Ethics of Care as a theory of normative fundraising ethics

Little normative ethical theory exists in the nonprofit marketing literature. Previous attempts at an ethical framework for the field of nonprofit fundraising fell short of fully considering the full spectrum of relationships involved in fundraising practice. We introduce the concept of Ethics of Care, an ethical theory that centers around relationships and interpersonal well-being, as a philosophical foundation for professional ethics in the field of fundraising. We believe this theory provides a suitable framework in which to ground questions of professional ethics for nonprofit fundraising professionals. The adoption of Ethics of Care as a normative ethical theory for fundraising will allow applied ethical questions in the field to be explored in a way that more fully addresses all parties involved in fundraising and affected by its outcomes. Our paper illustrates the process of applying the foundational principles in specific ethical quandaries found within fundraising and aims to address the omission of the beneficiary in the majority of previous ethical frameworks and promote a new set of standards that fully incorporates and balances all stakeholders' needs.     

Governing a union's external stakeholders: A prioritization method based on relationship quality and perceived impact

Stakeholder governance is a growing issue in the literature and for organizations. The complex and uncertain environment of nonprofit organizations forces them to prioritize stakeholder requirements. The traditional criterion of influence and power is nevertheless proving insufficient for these organizations, especially those in political or interest representation sectors. This article proposes to use the relationship quality with stakeholders and its components (trust, satisfaction, influence, engagement) as criteria for prioritization. The study is carried out within the “Young Farmers” union, a French 50,000-member union defending the interests of agriculture and of farmers under 35 years of age. It questions external stakeholders on the relationship with the organization and its impact and it enables to verify the relevance of these criteria. The results suggest integrating stakeholder emotions into the same-named theory and studying relationship quality as a process in which satisfaction builds trust that enables engagement, which itself has a positive role on influence. The findings also revisit strategic models of stakeholder prioritization by proposing the four components of relationship quality mentioned above as prioritization attributes. Finally, NPOs’ partners are invited to take into account the subjectivity of the evaluation process and thus to favor reasonable methods to avoid handicapping NPOs.     

社会组织与农村贫困主体消除的多元化

贫困所描述的现象是由于制度缺失而导致的诸多社会现象中的一种。消除贫困是摆在中国政府面前的一项艰巨任务。我国目前农村贫困现象非常严重。政府一直是消除农村贫困的唯一主体。由于其自身所具备的特点,身处国家体制外社会组织参与扶贫对于缓解和消灭农村贫困现象,提高农村贫困救助的效率,实现农村贫困救助主体的多元化有良好的促进作用。