Reprehensible Behavior Effects All Fundraising Reputations

After a long investigative process, the New York Times released a series of stories about the past election cycle and some digital fundraising practices. The results of their inquiry made me sick as a fundraising leader. It’s these types of activities to destroy the reputation of all philanthropy, not just political philanthropy.

The investigation found that as individuals were making online donations, political organizations, through third-party online platforms, we’re hiding the fact that when someone made a donation, the first contribution would be repeatedly committed as additional gifts over time. Basically, if you gave $25, they would add another $25 in three or four days, and then another $25 in a week, an additional $25 in two weeks, and so on. Because the default was repetitive online donations and the information/disclosure was hidden deep in the website, people’s lives were affected negatively as they were surprised when several days or weeks after making the original donation, they found as much as 10 times amount of money was debited out of the accounts or applied to the credit cards… and then they had to fight to get it back.

While I’m not going to mention the candidate, the election level, or the political party, I will comment on the practice. It is reprehensible. It’s embarrassing to a profession I believe in. Trust is what fundraisers live on. And sometimes, if not most of the time, someone else’s actions affect the ability of those of us not even involved with the diabolical event to build trust with our donors. They read these stories. And they associate all of the fundraising together. As a result, when one group or individual destroys their own reputation and trust, it affects all of us.

While people did get their money back, in time, it’s an embarrassment at all levels. It’s completely disappointing and disgusting. This truly makes me sick to my stomach. We can all be reminded that doing the right thing is always the best thing, both in fundraising and in life.