Dealing With Disreputable Donors
“Most colleges have a gift-acceptance policy that hopefully guides the higher officials, like a president, that would give them some guidance in terms of who they can accept gifts from and what the considerations are,” said Don Heider, executive director for the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, who stressed the need for an established policy.
“The time to think about these things isn’t at the moment or afterwards; the time to think through your policy is beforehand,” Heider said. “Then there’s a sense of clarity and values early on.”
The Markkula Center encourages potential recipients to identify ethical issues, gather all relevant facts, weigh stakeholder concerns and evaluate possible conflicts with the organization’s mission and values.
Don Heider, executive director, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics quoted by Inside Higher Ed.