Ordinarily I like to find stories in the news that exemplify when a nonprofit board has failed. Conflicts of interests are one of those areas where failure comes pretty regularly. But today I have found a good thought piece that, if shared among board members ahead of a generative conversation that can subsequently lead to policies and procures about conflicts of interest. And yes, I know by now that almost every nonprofit board has a conflict of interest policy and requires an annual signing of a statement that each board member will look out for and acknowledge when/if a possible conflict is facing them. Just the same I would offer it can't hurt to take some time and ensure all is in order. The article, from The Legal Intelligence (yes, quite a name) discusses all things conflicts of interest and offers guidelines. One particularly interesting item I found was a standard of reference regarding when or what is a conflict of interest. This is referred to as the "front page test" which, according to the piece asks:
if a member of your organization’s actions and decisions for the nonprofit were splashed on the front page of a newspaper, would the average person identify a conflict?
Would it be easy for everyone to recognize how the board member gave preferential treatment to his or her own interests ahead of the charity’s?
Thought for the day....