Ethics of Soliciting Donations from Employees

Is it OK for nonprofit employers to solicit donations from employees? We think the NYT’s ethicist gets the advice about right here. What we’d like to point out is that this discussion illustrates two key points about ethics, generally. One is that, very often, the question isn’t “whether it’s ethical or not,” as if that’s a purely yes-or-no question. The other is that, very often, the question isn’t whether it’s ethical, but whether it’s ethical to do it that way. The “how” matters. >>>

LINK: Leaders are key to creating the right corporate culture (by Kwame Anthony Appiah for NY Times)

Employee-giving campaigns are not uncommon in the nonprofit world. But they go wrong when they hint at obligation. If your boss asks you for “gifts” in a way that intimates a threat to your prospects, you’re not exactly volunteering; you’re being, as they say, volunteered. The campaign manager’s remark that employees’ giving was “a measure of their support for the university” could well invite the thought, Who is doing the measuring? ….

What do you think?

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