Broken Link in the Chain of Public Trust

There was a sad article in the NY Times last week about a nonprofit executive who was arrested on charges of stealing $5 million from his charity.  Most of the money went to co-conspirators and state legislators as kickbacks in return for government contracts.  But $1 million went into the executive’s own pocket.

Every time a nonprofit executive brings dishonor to him/herself, it reflects poorly on all of us and weakens the public’s trust in the nonprofit sector.  That’s why it is so important for all nonprofit leaders to be beyond reproach.  If you would be embarrassed to have your activities reported on the front page of your local paper, then you are probably doing something that will eventually hurt yourself, your organization and the entire nonprofit sector.   Don’t do it!