Running Head: FINAL ETHICS AUDIT 1

Rashae Williams
12/22/2021
Dr. Lois Warner
ETHICS AUDIT PART 1 – ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION

Hope for Haiti

Hope for Haiti is a nonprofit organization based in southern Haiti with the mission to,

according to their website (2021), “improve the quality of life for the Haitian people, particularly

children”. I have selected to perform an ethics audit on this organization because it is a great

example of good ethical behavior and demonstrates the possibility of ethicality in the nonprofit

sector. It also implements elements found in The Responsible Administrator by Terry L. Cooper

and has proven with 30 years of evidence to be a trustworthy and transparent organization.

Hope for Haiti was founded by JoAnne M. Keuhner (DM), over 30 years ago and now

holds the ranking of top 10 international charities with perfect scores on Charity Navigator

(2021). This means they are fiscally responsible and adhere to good governance and “best

practices that minimize the chance of unethical activities”. Charity Navigator explains that less

than one percent of thousands of charities reviewed have earned perfect scores. They further

reiterate their point by giving the charity a 4/4-star rating indicating that donors can give with

confidence to Hope for Haiti and know that their funds and donations will be used ethically and

that the organization will show accurate results.

In addition to having high ratings on Charity Navigator, the Guidestar website has also

published increasing successful results from the years 2009 to 2019 and noted that Hope for

Haiti received both the REAL Award (resilience evaluation, analysis and learning) and was

accredited by Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance in 2016.

Hope for Haiti has demonstrated financial responsibility and ethicality in their public

performance and execution of services in the country they serve. Charity Navigator shows that
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95% of all donations go towards running the program while only 5% is used for administration

and fundraising. This is a good indicator that funds are being used responsibly. Hope for Haiti

has been clear and transparent in their financial publications and consistently publishes their 990

Form online as requested by the IRS. The distribution of funds and financial management is even

more impressive considering how large the program has become with over 6,500 volunteers

currently involved and over 60 staff that run the program (2021).

According to the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance they were also given an

award for Excellence in Giving (2021) and have so far had an extensive impact. They’ve

educated over 6,000 students, given medical consultations to over 16,000 people and now almost

8,000 people have access to clean water because of Hope for Haiti. So, not only are they

accredited and awarded various things by various charity organizations and watch programs, but

they have the results to prove effectiveness and efficiency.

According to Excellence in Giving (2021), the way staff is organized in this program aids

in good ethical performance because there is a system of checks and balances and no one person

has total power. The staff for this program is organized with CEO, Skyler Badenoch, at the head

followed by different positions such as program managers, drivers, directors, assistants, nurses,

and coordinators of 13 paid staff and 136 volunteers. The program overall is governed and run

by a board of 15 members with Kuehner as an emeritus member now supporting work but not

involved with decision making. There is also a corporate advisory council of four advisory

members separate from the board that board members can consult and discuss ideas and

solutions with, as shown on the Hope for Haiti website (2021). Volunteers follow orders

delegated from the staff through the board and those decisions are then implemented throughout

the program.
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In chapter six of Terry L. Cooper’s textbook The Responsible Administrator (2012) he

emphasizes the importance of organizations creating and abiding by a code of ethics. Hope for

Haiti requires staff and board members read and sign a code of ethics before joining the team,

which was a practice adopted in 2015, reflecting the value they also place on encouraging and

requiring their organization to uphold their ethicality (hopeforhaiti.com, 2021).

On their website, Hope for Haiti has been careful to outline their ethical beliefs on

donations from donors and organizations. They seek to ensure “that philanthropy merits the

respect and trust of the general public, and that donors and prospective donors can have full

confidence in the not-for-profit organizations” (2021). They then provide a list of 10 promises or

statements that clarify what they will do as an organization to reassure the public and their

donors that they will be transparent in their performance and ethically trustworthy. For example,

one statement promises that donors will be informed of staff and program identities and that they

will exercise prudent judgment while another promises public access to all recent financial

records.

Hope for Haiti is a very well-known and public organization, which makes it that much

more imperative they focus efforts on transparency and ethicality in their work. They have an

entire page dedicated to posts from the media, news reports, public statements, and records of

their impact in Haiti over the past few years, as well as current events and how their team is

responding to recent crises (such as the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck in August). They

also include a live footage map where public eyes can track where their service efforts are

concentrated at any given moment.

In conclusion, Hope for Haiti is not just proven to be a good example of ethicality in the

nonprofit sector by various organizations and watch programs, but they have the results and
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success to prove it over a 30-year period. They advance the public interest through their public

service and have the organizational infrastructure and staff to ensure longevity, reliability,

confidence, and ethicality in their decision-making processes. Their financials and record

keeping are consistent, clear, readily available, and well-managed. They seek to promote

excellence and accomplish their goal of improving the lives of Haitian people, especially

children. They are organization worth doing an ethics audit on because they can provide good

information and feedback for ways other nonprofits or public organizations could potentially

improve in their ethicality and financial transparency.

ETHICS AUDIT PART 2 - DIAGRAM

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ETHICS AUDIT PART 3 – STRUCTURED REPORT

Assessment of Ethicality - Hope for Haiti

Hope for Haiti is a nonprofit organization founded over 30 years ago that has an

extensive history of transparency and ethicality in their administration, performance, and the

media. Their ethics infrastructure, while not perfect, is well organized and conducive to clarity

and maintaining good ethicality in the nonprofit sector. This paper will describe and discuss

Hope for Haiti’s ethical achievements and how they manage these successes based on their ethics

management infrastructure. Figure 1, which was created based on their written ethics

infrastructure as outlined and updated on their website by CEO Skyler Badenoch (2019) will be

used as a reference.

Figure 1

While Hope for Haiti has most recently been commended publicly for their quick

reaction and service in Haiti following the recent earthquake, their most impressive achievement
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for the past several years concerning ethicality is to receive a 4-star or exceptional rating on

Charity Navigator (2021). They also claim scores of 100% in each outlined category,

encouraging donors that they can “give with confidence” and the public to trust in transparency.

There are many reasons for this rating, the first of which has to do with their initial approach to

new staff and board members, as seen in Figure 1. All staff, when hired, are required to sign a

confidentiality policy and are sworn to follow the code of conduct/ethics previously established

by the organization. This code encourages fiscal accountability and organizational transparency,

which is a daily focus of all staff and organization members. The confidentiality policy ensures

staff members keep donor information private and safe so donors can be trusted to send funds

without worrying about their information being made available to the public. Having staff sign

these documents upon working at the organization encourages trust and accountability to each

other. However, this is not all that is required in order to have ethical success.

Another reason why Hope for Haiti has such a good history and rating for ethicality is

because of their program and administrative infrastructure. The diagram shows a splitting into a

Board of Directors and Finance Committee. The Board of Directors in this organization is unique

in that it is an independent voting board, which “allow[s] for full deliberation and diversity of

thinking on governance and other organization matters.” (Charity Navigator, 2021) There are

also 15 members of the Board. It is encouraged that all organizations have more than 5 and at

least 10 to have higher diversity, independence, and discussion around difficult topics and

decisions. As explained by Olubunmi Faleye in a management review from MIT (2016), this can

also provide greater access to external resources and connections. Independent voting boards are

additionally encouraged and beneficial because they “are better able to oversee the CEO and

protect the interests of shareholders” Faleye further explains.

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There is also an official, public record of all Board Meeting Minutes, allowing auditors

and organizations to be aware of what is discussed and decided, while of course keeping

confidential information private (Charity Navigator, 2021). Having a Board of Directors separate

from the Finance Committee has also given Hope for Haiti the opportunity to focus on

developing and maintaining positive relationships with the Haitian government, which has

expanded their transparency and trustworthiness to organizations in other countries beyond Haiti.

The Finance Committee in Hope for Haiti has a history of transparency through first, a

history of “no material diversion of assets” (Charity Navigator, 2021). This means they have not

had any funds or assets that are unauthorized or used for purposes other than those approved, or

other than organizational purposes. They also have their financial audit completed by an

independent accountant outside of the organization, which is not required by law, but

recommended for complete accuracy and no bias. Many organizations fail to file their 990 Form

correctly or consistently, which can cause questions of their ethicality and issues with the IRS,

but Hope for Haiti not only distributes this form to the Board for review before filing, but also

publishes their Fiscal Annual Reports on their website each year. Financial Performance Metrics

on Charity Navigator also show that Hope for Haiti spends 95% or more of their funds on

program expenses, which is encouraged for all nonprofits.

As seen on the diagram, the finance committee also has responsibility for maintaining the

whistleblower policy and training staff on child protection. While this is not the sole

responsibility of the finance committee, they aid in efforts to accomplish these initiatives to

better distribute tasks and responsibilities within the organization, but all uphold the policies and

participate in the trainings.

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In addition to these organizational efforts to maintain financial and administrative

transparency, Hope for Haiti collaborates with Charity Navigator, GuideStar, and Excellence in

Giving to perform outside reviews and third-party opinions of their ethicality, which encourages

the public trust and discourages unethicality within the organization (Hope for Haiti, 2021).

It is noticeable on the diagram that the CEO is not a visible aspect here of leadership or

included in the ethics infrastructure at all. The CEO maintains a position of leadership and

decision making in the organization. Most of the responsibility to execute policies and decisions

falls to the CEO, as well as communication on behalf of the organization. Ultimately, the CEO is

the organizational leader, but when it comes to ethicality, all discussions and decisions are first

discussed by the Board of Directors and then information is sent to the CEO for verification, but

not for approval. However, the CEO does have the right and responsibility to share and report

any relevant information pertaining to ethicality or potential issues with the board before

meetings are initiated.

Ultimately, as shown in the diagram, the combined staff, which includes the Finance

Committee, Board of Directors, CEO and Assistant to CEO are responsible for publishing their

annual reports, upholding mandates as established by their confidentiality policy, and ensuring

charity collaboration all while maintaining best practices. Their organizational policies included

and built into this ethical infrastructure are used as constant guides and references of deferment if

there are questions, concerns, or if problems arise. These are what the organization is built on, as

Badenoch summarizes in her ethics report published on Hope for Haiti’s website and blog

saying, “strong systems for transparency and accountability… are two of the most important

requirements for achieving programmatic goals. …these practices are what we believe sets Hope
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for Haiti apart and our ethical standards will continue to drive the way we operate in Haiti as we

look to make an even greater impact in the lives of the Haitian people…” (2019).

All of these ethical accomplishments and scores are attributed to the ethical infrastructure

established when Hope for Haiti was first founded. They succeed in cultivating a culture of

ethicality starting with the Code of Ethics, then falling to specific responsibilities adopted by the

Board and Finance Committee. These decisions are analyzed and completed by the combined

staff and then the process repeats itself each year as decisions and programs change and needs

arise within the organization. This cyclical method maintains a positive ethical support system

when each year presents new information. Hope for Haiti’s impact because of their successful

infrastructure continues to reach thousands of youths and families as proven by Excellence in

Giving in their recent evaluation (2021).

According to the media, Hope for Haiti is a worthwhile organization, and is consistently

and frequently covered locally, nationally, and internationally in news articles, filmed reports,

and other coverage. They are featured in dozens of different magazines, news programs, and

articles. When grants are made public news, they are known to provide clear and concise

information about where their grants will be distributed within their organization.

Being so widely covered and well-known, while having its advantages and

disadvantages, requires Hope for Haiti to be careful and transparent in regard to ethicality and

financial management. In order to provide structure and additional media support, they have a

separate media inquiry line for those interested in contacting the organization that is headed by

Director Taylor Hebble. Hope for Haiti then publishes any mention of their work from the media

on their own website and encourages a following on nearly all popular social media networks.

(Hope for Haiti, 2021)

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In conclusion, Hope for Haiti has been awarded various high ethical ratings from year to

year on Charity Navigator, has a history of exceptional financial management and transparency,

and continues to be listed as a recommended nonprofit for donors by Excellence in Giving and

various other websites. Their ability to perform well ethically is owed to their well-organized and

established ethics infrastructure which separates responsibilities and implements a system of

checks and balances to ensure communication and clarity. Their Finance Committee is

transparent with the public by publishing audits and other information and maintaining donor

trust. In the words of CEO Badenoch, “In the name of full transparency, you are always welcome

to come with us to Haiti to monitor our programs in action, meet our dedicated staff, and see the

impact that you help make first-hand. Our team works hard to improve each and every day…”

(Hope for Haiti, 2021). 30 years ago, Hope for Haiti was founded to help serve Haitian people

and provide a better quality of life. Since then, the organization has not only been able to

accomplish their goals in doing so but has established a good ethical infrastructure and reputation

of ethicality in the nonprofit sector that continues to be applauded and awarded to this day.
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ETHICS AUDIT PART 4 – RECOMMENDATIONS

Final Organization Audit Part 4 - Recommendations

After a thorough examination and study of the ethics infrastructure at Hope for Haiti, it

can be determined and understood that their ethics infrastructure works. It has thus far proven to

be incredibly effective and well-organized and has managed to maintain an example of

outstanding ethicality in the nonprofit sector for 30 years.

However, no organization is perfect, and I did notice a few things that I would

recommend they change that would help them to, 1) adapt their program for a changing modern

world with advancing technology and 2) provide outlets for whistleblower complaints, private

staff problems, and management of affairs if problems arise or develop over time.

My recommendations are as follows:

 Establish an ethics reporting hotline

From what I gathered, there is no outside reporting line or hotline to call for reporting problems

or unethical behavior within this organization. This can cause problems when there are staff that

feel they need a voice and don't have an opportunity to resolve things without losing their

positions or taking their problems to a more public authority. This could also mean there are

problems already happening that we don't see because there's not an option to report them.

 Have a separate team dedicated to publishing reports and analyzing audits other than

combined staff

I understand that using the Board of Directions and Finance Committee to publish their audits

and review policies together has proven effective thus far, but these committees are already

assigned separate responsibilities that take time, dedication, and focus. It would make more sense

to have a separate ethics committee dedicated to reviewing all audits, organizational policies,
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who can then confer with the other two committees on board. This also eliminates problems with

conflict of interest. If the same groups reviewing the audits are publishing them, I could see

potential problems, even though there have not been any so far.

 Have mandates within the organization supported by organizational policies that are

specific

While the ethics diagram for Hope for Haiti already has some organizational policies in place

that guide their ethics infrastructure, I had trouble finding specific information about what those

policies were and how they were implemented. So, I would recommend that they:

1. Make the policies more specific and outline restrictions and consequences as part of the

sign-on requirement for each staff and

2. Use those policies to dictate and mandate ethical decision making throughout their

auditing and financing processes.

By doing this, all staff have a clear understanding of expectations and consequences when

performing work and associating with various projects. Using the policies as a guide from the

start, as with the code of ethics leaves no gray area or misunderstanding about requirements for

the organization or what they hope to achieve and receive from their staff members.

In conclusion, Hope for Haiti has good ethical performance and results. It is not a perfect

organization, so providing feedback for recommendations to improve it is important, but their

structure and system has proven successful and serves as an example for other nonprofit

infrastructures in the field.

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Bibliography – Part 1

Charity Navigator. (2021). Hope for Haiti: Humanitarian Relief Supplies. Charity Navigator.

https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/593564329

Cooper, Terry L. (2021). The Responsible Administrator. Chapter Six: Maintaining Responsible

Conduct in Public Organizations. John Wiley & Sons Inc. (pp. 127-159).

Excellence in Giving. (2021). Nonprofit Analytics: Hope for Haiti. Excellence in Giving.

https://analytics.excellenceingiving.com/overview/hope-for-haiti/

Guidestar. (2021). Hope for Haiti Inc. Candid. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/59-3564329

Hope for Haiti. (2021). Responding to the Major Earthquake in Southern Haiti. Hope for Haiti.

https://hopeforhaiti.com/

Bibliography – Part 3
Badenoch, Skyler. (2019). Trust, Transparency, and Accountability in Haiti. Hope for Haiti.

https://hopeforhaiti.com/trust-transparency-and-accountability-in-haiti/

Charity Navigator. (2021). Hope for Haiti: Humanitarian Relief Supplies. Charity Navigator.

https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/593564329

Excellence in Giving. (2021). Nonprofit Analytics: Hope for Haiti. Excellence in Giving.

https://analytics.excellenceingiving.com/overview/hope-for-haiti/

Faleye, Olubunmi. (2016) The Downside to Full Board Independence. MIT Sloan Management

Review. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-downside-to-full-board-independence/

Hope for Haiti. (2021). Responding to the Major Earthquake in Southern Haiti. Hope for Haiti.

https://hopeforhaiti.com/