Town 149 Contents ix Nurturing African Entrepreneurs 151 The Successful West African Recycling Entrepreneur 153 Bibliography 154 Ethics in Program Operations 155 Ethics Committees 155 The HR Department 156 Staff-Training and Grassroots Ethics 157 The Protective Guardian 158 Dealing with Noncompliance in Syracuse 160 Putting Nationals in Harm’s Way 161 Another Feeding Program Begins 162 What Could Go Wrong? 163 Land Title Woes in Sub-Saharan Africa 165 Microfinance, Interest and Islam 168 Indian Nationalism and the Foreign NGO 170 Lying to the Police 171 Closing the Orphanage 174 Professorial Malfeasance Abroad? 176 References 180 Digital, Online and Cyber Ethics 181 Archiving a Nation’s Text Messages 183 Where There Are no Government-Issued IDs 185 Political Disinformation, Community Outreach and Vaccine Drives 187 Election Season and Viral Online Videos 189 Revealing the Location of Vulnerable Women 190 Child Porn, Revenge Porn and Non-Fungible Tokens 192 Bibliography 196 Appendix I: Discussion-Leader Tips 197 Appendix II: Structuring an Ethics Discussion 199 Appendix III: Evaluating Ethics Argumentation 203 Appendix IV: Assessing Written Case Analyses 211 Appendix V: Discussion Guides to Each Case 219 Bibliography 269 Index 275 Abbreviations AP Accounts Payable BAM Business as Mission CDC The Center for Disease Control and Prevention CEO Chief Executive Officer CIA Central Intelligence Agency CSR Corporate Social Responsibility DEI Diversity, Equity and Inclusion FDA Food and Drug Administration FGM Female Genital Mutilation GAAP Generally Accepted Accounting Practices GO Governmental Organization GPA Grade Point Average HIPA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act IRB Institutional Review Board M&IE Meals and Incidental Expenses MHA Ministry of Home Affairs NGO Non-Governmental Organization OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration PSA Public Service Announcement ROI Return on Investment SDN Specially Designated Nationals UNHCR United Nations High Commission on Refugees USAID United States Agency for International Development xi List of Figures Boards and Oversight Fig. 1 NFP Evaluation structure 54 Fig. 2 One of several possible communication structures 55 xiii