It was good to see that the Chronicle of Philanthropy is covering Donor Codes of Conduct in their article “Donor Codes of Conduct to Fight Sexual Harassment of Nonprofit Fundraisers Are Growing More Common“. It was also nice to see Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation profiled in that article along with their CEO Sandra Hawken, and their leading work in this area.
The article notes:
Some fundraising observers believe donor codes of conduct reduce sexual and other types of harassment, something more than a quarter of fundraisers say they encounter, according to 2022 research. Experts say nonprofits need to make donors more accountable and set limits to reduce problematic donor behavior — including donors pushing organizations to take on projects that are outside their mission or trying to involve themselves in nonprofits’ day-to-day operations.
“A donor code just sets a tone for what the organization is willing to tolerate,” says Jessica Rose, who is director of philanthropy and development at the CNIO, the Spanish National Cancer Research Center, and also conducts fundraising research. “At so many organizations, nobody wants to do anything that will endanger the gift. That’s a real shame because it’s hard to work in an organization where the gift is the most important thing.”
…
Hawken says the group has had zero complaints from donors about the policy. She also said her board fully backed the initiative. During discussions to approve the policy, some board members showed unwavering support.
“Someone asked, ‘What if a donor sees this and is offended?’” Hawken says. “I didn’t even have to answer that question because the chair of my governance committee quickly said, ‘Well, there’s nothing offensive about this. We don’t want money from people who are going to be harassing or oppressing our staff in any way.’ They felt really proud as a board that they were early adopters.”