“I had a meeting with the chair of trustees. The meeting did not go well. As we were walking away from the meeting, he put his arm around me and squeezed me to him whilst saying “this would all be so much easier if you were just friendlier, Jane.”

“He went to kiss me but I managed to wriggle away. My contract was terminated about a week later”.

……….

“He slapped me on the thigh and told me to ‘run along filly’ because my legs were better than his and so I’d find it easier to attract a taxi.  In shock, I said nothing and felt awful.  I told my boss the next day and she told me we couldn’t afford to lose the donor and that his generation don’t really mean it the same way as I took it.”

In a nutshell, these are painful and all-too-common examples of the fundamental imbalance of power between donors and fundraisers.  An imbalance that fosters sexual harassment, degradation and disgust.

These two anonymized reports from fundraisers were collected by veteran UK fundraiser Giles Pegram, CBE and posted in UK Fundraising under the title: Unacceptable behaviour by donors, condoned by charities. Things must change

They are not isolated incidents.  Giles collected them from a wide range of fundraising blogs and social media sites. (For some examples see Rogare’s  Critical Fundraising Forum on Facebook.)

And, they aren’t limited to the UK. The problem is just as prevalent in the US and Canada and everywhere on Earth where an imbalance of power and equality exist.

Labeling these incidents as “Sexual Harassment” only partially describes the problem in fundraising. In and of itself sexual harassment is indeed an immense problem that must be tackled. But when it comes to fundraisers that’s only part of the story. An equally abhorrent—if not greater– dimension of this problem is the abject failure of too many boards, CEOs and senior executives to openly confront and deal with these issues.

Sadly, these nonprofit boards and top executives choose to throw their harassed or assaulted fundraiser under the bus rather than confront and deal with the donor.

As the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) holds its annual conference in New Orleans, they deserve kudos for two actions that help confront this set of problems.

• AFP has established The Women’s Impact Initiative to assess, address and highlight the specific issues and challenges that women in fundraising face.
• And, AFP, along with the Chronicle of Philanthropy has released a survey conducted by The Harris Poll on the issue of sexual harassment in fundraising.

This is the first study of its kind and I urge you to read it’s troubling findings either on the AFP site or through the in-depth report in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.  A few chilling highlights:

• Donors are a big source of the sexual harassment that fundraisers face on the job according to two-thirds of the fundraisers who reported harassment. The other one-third said misconduct came from colleagues, mostly those in senior
• 25% of female fundraisers has faced sexual harassment on the job. Far fewer men (7%) have experienced the same.  96% of the people who harass fundraisers are men.
• 35% of the respondents reported that board members –who often make large gifts—have been at fault.     (See the Chronicle chart below for a breakdown of the perpetrators)

• Almost all those polled –93%–agreed that a zero-tolerance policy on sexual harassment should be enforced in the workplace, but only 50% were aware of the steps to take should they experience or witness sexual harassment.

What is most disturbing –and why I point to the failure of leadership—is that 58% of the fundraisers who reported harassment directly to their organizations were unhappy with the way they were dealt with.

• 45% said the organization took no action after they reported the incident;
• 13% said their allegations were minimized.

What to Do? 

Changing culture is never easy and takes lots of time.  Equally,  it will take far too long before those board members and leaders who are of “another generation” die off.  But, neither obstacle should stop us from taking immediate action.

Here are some actions Giles suggests:

• Make all fundraisers aware of the problem, and giving them guidance as to how to deal with it, including informing their manager.
• Re-assure fundraisers that they will be fully supported, and certainly not be penalized, and won’t lose their jobs.
• Give instruction to managers about how to handle problems raised.
• Have an organizational policy of zero tolerance.
• Create a process giving appropriate feedback to those donors/corporates/volunteers over-step the line and, where appropriate give them an opportunity to apologize.
• Institute a very clear procedure for dealing with situations that simply cannot be accepted, and must be dealt with.

And here’s some quite specific advice fromAnn Rosenfield, editor of Hilborn Charity E-News:

“While we need to worry about donors’ wellbeing, we also need to worry about our own safety.”

“Sending a fundraiser alone into an unequal power dynamic is to send them into risk.  In major gifts and planned giving, we fundraisers often meet privately with a donor at the donor’s home.  We often meet with a donor in a private office behind a closed door.

Ann suggests some alternatives:

• Meet with a donor in an office with the door open a few inches.
• Only meet with donors in public places. “This will not eliminate verbal harassment but should reduce it.”
• Adapt to the convention of always meeting with donors in a pairs.

Pairs?  After all, Ann notes, “We never have one person handle cash.  You always have two people.  The reason why finance procedures often involve more than one person is to limit risk.”

Finally,  to every board member, CEO and Development Director here’s Ann’s final piece of advice: “And if we are worried about the risk of fundraisers with donors, why do we not have equal concern the other way around?

Thoughts?  Suggestions? Please share how your organization is tackling these issues.

Roger

P.S.  The TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund, created to help those who face sexual harassment in the workplace,  has now raised more than $21 million in its crowdfunding efforts.  Maybe fundraisers should do the same for their sisters and brothers.

P.P.S. If you are a nonprofit leader, the DMA’s Leadership Summit on May 7-8 in Savannah, GA, will be discussing Diversity, Equality, Inclusion & #MeToo, including a speaker from AFP’s Women’s Impact Initiative.