Ethics Still a Hot-Button Issue in Philanthropy, New Survey Finds

SAN DIEGO, March 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ethics remain a hot-button
issue in philanthropy, according to a new survey conducted by Giving
Institute: Leading Consultants to Non-Profits, a Glenview, Ill.-based group
comprised of the nation's leading professional consulting firms in the field.
Results of the survey are being released at 1 p.m. today at the Association of
Fundraising Professionals conference, being held in San Diego.

More than half of the 445 total respondents to the survey were able to cite
specific instances they had witnessed of unethical behavior over the course of
their careers, with percentage-based commissions paid to fundraisers topping
the list.

Virtually all the respondents, who represent a cross-section of professionals
who work with or within non-profit organizations, strongly agreed that ethical
conduct is important as a component of philanthropic fundraising activities
and that ethics should be important in philanthropy.

While those results might not be surprising, they are important for the
general public to understand, as individuals must decide how and when to
donate to charities.

"Knowing that people in the field intend to follow ethical principles and
think they are an important component of fundraising should bring confidence
to donors," said George C. Ruotolo Jr., CFRE, chair of Giving Institute, which
recently revised and strengthened its code of ethics, which was first
developed more than 73 years ago, when the organization was known as the
American Association of Fundraising Counsel.

Another interesting finding of the survey was that 83 percent of respondents
felt that media reports of unethical behavior had damaged the fundraising
profession. "While it's important for the media to shed light on those
instances where organizations aren't living up to a strong ethical code, we at
the Giving Institute feel this makes for an even stronger call for fundraising
professionals to ascribe to a code of ethics that disallows the activities
that tend to make headlines," Ruotolo said.

About Giving Institute: Leading Consultants to Non-Profits
Giving Institute, an international association of leaders in the philanthropic
consulting field, is headquartered in Glenview, Ill. Its member firms have
specialties in all areas of philanthropic consulting. Its mission is to
advance the practice of philanthropy through research, education and best
practices.

For more information on the Institute, please visit its Web site at
www.givinginstitute.org.

SOURCE Giving Institute

Sharon Bond of Giving Institute, +1-847-530-1549, sbond@connect2amc.com