Ethics and the Future of Non-Profits

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Ethics and the Future of Non Profit Organizations.

1. Introduction and background

1.1 Introduction
All nonprofit organizations pay special attention to ethical issues, because by being an organization without a clear ethical compass is very likely to loose the trust of the concerned community, damage the related clients' interests, and might eventually hurt the entire nonprofit community. A nonprofit organization with a profound ethical base, on the other hand, can focus on its mission and complete the goals it is set up to pursue. Non-profit organizations face some ethical dilemmas not usually faced by their for-profit counterparts. This situation occurs because of their constructively attempting to do 'the right thing' or because they are often driven predominantly by social goals. Either way, research shows evidence that the problems experienced by non-profit organizations are unique and distinct; and these issues might cause a big problem in the future of non-profit organization if not taken proper steps to solve these issues. The concerned issues include: i) Accountability to sponsors, donors & funding institutions ii) Internal human resource issues iii) Internal ethical reporting iv) Mission compliance v) Conflicting stakeholder requirements and so on.

While dealing with these issues, non-profit organizations often face dilemmas that defy a simple choice between right and wrong. These dilemmas usually occur when there is no single correct course of action, no easy way of prioritizing responsibility, and no precedent to emulate. In this kind of situations, non-profit organizations should to be intensely conscious of stakeholder expectations, ethical issues pursuant to them, and the ethical options available, in order to make wise decisions that satisfy not only the immediate problem but also facilitate long-term viability [1]. The correct and unbiased solution only can save the damage of the image of non-profit organization. The future of the non-profit organizations greatly depends on the decision taking strategy of the non-profit managers of these non-profit organizations.

While performing such action, non-profit organizations sometimes try to present solutions in concrete by means of using of codes or manuals of procedure. They may, however, also try to develop an ethical intelligence, being the combined wisdom of solved ethical issues. This combined wisdom entails, rather than generic solutions, a generic method of defining and resolving ethical problems. The development of ethical intelligence is thus facilitated by the mastery of a technique, known as the Business Ethics Synergy Star [2]. Such development might, however, save the future damage of the image of non-profit organizations.

1.2 Background
We might come across such a question very often, what is the right thing to do?- this usually means that the concerned person is looking for the ...