Nonprofit Ethical Challenges

In dealing with ethical issues, nonprofit managers face a whole host of challenges that defy a simple choice between right and wrong. When there is no obvious way of prioritizing responsibility, resolutions of such dilemmas require careful consideration when looking at ethical options, so that decisions serve not only to the immediate problem but also align with the organization’s mission, values and ethical code. Speaking from personal experience, I have often observed a dilemma when a charity has received a donation of tickets to an event under the pretense that season tickets would be offered to the general public in an attempt to raise awareness and donations for the charity through the use of a raffle, or auction. Instead, these tickets were used to entice a donation from a wealthy donor. The dilemma is, while the tickets were in fact used to solicit a donation they were not used in the manner which was agreed upon when received by the charity. Non- profit managers are often faced with dilemmas not usually faced by other for-profit counterparts. This may be because they are driven predominantly by social goals, as opposed to goals associated with maximizing wealth. Research shows evidence that the problems experienced by non-profit organizations are all very unique …show more content…
One of the most pressing challenges is funding. In many nonprofits concerns over finding have arisen. Issues concerning the amount of money available for the provisions of services and the potential that changes in the nature of funding will comprise organizational goals. Nonprofits have a set of values and goals that they want to accomplish. Funding is normally required in order to achieve these goals. When the money stops coming in, that where the problems come in, thus presenting challenges for the management. Usually, when the funding is reduced, the management has to scramble to find ways to keep programs of