Table Of Content“Trust is the primary currency that enables the charitable sector to exist. Ken Phillips
reminds us of the need for charities to demonstrate trustworthiness. This is perhaps more
critical now than ever before. We are experiencing historically low numbers of people
donating to charities. If this is to change, charity leaders would do well to consider the
themes in this book.”
– H. Art Taylor, President & Chief Executive Officer, BBB Wise Giving Alliance
“Based on decades of practical, hands-on success with international charities, Ken Phillips
sets forth in this book detailed prescriptions for nonprofit organizations to build greater
trust from donors, increased impact for beneficiaries, expanded achievement of mission,
and achieve more fundraising success.”
– Renowned fundraising consultant Roger M. Craver, Editor, The Agitator, U.S.A.
“Trust in people, purpose, and performance is fundamental to establish and maintain
relationships between donors and NGOs, and is therefore a primary currency for all
nonprofits. Ken’s book, enlivened with personal stories and case studies, will help you build
trust and enhance your impact.”
– James Magowan, Coordinating Director, European Community Foundation
Initiative, E.U.
“Today trust and impact are the corner stones of fundraising and without them the whole
fundraising house will tumble. Indeed, I cannot recommend this book too highly as it deals
explicitly and brilliantly with both these key issues.”
– John Baguley, Owner, International Fundraising Consultancy (IFC), U.K.
“The importance of trust, impact, learning, and accountability of NGOs cannot be
overstated. In this edition of his civil society series, Ken Phillips shares knowledge,
reflection, and tools from his half-century of professional experience, underlining the role of
values, ethics, learning, and the vital role of evaluation for continuous improvement and
impact to enhance organizations’ achievements and increase donor support. He shares case
studies and practical experience from his decades-long career, reminding how account-
ability through leadership, transparency, and communication are core in these efforts. A
readable resource for practitioners at all levels of organizations.”
– Abby Maxman, President and CEO, Oxfam America
“I’m impressed with the topics Ken Phillips is addressing. Certainly, there is need to
improve the performance and impact of NGOs, both the smaller ones and the big ones.”
– Jim Rugh, Founder of RealWorld Evaluation, former Head of Design, Monitoring, and
Evaluation for Accountability and Learning for CARE International, U.S.A.
“Ken, you are an unwavering advocate of ethics in every organization – including
government. I am grateful for your leadership in the Rhode Island Constitutional
Convention Ethics Committee. As revealed here, your vision shaped what became the
most powerful Ethics Commission in the country.”
– Phil West, former Executive Director, Common Cause Rhode Island
“It is essential that NGOs have the capabilities and operational policies to document and
communicate that they work in an ethical manner and deliver the results they promise. Ken
Phillips take the mystery out of these complex expectations for NGOs and provides a step-
by-step guide to increase organizational success with increased funding and a more effective
organization.”
– Rebecca Morley, Principal, Rebecca Morley Consulting, former director,
Health Impact Project, Pew Charitable Trusts, and former executive director,
National Center for Healthy Housing
Trust, Impact, and Fundraising for
Nonprofits
Distilling decades of leadership expertise into an effective framework, this is a practical guidebook
for nonprofits around the globe, with practical recommendations for the urgently needed steps to
make this a better world. Charities in the United States and NGOs globally need to overcome two
glaring and persistent weaknesses in the eyes of potential donors: trustworthiness and effectiveness.
After examining possible causes for these deficits, fundraising and organizational development
guru Ken Phillips guides readers through the process that leads to greater trust and respect by
donors, better results for beneficiaries, significantly increased funding, and better and bigger
programs. Alongside helpful worksheets, he presents seven steps to make sure ethics are
meaningful, eight disciplines to ensure programs achieve good results, and a communications
approach to demonstrate responsibility and accountability, all interwoven with inspiring case
studies from his own international experience and other organizations’ stories.
Staff and volunteers at registered nonprofits around the world, as well as any individual or
group raising funds more informally, will value this guide to empower organizations to win trust,
raise more funds, and achieve greater program impact.
Author, strategist, and mentor Kenneth H. Phillips – called a Master of Fundraising and
Organizational Development – is internationally renowned for his expertise in strategy, team-
work, and leadership for nonprofit organizations and community associations.
Trust, Impact, and Fundraising for
Nonprofits
How Meaningful Ethics and Strategic Evaluation
Can Multiply Your Revenue and Expand Your
Program
Kenneth H. Phillips
Designed cover image: © Nick Zelinger
First published 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Kenneth H. Phillips, NGO Futures LLC
The right of NGO Futures LLC to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Phillips, Kenneth H., author.
Title: Trust, impact, and fundraising for nonprofits : how meaningful ethics and strategic
evaluation can multiply your revenue and expand your program / Kenneth H. Phillips.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2023. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022041999 (print) | LCCN 2022042000 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781032370798 (hbk) | ISBN 9781032370781 (pbk) | ISBN 9781003335207 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Nonprofit organizations. | Nonprofit organizations--Moral and ethical
aspects. | Nonprofit organizations--Finance.
Classification: LCC HD62.6 .P52 2023 (print) | LCC HD62.6 (ebook) |
DDC 658.1/148--dc23/eng/20221104
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022041999
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022042000
ISBN: 978-1-032-37079-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-37078-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-33520-7 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003335207
Typeset in Baskerville
by MPS Limited, Dehradun
Dedicated to those who initiate learning for ethics and evaluation
This book is dedicated to all the individuals and groups who make a difference in
ethics and evaluation – the members of InterAction, the voters of Rhode Island,
and the leaders of so many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for making
so much progress in meaningful ethics, strategic impact evaluation, and
stakeholder accountability and to all those non-governmental advocacy
organizations and community groups around the world who are working to make
government, business, and nonprofits more responsible and more accountable.
The best performing NGOs base all their work on eight key components of
their vision, mission, values, culture, goals, strategies, impact, and trust.
Vision Mission
Values Culture
Goals Strategies
Impact Trust
Figure 0a.1 The eight elements of strategic planning. Image by the author.
Contents
Contributors xi
Foreword xii
Preface xiv
Acknowledgments xv
About the Author xvi
Look for these paperback books and e-books in Ken Phillips’ Civil Society Series xviii
Introduction: The importance of the charitable sector and its two
biggest challenges 1
PART I
Meaningful ethics for trust 9
1 Funding in the charitable sector – Large but underperforming 17
2 Possible causes for the underperformance of funding 29
3 Decrease in public trust in NGOs and the importance of speaking up 49
4 How to earn trust and implement the seven imperatives for meaningful
ethics to be trusted and to increase funding 63
5 InterAction case study – Drafting a code of ethics in a participatory
process for greater ownership 76
6 Three progressive case studies – Developing stronger codes of ethics
with external verification 87
7 Rhode Island case study – Ensuring enforcement and sanctions for more
effective codes of ethics 97
8 Twelve lessons to earn trust – Clarity, assessments, sanctions, reporting,
and more 104
9 Worksheet for ethics and trust 113
