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Subscribe to receive the Standards for Excellence Institute® bi-monthly Newsletter>> Standards for Excellence Institute® Newsletter Table of Contents
Feature: What’s Leaking Around Your Water Cooler? What a Breach of Confidentiality Could Cost You As employees, board members, and volunteers of nonprofit organizations, we are privy to quite a bit of private information. Operations staff have access to personnel and financial records; development staff have information about major donors; program staff may collect client information through surveys and interviews; board members participate in confidential board discussions; and even interns may have access to client records and intellectual property. In this day and age, confidentiality can easily be breached not only though verbal conversation, but through electronic files, email, wikis and even blogs. Protecting confidential information in your organization will enhance its creditability and protect your organization’s resources. However, sharing confidential information with unauthorized parties, could have significant negative consequences. For example, a violation of medical privacy could lead to federal fines, civil and criminal penalties, identify theft, and even lawsuits. If the breach in confidentiality violates a grant agreement, the organization could be cited for violating the terms and conditions of the grant. Company business spread piecemeal or information shared out of context could create confusion among employees or create a negative perception of the nonprofit by the general public. There are several steps nonprofits can take to minimize confidentiality violations by employees, volunteers, and board members. The most basic way is to have a confidentiality policy as suggested in The Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector®. The most basic policy should specify exactly what information is privileged. Examples of information that should be protected are client, donor and member lists, medical records, case notes, financial information, trade secrets, data, technology, intellectual property, business operations, legal counsel opinions, and personnel files. The policy should also should explain the penalties for violating the policy. More sophisticated policies might also include a non-compete clause, which is used to prevent employees from using your organization’s confidential information by working in a related organization in your area. But is having the policy enough? You might also consider taking the following steps:
If you are in the market for a new confidentiality policy or are considering developing one from scratch, be sure to download our sample confidentiality policy from Program Service Educational Resource Packet in the “members-only” section of our website. It is also a good idea to seek the advice of an attorney to help you prepare the most appropriate wording for your organization.
Over the years, the Standards for Excellence Institute® and program have had many partnerships with college and university programs. In many of these partnerships, students have had the opportunity to learn about the Standards for Excellence® code in a classroom or web learning setting. Various types of partnerships and arrangements have been offered through colleges and universities around the country. Some of these arrangements are promoted or offered through Standards for Excellence® replication partners, others are offered through the Standards for Excellence Institute, and still others have been offered in response to a request from the educational institution. Spotlight on the Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations and Richland Community Foundation Partnership The Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations (OANO) is one of the first Standards for Excellence® Replication Partners and has a license to offer the customized version of the program to nonprofits throughout the entire state of Ohio. OANO offers all aspects of the Standards for Excellence® program to nonprofits, including the Standards® code, educational programming and the voluntary certification program. OANO has developed an innovative partnership with the Richland County Foundation to provide Standards for Excellence® training programs to nonprofits in Richland County. The Richland County Foundation is the largest private source of grants in Richland County, Ohio. As part of this partnership, OANO offered two Standards for Excellence® clinic series in Mansfield, Ohio with underwriting from the Richland County Foundation. The program is also supported by the Fran and Warren Rupp Foundation as well as the Hire Family Foundation. The organizations having perfect attendance at the clinics are eligible to apply for capacity building grants to help them implement what they learned. Six grants have been awarded to date for such activities as a board retreat, human resource training seminar, website enhancement and expansion, professional assistance in updating personnel policies, a program to increase public relations, marketing and volunteers, and a program for board development and retention. Program participant, Mansfield Art Center Executive Director, Paul Kemerling, said of the clinics, “We recognize that in the current economic environment that the Art Center must continue to strive to be ever more effective, efficient, and beyond ethical reproach…And these workshops have further empowered us in our pursuit of these goals.” Pam Siegenthaler, President of Richland County Foundation commented, “In these times of financial unrest, having the public’s confidence and providing accountability has never been more important to the success of public charities." Jennifer Williams, Executive Director of the Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations reports, “It is a privilege to work with the Richland County Foundation to share the best practices in management and governance with the nonprofit organizations in the region. This is a model that we hope to replicate in communities throughout Ohio.”
Prior to Jones’s tenure with CIS of the Nation’s Capital, he held leadership roles with the National Crime Prevention Council, The Village Foundation, and the National Law Enforcement Integrity Institute. Jones began his professional life as a police officer with the Prince George’s County Police Department, rising to posts including president of the local police union and the Maryland State Fraternal Order of Police. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Standards for Excellence Institute® Advisory Board Members of the Standards for Excellence Institute® Advisory Board include:
Chair Margaret Williams, Friends of the Family Gail Allen, Lockheed Martin Corporation Ann Boyce, T Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving, T Rowe Price Associates Foundation Michael Daigneault Melissa Flournoy, RAND Gulf States Policy Institute Fisher Howe, Lavender/Howe & Associates Paul C. Light, New York University Martina A. Martin, United Way of Central Maryland Dan Moore, GuideStar Lester Salamon, Johns Hopkins University Center for Civil Society Studies H. Art Taylor, BBB Wise Giving Alliance Kay Washington, Rural Opportunities, Inc. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Standards for Excellence® Certification Learn what it takes to successfully complete Standards for Excellence Institute® voluntary certification program. This free online webinar will cover the benefits of becoming certified; identify tips for charting your plan of action; present ideas on how to assemble your application; provide information on the application-review process; and offer the opportunity to ask specific questions about the certification process. Find out about the free resources available to Standards for Excellence Institute® members that can assist you with the process. Register for an upcoming session here.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Members of the Standards for Excellence Institute® For a full listing of members of the Standards for Excellence Institute®, click here.
Membership is open to operating nonprofits, grantmakers, associate members, and students.Joining is easy. You can join online or via mail. For information on how to join the Standards for Excellence Institute®, click here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the Road with Standards for Excellence® 11/17/08, Atlanta, GA - Session on Standards for Excellence® offered by Executive Director of the Georgia Urban Forest Council, Mary Lynne Beckley, a Standards for Excellence® Seal holder at the National Community Forestry Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. If you would like more information on how you can engage the Standards for Excellence Institute® to facilitate Standards for Excellence® educational programming in your area, contact Justin Pollock at jpollock@standardsforexcellenceinstitute.org or 301-565-0505 ext. 30. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Will 2009 Be the Year that Your Organization Earns the Seal of Excellence®? The Standards for Excellence: An Ethic and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector® continues to be a tool of choice for many nonprofits when strengthening the quality and integrity of management in their organizations. Join nearly 200 other organizations that currently hold the Seal of Excellence and demonstrate that your organization is responsibly governed and well-managed. Is your organization ready for the next step?
Mark your calendars for these application deadlines:
February 13, 2009 April 10, 2009 June 26, 2009 October 30, 2009 Learn more about the certification process here>>
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