International NGOs sign new code of conduct
Howard Lake | 21 August 2006 | News
Eleven international NGOs have signed an ‘accountability charter’ governing their behaviour that includes a section on ethical fundraising.
The 11 organisations, which include ActionAid International, Amnesty International, International Save the Children Alliance and Greenpeace International, have publicly endorsed the first global accountability charter for the non-profit sector, although individual countries or organisations have their own charter, such as the Institute of Fundraising’s Donors’ Charter in the UK (which is currently under review).
The charter seeks to demonstrate transparency and accountability and that NGOs deeply value public trust, do not take it for granted and are committed to sustaining and deepening that trust and sets out core values and operating principles for international NGOs. The signatories to the charter say they are not reacting to outside pressure.
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Its Ethical Fundraising section covers donors, use of donations, gifts in kind and agents. It promises to inform donors about causes, about how their donation is being used, about the status and authority of fundraisers and to delete names from mailing lists. It also guarantees anonymity to donors except in cases where the size of the donation is big enough to bring into question the organisation’s independence.
Signatories will make sure donations are used appropriately and that those made for a specific purpose are used for that purpose. Gifts in kind will be recorded and published with the value and audit methods clearly described.
Third party fundraisers will be subject to written agreements and have to sign up to the charities’ own practices.
Signatories that do not meet the standards will be expelled.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.