I’ve been watching with sadness the controversy surrounding Greg Mortenson and the nonprofit he heads up.
I think it’s made my heart so heavy because I just read “Three Cups of Tea” which tells the story of how he got started. I was very moved by the story and even wondering how I could help.
Then I started seeing news stories online about how money isn’t being used wisely, etc. I hate it when any nonprofit has to face these kinds of situations.
Whether you believe in the allegations being made about Greg or not, it doesn’t really matter – the damage is done.
Lots of people will hear the accusations and believe them instead of digging in to find out what the real story is (by the way, the accusations never tell the whole truth).
There’s a HUGE lesson here for everyone: Do EVERYTHING you can to protect your nonprofit’s reputation.
I’ve always said that your reputation is about all you have. Once it’s damaged, it takes a lot of time and energy to repair. Once it’s damaged, it makes a big impact on whether the community wants to continue to support you or not. Once it’s damaged, fundraising gets a lot harder.
How do you protect your reputation? Be trustworthy and honest and ethical.
Be a good steward of the gifts donors have given. Be willing to share your financial reports with anyone who wants to see them. ALWAYS build trust with donors and the community.
Nonprofit leaders who don’t pay attention to this or gets complacent thinking “that will never happen to us” are asleep at the wheel and put their nonprofit’s reputation on the line.
It’s time to wake up! One person grumbling about how your nonprofit handles money can be the start of an avalanche you don’t want to be in.
Exactly! There’s really no room for error when it comes to financials. Whether a rumor is true or not the whiff of unethical behavior casts a bad shadow to crawl out from under. Do everything you can to remain above board.
I agree, Sandy. This is a sad story with a lesson for all of us. Transparency, checks and balances are our best strategy to avoid following the path Greg and so many others have walked. .
So true! I read Three Cups of Tea last summer and was also touched by the story. You’re right on with your tips. Two that I would add are to:
1) Don’t run away from the media. It makes you look like you have something to hide. and
2) If you’re a great visionary – but not such a great manager – find someone you can trust who will handle the management side for you. No one expects you to do everything on your own.
Thanks again for these great thoughts!
Sandy,
You are so very right. For me, this incident underscores how difficult it is for the boards of organizations led by founders to be vigilant in their fiduciary responsibility. I wonder who was asking: are our schools achieving what we want them to, are we spending our money appropriately, how can we ensure that there isn’t any self-dealing by anyone, especially our CEO/founder.
What can easily be rationalized in the board room among a group of founder fans and insiders often doesn’t bear up to scrutiny when it’s on the front page of the newspaper, or in this case, 60 Minutes.
What’s saddest for me is that our sector keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Founders bear a particular burden for ensuring the highest standards of integrity for their organizations.
I think you are right in that this is a great lesson for nonprofits. I would bet that most organizations do not have a crisis communications plan in place for situations that impact not only the nonprofit, but the community you serve. Having a plan in place before a crisis makes all the difference in the world and goes a long way in handling a difficult situation properly.
Sandy, thanks for taking time to point out the lesson in the story. Reputation is so valuable that it can be impossible to recover from damage.
I am always excited to hear client stories where donors come after an event and mention how impressed he/she was with an event and how well run it was. The unspoken message is that if an organization can run an event so well, surely they’ll manage my donation well. Unfortunately, we know the opposite is also true, donors won’t give if they think funds are mismanaged.
Dear Gayle,
“this incident underscores how difficult it is for the boards of organizations led by founders to be vigilant in their fiduciary responsibility.”
Thank you for writing about how boards need to be more vigilant. I would amend your statement to “more vigilant in EVERY WAY.” Because sometimes it’s not the financials that need to be looked at, it’s the operations of the organization. The financials are easy to see, because of the 990 and monthly reports, but corruption, abuse, and unethical behavior on the part of program staff are much harder to spot from the bird’s eye view of the board, unless one board member is also volunteering, creating relationships with staff, and seeing firsthand the struggles of employees to do the work.
That said, I have read 3 cups of tea as well, and believe that Greg M. should not have bought his own books with the organization’s money. That just strikes of an author “pretending” their book is a best-seller by buying all of the copies in each store they go to do a book tour in. Naming no names.
Mazarine
http://wildwomanfundraising.com
Thanks Mazarine. I think there’s MUCH to learn from this situation.
Sandy