Agency creates new code of ethics

About 800 nonprofits in Colorado Springs soon will be asked to join an initiative aimed at improving operations and ensuring ethical and responsible handling of donations.

The Center for Nonprofit Excellence, a Pikes Peak United Way program, will offer workshops starting next spring, said the center’s executive director Lynne Telford. A kickoff will be held this fall.

The training is based on a national model called The Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector. Developed by a Maryland team of volunteers in 1998 and launched nationwide in 2001, the program gives nonprofits a checklist of “best practices” to follow.

“The standards provide benchmarks to shoot for as organizations attempt excellence in management so they can provide the best services possible,” said Amy Coates Madsen, director of the Standards for Excellence Institute, which administers the program.

The program not only lays out the best methods of operation that apply to all nonprofits but also includes tools and assistance for achieving the standards, Madsen said.

The program covers eight main areas that incorporate 55 performance standards.

The areas are:

- Mission and program

- Governing body

- Conflict of interest

- Human resources

- Financial and legal

- Openness

- Fundraising

- Public affairs and public policy The standards teach, for example, that nonprofit organizations should have conflict of interest policies to prevent actual, potential or the appearance of conflict of interest. The policies should be reviewed regularly, and statements should be signed by board and staff annually.

“The checklist we will provide gives organizations a way to gauge their practices and tighten up practices, if they need to,” Telford said.

Howard Brooks, vice president of community impact for Pikes Peak United Way, said a standards checklist would be helpful for not only an organization’s staff but also board members and funders.

“We want to make sure the organizations we’re affiliated with are doing the right things,” he said.

The program is a response to numerous financial scandals at charities nationwide that have heightened public and government scrutiny of nonprofits, Telford said.

For instance, the Internal Revenue Service recently drafted a revised tax reporting form that would make it harder for nonprofits to conceal excessive salaries and questionable spending.

At a time when charitable giving reached a record in 2006 — an estimated $295.02 billion, according to Giving USA 2007 — donors and foundations that give grants want to know how their money is spent, Madsen said.

“When a nonprofit is working toward implementing the standards, they’re doing their best to be well-managed and responsibly governed, which is something donors should be concerned about in making their contribution decisions,” Madsen said.

Nonprofits in Louisiana have found the standards beneficial, said Nicole Louis, director of the Louisiana Standards for Excellence program.

The Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations has offered the national standards program for four years, and 46 organizations have not only taken the training but have also become certified through the Standards for Excellence Institute, she said.

“The number keeps growing — organizations have found a benefit as far as having proper procedures and documents in place, as well as an increase in board participation. Some have found an increase from funders,” Louis said.

Dick Conn, executive director of Partners in Housing in Colorado Springs and a member of a committee formed to get the local program off the ground, said he’s a “big believer” in nonprofit self-regulation.

“Standards raise the bar and can lead to increased capacity,” he said.

The four-year program is expected to cost the Springs’ Center for Nonprofit Excellence $243,000, Telford said.

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs’ School of Public Affairs, Pikes Peak United Way and the Inasmuch Foundation are also sponsoring the local training.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0235 or debbie.kelley@gazette.com