Alex Rostorfer

Managing Nonprofit Organizations 3140

Professor Tschirhart
March 22, 2015
Shark Fundraising
Childrens Family Foundation (CFF) fears a bad reputation will arise after Suzis attack
in the last interview. In addition to the organizations fear, there were some ethical problems
arising from a conflict of interest with the foundations actions.
Analysis
The two representatives became members of the CFF board for their own interests and
failed to meet their fiduciary duties. For these reasons, the board members lacked competency
and the duty of care due to this conflict of interest. As a result, they did not keep up with the best
interests of the nonprofit. All board members are supposed to attend a reasonable amount of
meetings in order to participate effectively and make the best decisions for the organization. It is
also important for board members to understand the sensitivity of politics and other actions in
this sector. These two failed to consider that. They did not have the best interest of the
organization in mind during this interview as they failed to show the important facts needed to
maintain the foundations positive reputation.
The public eye was always watching the organizations actions so they had a lot to
account for. An action such as over spending on fundraising should not have been completed if
the director cannot connect that action with a need or if the cons out way the pros. In this case,
the interviewer found multiple actions that were concerning to the public eye in which the
representatives did not substantiate with good reasoning. The representatives based their

responses on opinion which did not help as they already looked bad. They needed facts and truth
that would convince the public that they knew what they were doing and that the actions were in
the best interest of the organization. Without a solution, the organization risks losing its funding
from individual donors and anyone else who has contributed to the organization.
Recommendation
Before the organization looks into fixing the problems that they currently have they need
to publicly apologize for their wrong doing and explain that they are working on a strategic plan
to fix it. This strategic plan should include the following parts:
-bylaw revisiting/meeting or planning activity attendance

-ethical standards & knowledge workshops

-stakeholder satisfaction review
Revisiting the bylaws and setting the attendance rules can remind the board members
what is required of them while making sure that they are keeping up-to-date with the needs of the
organization. The organization could also set up workshops that help remind the board how to
react to situations in the most ethical way and include some knowledge refreshment on ways to
act in the best interest of the organization with their basic skills or competencies. These two
solutions may not solve everything so the organization should come up with a stakeholder
satisfaction review if they want to continue their success. This can be a graph that maps out the
different questions to ask each stakeholder in order to understand the needs. These can include
questions on what the organization and stakeholder expect from each other as well as how much
influence the stakeholder has on the organization. The last question to ask in relation to this
review is how the stakeholders would be evaluating the nonprofit. The organization should make
choices based on that while staying consistent with the mission and purpose. The exception is

when the results would stray away from the mission. In this situation the organization should
disregard the stakeholders position.
Justification
These solutions would allow the organization to fix the problems they have without
making drastic changes to the board of directors. It may even be a faster solution than finding
new leadership. By stating these changes and then acting upon them, stakeholders may see that
they are attempting to fix their problems and would be less likely to give up interest in the
organization. Revisiting bylaws and making meetings mandatory would make sure everyone
gained the knowledge on new activities so that they know what is expected of them as well as
become better prepared for different actions. Knowledge based and ethical standard workshops
would allow each board member to refresh the skills that are needed to be the best for the
organization as well as keep their ethical knowledge up-to-date. This can then prevent a bad
reputation by doing the wrong things. The members should have integrity, openness,
accountability, and willingness to help the cause. These workshops can help work on these skills.
It will also tie in to creating the stakeholder satisfaction review. They board members can ask
themselves whether an action is something they want to be remembered by and whether it is the
best option for the most amount of people in the organization. The review will have the questions
readily available to consider when taking actions. This will guide the decision to best fit the need
so that decision makers are not straying away from the true purpose. It is in the best interest of
the organization to use all three of these suggestions together to make the organization better and
the stakeholders happier.