Association of fundraising professionals and the donor bill of rights

Beyond Numbers, Jun/Jul 2002

The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) represents 25,000 members in 165 chapters in the US, Canada, and Mexico, working to advance philanthropy through advocacy, research, education, and certification programs. AFP believes that to guarantee human freedom and social creativity, people must have the right to freely and voluntarily form organizations to meet perceived needs, advocate causes, and seek funds to support these activities. The organization works to guarantee these rights.

AFP's first international office is located in Ottawa and supports 1,800 Canadian members and 11 Canadian chapters. The office also assists in the operation of the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy-Canada, created in 2000 to enable AFP members in Canada to directly support programs promoting philanthropy and ethical fundraising.

AFP created the Donor Bill of Rights in conjunction with the American Association of Fund Raising Counsel (AAFRC), the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). It has been endorsed by numerous organizations.

Donor Bill of Rights:

To assure that philanthropy merits the respect and trust of the general public, AFP and other fundraising organizations declare that all donors have the following rights.

Philanthropy is based on voluntary action for the common good. It is a tradition of giving and sharing that is primary to the quality of life. To assure that philanthropy merits the respect and trust of the general public, and that donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in the nonprofit organizations and causes they are asked to support, we declare that all donors have these rights:

I. To be informed of the organization's mission, of the way the organization intends to use donated resources, and of its capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.

II. To be informed of the identity of those serving on the organization's governing board, and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.

III. To have access to the organization's most recent financial statements.

IV. To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.

V. To receive appropriate acknowledgement and recognition.

VI. To be assured that information about their donation is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by Law.

VII. To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.

VIII. To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization or hired solicitors.

IX. To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from mailing lists that an organization may intend to share.

X. To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.

Source: http://www.afpnet.org