Dr. Nivedita Narain & Deepanwita De
Head of Charities Aid Foundation India (CAF India) & Lead Marketing - Communication (CAF India)
Fundraising is an essential aspect of sustaining and expanding the mission of non-profit organisations in India. However, the means by which funds are raised can significantly impact an organisation's reputation and effectiveness. Ethical fundraising practices are vital for fostering trust, transparency and enhancing credibility. Fundraising professional ethics encompass applied ethics and are articulated through different codes of practice. With the burgeoning growth of retail fundraising and reliance on digital pathways to mobilise individuals for a cause, we are witnessing a growing awareness and commitment to ethical fundraising i.e. ensuring that the funds raised are utilised responsibly to drive positive social change, working in conjunction with the regulatory rules of the land. However, the shift in light of the emerging security, cyber laws, privacy, and web thefts, has given rise to a chaotic fundraising model, which the NGO sector has yet to comprehend and decode.
The essence of Aristotelian ethics lies in guiding people towards living a virtuous and fulfilling life, emphasising the pursuit of personal excellence and moral development. But before we take a dig at understanding ethical fundraising in the current context, there are two broad pathways, that involve the philosophical examination of the moral aspects of human behaviour and the establishment of rules and principles to guide it. Ethics encompasses the social or civil codes of conduct considered appropriate, which vary among different groups, professions, or individuals. Robert Payton, the first director of Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy once said, "There are no ethical answers, only ethical questions" While ethics gives us the intent and constructs our language, it is essential to note that it does not necessarily gives the correct answer, it is not a choice of right and wrong, but instead of differentiating between what is right and what is wrong. For example at Charities Aid Foundation India- Accountability and Transparency are two of our values that give us direction in conducting ourselves and demonstrating it through our interventions. Over the last two decades, CAF India has been pioneering in setting standards that helped us to create an ethical framework. To prove a case in point - while working on children's issues, it is our intent to collaborate with institutions and agencies that have rigorous child protection policies in place; we also have privacy and consent form that seeks to protect the identity and further use. Similarly, being a gender-first organisation, we also strive to work with organisations at all levels of interventions who are like-minded in approach and guided by the gender diversity and inclusion framework.
The ethics, privacy, and security dilemma
Ethics is the bedrock on which organisations are built. The systems, processes, regulations, checks and balances together contribute to building accountability. A deliberate attempt to disclose information brings in transparency and thereby builds credibility. Though there is no Hippocratic Oath for civil society organisations, the nature of the work makes us accountable and responsible through deeds and actions. However, understanding the code of ethics becomes fuzzier in an AI and robotics-ruled world. In an era, where machines can order pizza and self-driving cars are modelled to manoeuvre ethical conundrums, human-led fundraising ethics are becoming notorious, raising questions and assuming importance beyond the lens of good deed and intent. Such as, - while our presence has become ubiquitous digitally, transference of information (personal details) within platforms raises questions on privacy. Hundreds of litigations are filed every year, which in some or the other way encroach upon privacy security, digital competition, violations, etc. It is often observed that fundraisers uses business tactics of competitive benchmarking to get an edge – but the depth of this interference is unknown and anecdotal; however, it still raises questions on information exchange without permission. While keeping a tab on all these developments is hard, ethical dilemma necessitates a deeper understanding of the existing rules and any pre-emptive move. Fundraising through various mediums fall under the purview of ethical standards, especially digital fundraising, which is targeted through algorithms. Based on data analysis and algorithms, donors are often targeted repeatedly, to create a brand recall. While the intent might be transformative change, using exploitative images or stories, to elicit emotional responses from donors is found to be unethical. Similarly, using high-pressure tactics (both online and offline) to coerce or manipulate donors into giving is unethical and can damage the reputation of the non-profit and the entire charitable sector.
However, we need to be cognizant that ethics are ever-evolving and acquires a certain sense of fluidity when it comes to individual fundraising, especially in the realm of digital giving.
India has a mushrooming market of digital giving. According to a report Digital for Good: A Global Study on Emerging Ways of Giving, undertaken by CAF India, and Indiana University,
There are various schools of thought which debate and argue on normative ethics and effective altruism i.e. maximise good for those in greatest need. For example, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and the National Council of Nonprofits agree that compensating fundraisers based on a percentage of the money raised is not considered ethical, as it can create conflicts of interest and prioritise short-term gains over the nonprofit's mission. The former raises a contentious issue on the existential cost of sustenance. Of course, digital fundraising is not the sole propriety of NGOs but is used by businesses widely, however for NGOs, the larger question which we need to answer within the ethical framework is how do to meet the escalating cost of digital fundraising.
Conclusion
As crypto and digital money become a go to medium of spending, coupled with the rising growth of digital giving, ethical fundraising assumes a vital position. India has witnessed a growing awareness to ethical fundraising, mainly driven by donors of large scale, to ensure funds raised are utilised responsibly to drive positive social change. However, as civil society professionals, it is our duty to put the literature in practice. One way to do so is to create An Ethical Code of Practice for Fundraising Professionals, which can succinctly spell out the Do's and the Don't. Within our own scope of influence, we encourage NGO partners to adopt strengths-based messaging and asset framing, for example, instead of magnifying deficit of the community, the communication prioritises a person's dreams, tools and strengths. Similarly, it could also touch upon other norms and benchmarks, that will help NGOs to institutionalise ethics. It also needs to be noted that such a document cannot be a prerogative of NGOs, but needs to bring in the expertise of communication, data security, privacy, analytics, crowdfunding agencies, and donor perspective. While the legitimacy of such doctrine can still be contested, it would atleast provide us a direction and help us to differentiate between right and wrong, and could also encompass the legal boundaries of functioning.
