Community Concerns: Bill of Rights affirms organizations' current practices

Much of what I have written in past columns dealt with philanthropic organizations, the programs they offer to meet community needs and the fund raising that is made necessary by those needs.

But what about the other side of the equation, the donor who helps meet the need with his charitable contribution?

A group of charitable organizations has created a Donor Bill of Rights. Those groups consist of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives (thankfully soon to undergo a name change) in collaboration with the American Association of Fund Raising Counsel, the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

The bill of right's purpose is to assure that the general public respects the philanthropic process and that "donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in the not-for-profit organizations and causes they are asked to support."

Additional organizations have endorsed this Bill of Rights, including the National Committee on Planned Giving and United Way of America.

The 10 rights are:

1. To be informed of the organization's mission, of the way the organization intends to use donated resources, and of its capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.

2. To be informed of those serving on the organization's governing board, and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.

3. To have access to the organization's most recent financial statements.

4. To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.

5. To receive appropriate acknowledge-ment and recognition.

6. To be assured that information about their donations is handled with respect and confidentiality to the extent provided by law.

7. To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.

8. To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization or hired solicitors.

9. To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from mailing lists that an organization may intend to share.

10. To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.

My experience has been that locally, my colleagues in the fundraising field observe these tenets. However it is gratifying to see the rights articulated for donors and prospective donors.

Members of the local chapter of NSFRE, the Ozarks Chapter, are reminded of the Donor Bill of Rights annually.

The local members also pledge to adhere to the Code of Ethical Principles and Standards of Professional Practice drawn up by the NSFRE.

This organization presents an educational topic at each monthly meeting as well as a daylong conference in September and the Philanthropy Day Awards Luncheon in November.

Campaign kudos

Congratulations to Ozark Greenways on reaching the milestone of $1 million in their current capital campaign. The folks at Greenways are two-thirds of the way home.

Congratulations also go to Ozarks Family Resource Center project of Boys and Girls Town of Missouri.

The group is just about to cross the finish line on its capital campaign to build a center to help alleviate the urgent need for foster care in the Springfield area.

(Jan Horton is President and CEO of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. She is proud to be a lifelong volunteer, devotee of the arts, nature lover and environmentalist.)