Money Troubles

Felicia is the twenty-eight-year-old founder of a national nonprofit organization that works with schools, families, and volunteers to help create safe schools and communities. Some years ago, Felicia needed to raise money quickly. She talked with a potential funder about doing a challenge grant: if Felicia could raise $20,000 from other sources, this funder would give her an additional $20,000 Felicia and her coworkers at the nonprofit sent in a proposal, and then raised $20,000 from other sources under the premise of the challenge grant. Then the funder who had offered the challenge grant called to say that she had “changed her mind.” Felicia was faced with an ethical decision: should she tell the other funders the challenge grant had been reneged on, or should she keep quiet and keep the money?

Felicia is the twenty-eight-year-old founder of a national nonprofit organization that works to end violence by working with elementary-school children. Her organization forms partnerships with schools, families and young-adult volunteers to help create safe schools and communities.

Felicia was raised as a Unitarian Universalist and plans on becoming a minister. She believes that things “bigger than us” call to us, and “that is holiness.” Faith and spirituality are both very important to her work; she believes we all struggle and can’t survive without hope. Felicia hopes that her nonprofit will help children find hope when they are in difficult situations.

Keeping a nonprofit organization running is difficult, and finances are typically a challenge. Most leaders like Felicia depend on the financial assistance of individuals and on private and government foundations to fulfill the organization’s needs. Finding a balance between serving a mission (like ending violence) and pleasing funders can be particularly difficult.

Some years ago, Felicia needed to raise money quickly. She spoke to a funder who agreed to a challenge grant: if Felicia could raise $20,000 from other sources, she would give her an additional $20,000. She went out, under the premise of this challenge grant, and raised $20,000 from other funders. When she got back in touch with the funder who had offered the challenge grant, the funder said that she had “changed her mind.” Felicia was then faced with an ethical decision: should she tell the other funders the challenge grant had been reneged on, or should she keep quiet and keep the money? Here’s how she explains the situation:

“We needed to raise some money fairly fast. I talked with a woman about doing a challenge grant. We sent in the proposal, but she never said yes. Then she went [away] for a couple of weeks. So I started fundraising, and [the challenge grant] helped us raise probably $20,000 we would not have raised otherwise. [Then she called us and said that] she is not doing a challenge grant. Do I go back and tell those folks that she changed her mind? I probably should. I am not going to. I just don’t have the time, and it’s not worth the energy, and it’s hard. So there are a lot of things like that that govern my day-to-day work.”

Felicia will undoubtedly be doing good with the money she raised.

Was it wrong for Felicia to keep quiet? Does the fact that she is “doing good” with the $20,000 influence your opinion? What would you have done in Felicia’s situation?