This is a list of blogs cosnidering theories of fundraising ethics and/or theoretical underpinnings to fundraising ethics.
Click here to return to the main page listing blogs on other areas of fundraising ethics.
The fundraiser’s duty to ask – a philosophical rationale
It’s often heard that fundraisers have a ‘duty’ to ask for donations. Cherian Koshy argues that duty is grounded in the ethics of the specific role of the fundraiser
Choice quote:
“Fundraisers occupy a specific role in a morally necessary (and good) institution, which generates specific rights and duties that are different from other professions.”
The gaping hole at the centre of fundraising ethics
The investigations following the death of Olive Cooke were looking at how the fundraising profession needs to reform its applied ethics. Ian MacQuillin argues that we first need a theory of ‘normative’ ethics to inform these decisions – one that includes fundraisers’ duties to their beneficiaries, not just their donors.
Choice quote:
“The fundraising sector cannot carry on changing its professional ethics on the hoof, every time someone outside the profession disagrees with it.”
Fundraising practice and ethics are drifting out of alignment
Ian MacQuillin explores the implications of new insights from behavioural science on fundraising’s professional ethics.
Choice quote:
“Faced with this influx of behavioral insights, are fundraisers ethically equipped to know which one to use in which circumstances?”
Critical Fundraising 