Ethics and Accountability
in Advancement Services
Rebecca Boughamer
Agenda
 Introduction
 Defining Ethics and The Role We Play
 Management
 Accountability
 Q&A
Introduction
 Rebecca Boughamer
 Assistant Vice President, Advancement Services
 Database Management, Gifts Processing, Prospect Research, Budget and
Finance & some Donor Relations and Career Services
 UMUC since 2012
 Prior to that UDC, Marymount U and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Ethics
Define Ethics
eth·ics
ˈeTHiks/
noun
plural noun: ethics; noun: ethics
1.1.
moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior.
"Judeo-Christian ethics"
•the moral correctness of specified conduct.
"the ethics of euthanasia“
synonyms:
moral code, morals, morality, values, rights
and wrongs, principles, ideals, standards
(of behavior), value system, virtues,
dictates of conscience "your so-called
newspaper is clearly not burdened by a
sense of ethics"
2.2.
the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles.
Ethics
Define Your Role
 The Person Part
 Define your own moral standard
 Trust your gut – as long as your gut is informed
 What are you working to accomplish?
 The Group Part
 Do you and your colleagues share core values?
 Do your missions and goals align?
 Where do you fit in?
 Combining the Two Parts
 Strategy, management, communication and documentation
Ethics in Advancement Services
Ethics Management
 Strategic Management
 Policies and Procedures
 Strategic Plan Setting
 Benchmarking
Ethics Management
Strategic Management
 Guides or assists ethical decision-making and establishes accountability
standards
 Clearly defined management structure and division of labor
 Security checks and balances
 Ethical checks and balances
 Accountability and trust
 Clear chain of communication and open communication channels
 Who is able to communicate what information to whom?
 Transparency speaks volumes. Communicate policies and procedures.
Communicate decisions. If you don’t feel comfortable communicating it to
the masses, ask yourself why?
 Strategic delegation of responsibilities and power
 Division-wide
 Department-wide
 Organization-wide
Strategic Management
Confidentiality Agreements
 Employees
 Usually held by HR and IT departments
 Protect the organization and constituents of the organization
 Students or Volunteers
 Usually held by Manager of the student worker or volunteer
 Certain access granted; protects the organization and
constituents and the volunteer!
 Example for Student Agreement
Strategic Management
Maintenance vs. Inquiry
 USM = Ellucian Advance
 All databases have some form of Inquiry vs. Maintenance vs. “Super
User”
 Inquiry Access
 Access to view specific information through the system.
 Maintenance
 Actual maintenance of data; access to change information and run reports
 Super User
 Back end access and reports creation
 Why does this matter?
 Super users should be rare. Maintenance access should also be limited within
a department
 Procedures as to data work flow and who updates what are needed
Strategic Management
In-Office Information Privacy
 Secure Credit Card Numbers and SSNs
 Prospect and Patient Files
 Hard copy under lock and key/Digital files encrypted and
password protected
 No medical or health information for Higher Ed
 Available to prospects or patients at any time. Healthcare is
seeing more patients logging into online portals to access their
own information.
 Access and checks/balances.
 Example: If you hold the key to the safe, someone else should
have the code.
Ethics Management
Policies and Procedures
 The unauthorized “AdvServ Bible”
 Outline the management structure, responsibilities, and
expectations
 Donor Bill of Rights, FERPA, HIPAA, as well as internal
policies already established.
 Don’t reinvent the wheel like I did: document management is
actually easy.
 Document security access, confidentiality agreements, gift
agreements and other ethical happenings
 Revisit, edit or adjust as appropriate, but try and remain
consistent
Policies and Procedures
Pledge Agreements
 Verbal vs. Written
 Verbal cannot be entered as a technical pledge and cannot be
enforced
 Written pledge agreements should be kept as you keep your gift
files
 Should specify exactly what the donor and institution have
agreed on (time, contingencies, programs, etc.)
 Where are these files stored and who has access?
 Example of our Gift/Pledge Agreement
Ethics
Strategic Plan Setting
 Set goals




Individual and/or team goals
Align with the organization’s mission and department’s mission
Gather input
Be specific and realistic. It is OK to set “stretch goals” if you have a
plan for accomplishing them!
 Communicate goals
 Revisit progress toward goals
 Document metrics and progress
 Keep the metrics and progress for historical purposes, benchmarking
and accountability
 Promote your results. Data speaks volumes!
 Fun fact: UMUC’s President hails from the Institutional Research
department.
Higher Education
Special Cases
 Campaign Planning and Campaigns
 Campaign Consultants
 Interviews with Potential Donors
 Record keeping and reporting out
 Specific campaign-related agreements and policies
 Naming Opportunities, anonymous donors
 Special Events
 Auctions, ticket purchases and donations, oh my!
 Record keeping and reporting out
 Know the rules and policies and the expectations
Ethics
Benchmarking
 Benchmarking builds trust
 Should be multi-faceted: quality, quantity, pace, performance
 Compare against others
 Consider the relevance and importance
 Consider short-term and long-range impacts
 Specify desired outcomes
 Remain consistent
 Examples
November - FY15 Dashboard
Institutional Advancement
FY14
FY15Second-Half
Goals and Initiatives
Initiatives
1. Online Communications
• Increase
1. Area
1 contactable alumni per month
• Grow
Goal LinkedIn and Facebook by 5%
each quarter
• Goal
2.
Area 2 Strategy
2. Contact
• Goal
Deliver Monthly Digest/Event emails
• Goal
Launch new email communication
• Goal
digest strategy
• Develop digest email templates
3. Area 3
3. •Career
Goal Services
Increase alumni employer data by 3K
• Goal
• Increase
alumni participation in career
Goal
coaching services by 5%
4. Area 4
4. •Career
Goal Connection Mentor Prog.
Coordinate Career Connection
• Goal
experience for alumni with Career
5. Area
5 UG, Grad and Military teams
Services,
• Goal
5. •Engagement
Goal
Host Board meeting and retreat
•• Goal
• Execute Annual Awards Reception
6. •Area
6
Host Entrepreneurial
Event
• Goal
Support MBA Network Oath activity
• Goal
Munich Networking Lunch
• Goal
Maryland Theta induction
• Goal
15th Anniversary Waldorf
• Goal
Support Commencement activities
6.
7. Re-Enrollment
Area 7
Support development of reenrollment
•• Goal
campaign with marketing
• Goal
•• Establish
FY15 campaign schedule and
Goal
markets
7. Advocacy
• Garner Alumni Association Board
giving participation
• Support Thank-a-thon
• Support DMCCA Scholarship Fund
reaching 150K goal
• Launch 2014 Alumni Survey
Area #1
FY14
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
FY14
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Benchmark
Area #2
• Success
Benchmark
• Progress
• News
Benchmark
• Stat
Benchmark
• Milestone
Benchmark
• Event
Benchmark
Area #3
November Highlights
FY14
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
FY14
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
FY14
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
• Success
Benchmark
Area
Benchmark
Benchmark
Area
Visualization of Key Progress
14,000
Benchmark
12,000
FY12
10,000
FY13
Benchmark
Benchmark
Area
FY14
FY14
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Benchmark
Area
8,000
FY15
6,000
FY14
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
4,000
Benchmark
Benchmark
Benchmark
2,000
0
Benchmark
2
Benchmark
1
*updated 12.1.14
Ethics
Accountability
ac·count·a·bil·i·ty
əˌkoun(t)əˈbilədē/
noun
noun: accountability
1.the fact or condition of being accountable; responsibility.
"their lack of accountability has corroded public respect"
synonyms:
responsibility, liability, answerability
"there must be accountability for the
expenditure of every public cent"
Accountability
Why?
 Why is it Important?
 Organizational integrity, trust
 Speaks to the mission
 Trust with donors and constituencies
 Trust in the public eye
 Personal integrity
 Your rep is at stake
 Your career is at stake
 Why not?
 Short-term and long-term impacts of unclear accountability
Accountability
How?
 Decision-making
 Have clearly defined roles and responsibilities
 Have a basis for decisions
 Look at short-term and long-term impacts.
 Documentation
 External
 CASE Reporting Standards & Management Guidelines
 AASP best practices
 Internal
 Core data best practices
 Document management policies
 Departmental project plans
 Consistency
 Reliable work flow and communications channels
 Reliable data, benchmarking and metrics (again!)
Accountability
Example
 Higher Education is being scrutinized across the nation and
asked to justify or prove their value.
 Gainful employment is a key factor
 Get ahead of this “new” accountability standard
 Analyze your existing data for support
 Prepare your database for new measurements
 Discuss with your department and across departments
 Familiarize all staff with the issues at hand and keep an open discussion.
Get your staff involved!
Ethics in Advancement Services
In Summary
 Ethical decision-making is important at all levels across all
organizations.
 Everyone plays a role
 Strategic management and transparency are key
 Understand the significance of accountability and the part
you play; guide your own moral compass.
QUESTIONS