Accountability and Values of Non-Profit Sector - Essay Example

NON - PROFIT SECTOR, ACCOUNTABILITY AND VALUES By Student Name Course code + name Professor name University name City, State Date of submission Non - Profit Sector, Accountability and Values Introduction The role played by organizations in the nonprofit sector in the provision of mechanisms aimed at strengthening civil societies and their governance, lifting marginalized communities especially in the developing countries from poverty to overcome structural disadvantages caused by marginalization and alleviate poverty is the recurring theme in the modern discourse. This empowerment brings about the participation of the marginalized and poor in the society into the economic, civic and social participation within their communities. This enables these poor and marginalized individuals to gain improved access to resources. Organizations in non-profit sector are viewed to be ideally placed in a better position to perform this role given that they are in close proximity to the poor and marginalized in the community than any other organization. It is important to note that the accountability of these organizations is downwards to the beneficiaries of their work which is important to effectively execute their functions as empowerment agents. Given that organizations in non-profit sector are value based aimed at public benefit, they have few incentives requiring accountability (Bertrand, 2000). Down ward accountability means that these organizations need to have some form of accountability to the people that they want to be empowered. It is however important to note that these organizations are not required by law to provide to their constituents any form of accountability. It is the broad values of these organizations that determine their downward accountability (Addleson, 2011). While other organization that work in nonprofit sector may argue that they too play a role in the development of the civil society, they are not governed or financed by the state. They are mostly governed by self appointed staff boards and they are driven from a religious or ethical point of view. The role of organizations in non - profit sector is to advance the community interests like poverty alleviation, achieving social justice, advancing human rights and addressing marginalization. This means that they are public benefit organizations. The major weakness to these organizations is the lack of a path for a defined form of accountability. This therefore leads to an accountability gap. Even the downward accountability whereby these organizations deem fit to exercise to the constituents is discretionary (Vaughan & Arsneault, 2014). Values in the Non-Profit Sector Organizations Organizations in non-profit sector are independent bodies that are self governing and voluntary in nature. They in most cases involve their constituents and supporters in their day to day activities based on shared values and interests. These organizations are formally registered and perform their functions from a non- violent approach (Vaughan & Arsneault, 2014). Values are the driving force of these organizations. It is their desire to have a world that is better than it currently is. It is due to these values that they pursue a value based and public benefit aims rather than political, social or profit benefits. These organizations are value based representing the interests of the poor and the marginalized in the society. General Accountability Accountability deals with the performance and conduct of an individual, group of persons or an organization at large. This means that accountability relates to ownership, power and authority. It defines structures that create relationships on who reports to who, who has more authority than the other in organizations. This then defines authority and power through the lines of accountability. Organizations in nonprofit sector have downward responsibilities to the people that they seek to benefit who are mostly poor and marginalized. The scrutiny of accountability by such organizations is difficulty since the functions that they are supposed to account for are complex and diffuse. There is also a limitation on the enforcement tools given that there is no formal membership number of the constituents that they are required to report to. The existing relationship between these organizations and the constituents does not include matters of civic entitlements but instead lies in a realm of favor and grace. The three core accountability requirements of non - profit sector organization have been identified as their mission and values, their performance in relation to their objectives and the role they play as civil actors of the society. In theory, it is the responsibility of the constituents and donors of these organizations who are supposed to call them to be accountable but in practice, there are few opportunities present to the constituents to do so. Thus, the question that lingers in the minds of many is on how these organizations can be held accountable by the constituents in order to get them empowered. It is worth to note that there are no easy models that can be adopted by the constituents to hold organizations accountable. The evaluations tools may include codes of conduct, audit guidelines and formats of presentations, things those constituents are who are supposed to hold the organizations accountable are not aware of. Regardless of the tools, it is the values shared by these organizations that can be accounted for after meeting the empowerment goals, poverty alleviation and enabling the poor to participate in sharing the economic resources nationally (Evers & Walberg, 2002). Accountability to Values Non - profit sector organizations use internal mechanisms to mediate their accountability with their values. Given the level of abstraction involved, these organizations use proxies that include staff appraisals and adherence to staff programs that reflect the values that the organization stand for. For example, an organization like World Vision adopts a criterion of staff selection and appointment that combines development knowledge and religious witness. This will ensure that these high calibers of staff with good values definitely respect and uphold those of organization ensuring that all functions are properly conducted. They become accountable to the values they uphold. Other proxies include humanist values, environment protection, gender equity and respect for the rights of humanity. It is important to note that no bodies have been put in place to hold these organizations accountable. It is their boards who hold the members into account on the values of the organizations; the board members having been selected on value based criterion serve the organization without necessarily being accountable to any one (Evers & Walberg, 2002). The agencies have humanistic based values that encourage participation and local control of the activities that allows for mechanisms to be put in place that reflect these values. The values can in certain circumstances constrain both the organization and the individual constituents in that when there is a conflict between those of the constituents and those of the organization, usually, the organization wishes that its values be adopted. For example, the organization might want to start an irrigation project aimed at producing more food in the long run while the constituents wish to have more hand outs and ready solid foods for the current use. The organization in this case might go ahead to implement the irrigation project which is likely to benefit the majority and for long, than the ready food for a short duration of time. This demonstrates fact that the organization aims at the values that will benefit the public and the way their priorities take precedence. Therefore, accountability of non- profit sector organizations are limited. They are not required to be accountable by law; they are not funded by the state to later demand them to account for their actions. These organizations use direct grants and tax concessions to fund their activities hence do not have to account to any statutory body (Edwards & Fowler, 2002). An analysis on accountability to values done on non- profit organizations reveals that most of them place high significance on being accountable to their broader values. None of these organizations express concerns of any pressure from government, donor contracts or any other temporal considerations. The values of these organizations may differ but they all have a similar source of origin, emanating from a religious or moral source with a concern for personal obligation, humanity and a concern for all the living things (Rothschild, 2012). These organizations do not consider their services they provide to the society as an end itself but instead as a means of responding to their values. This means the most important thing that they have always engaged in is values as opposed to accountability. The most prevalent value among these organizations is a vision of what is best for the society. The values articulated are mostly service oriented. Christian missions advocate for good news and moral ethics. Others value notions of justice and fairness. They are committed in working to help the disadvantaged, neglected, sick and poor. They are more concerned with integrity, solidarity and partnering with the donors and agencies that can help them reach out to the communities and change the lives of their constituents. In the selection of the staff, those with values identified with the ones held by the organization are given priority. This underscores the importance attached to values by organizations in the non - profit sector. There is a belief that if the individuals facilitating the activities of the organization have good values and uphold those of the organization, then they can successfully execute the functions of the organization (Ross, 2012). In some cases, the organization can hold their members accountable especially when their program changes going against the values of the organization. For instance, if there are changes not anticipated, and then the responsible individual who was in charge must be held liable and account for the changes. Responses also from the constituents concerning their level of involvement are measures used to determine the level of accountability (Thayer, 2010). Another measure of accountability is on the relationship between the organization and the donor. Some organizations reject huge donations and grants from certain donors whose close analysis of their values are not reflecting those of the organization (Whaites, 2002). Some organizations in the past have ceased relationships or declined good offers on grounds of values where there are inconsistencies between those of the agency and the donor. This is an indication that organizations in the non-profit sector have concentrated mostly on values and limited their accountability (Vaughan & Arsneault, 2014). Accountability to Constituents While there is a lot of information on participation and development by the organizations, which gives a certain level of control and accountability, there is less practice of actual process of downward accountability that might be adopted by these organizations. Participation alone is a poor measure of accountability. This is due to the fact that participation can range right from propaganda to actual control. Therefore, as propaganda, it is a poor measure of accountability. This means that involving members of the community, the poor and the marginalized in the functions of their organization cannot be a good measure of accountability; they may be working with the organization but under total control of such organization, therefore, their engagement only acts as a public relations exercise. This disqualifies reliability of downward accountability (Qatar Financial Centre, 2009). In as much as empowerment comes from within an individual or group of persons, it cannot be imposed or dispensed with. These organizations only play a role in facilitating the empowerment process. The danger from this action is the fact that these organizations might exert their influence and power prescribing what they might consider empowering is. Therefore, it is fundamental that these organizations concentrate on values that will create an enabling environment for the members of the community to benefit and share in the national resources through economic participation (Raymond, 2004). Organizations in non -profit sector in striving to empower individual need to have values that ensures such individuals are not disempowered later on by developing over dependency. The organizations take into consideration values for example having a society with acceptable social behaviors. To achieve this, individuals are sensitized on the impacts of engaging in acts like addiction to alcoholism and smoking of cigarettes, ways of avoiding violent acts and on how to prevent diseases like HIV / AIDS. While undertaking to uphold such values and functions within the community, these organizations will be successful when they reduce such vices in the society and empower people through poverty eradication. The reduction of such vices is a good prove of accountability, showing that the values of the organization have had an impact in the lives of the people in the community (Rothschild, 2012). Erosion of Values The fact that the behavior of organizations in non – profit sector does not mean that these values are immutable. They can easily be eroded with the passage of time, expansion and growth of the organization and with new members of staff. This is also bound to change when there are changes in the preference of donors. The values of these organizations are not given but instead worked for and maintained throughout. This is due to the fact that external influences, time and growth can erode them. Large and small organizations are most vulnerable for value erosion. This happens in large organizations because of their complex nature while the small organizations can compromise on their values in order to get funds from a donor to continue with their operations (Vaughan & Arsneault, 2014). In conclusion, it is fair to postulate that this paper has critically analyzed the view that organizations in the non- profit sector demonstrate the need to limit their accountability for the sake of other values. It has been noted that these organizations are formed based on values that are mainly community oriented. They work to alleviate poverty and enable the marginalized to participate in the economic development and have a share of the natural resources. Given that these organizations don’t get funded from the state, they have little to be accountable for. They are mainly funded by donors and other partners with whom they share common values. These organizations can have a downward accountability to the constituents and supporters but there are no strong links that can sufficiently hold them accountable. Therefore, the only way out is for this organization to concentrate on values such that the moment their projects are implemented and the associated benefits trickle down to the members of the society, then they will have proved to be accountable. References List Addleson, M. 2011. Beyond management Taking charge at work. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. Bertrand, C. J. 2000. Media ethics & accountability systems. New Brunswick, N.J., Transaction Publishers. Caulfield, H. 2005. Accountability. Oxford, Blackwell Pub. Evers, W. M., & Walberg, H. J. 2002. School accountability. Stanford, Calif, Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University. Edwards, M., & Fowler, A. 2002. The Earthscan reader on NGO management. London, Earthscan. Qatar Financial Centre. 2009. Qfinance: the ultimate resource. London, Bloomsbury. Raymond, S. U. 2004. The future of philanthropy: economics, ethics, and management. Hoboken, N.J., John Wiley & Sons. Rothschild, S. 2012. The Non Nonprofit For-Profit Thinking for Nonprofit Success. Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons. Ross, S. 2012. Expanding the Pie Fostering Effective Non-Profit and Corporate Partnerships. Sterling, Stylus Pub. Thayer, M. 2010. Making transnational feminism: rural women, NGO activists, and northern donors in Brazil. New York, Routledge. (2010). Accountability. [S.l.], General Books. Vaughan, S. K., & Arsneault, M. 2014. Managing nonprofit organizations in a policy world. Thousand Oaks, Calif, CQ Press. Whaites, A. 2002. Development dilemmas: NGO challenges and ambiguities. Monrovia, Calif, World Vision International. 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