Ethical Issues for Community Foundation Supporting Philanthropic Families

This paper was prepared as part of the Excellence in Family Philanthropy Initiative, a collaborative learning project among 19 community foundations (known as Founders). The objectives of the initiative are to share and develop best practices and resources for community foundation staff who work closely with donor families. The purpose of this paper is to identify some of the unique ethical issues and dilemmas that can surface in this work and provide guidance, where possible, on how to address them. The content is drawn from a survey questionnaire (completed by 14 Founders) and a 1.5 hour conference call focused on this topic. Both source documents can be found in the password protected EFP website.