Little normative ethical theory exists in the nonprofit marketing literature. Previous attempts at an ethical framework for the field of nonprofit fundraising fell short of fully considering the full spectrum of relationships involved in fundraising practice. We introduce the concept of Ethics of Care, an ethical theory that centers around relationships and interpersonal well‐being, as a philosophical foundation for professional ethics in the field of fundraising. We believe this theory provides a suitable framework in which to ground questions of professional ethics for nonprofit fundraising professionals. The adoption of Ethics of Care as a normative ethical theory for fundraising will allow applied ethical questions in the field to be explored in a way that more fully addresses all parties involved in fundraising and affected by its outcomes. Our paper illustrates the process of applying the foundational principles in specific ethical quandaries found within fundraising and aims to address the omission of the beneficiary in the majority of previous ethical frameworks and promote a new set of standards that fully incorporates and balances all stakeholders' needs.
PurposeThis manuscript explores the value of mission statement emotional content in the relationship between money raised by a nonprofit organization through fundraising efforts and the money spent. It proposes the emotional content of a mission statement moderates money spent and earned to ultimately to impact how much revenue a nonprofit makes through fundraising.Design/methodology/approachThe manuscript evaluates the qualitative turned quantitative data (via text mining [TM]) in mission statements from 200 nonprofits serving the homeless sector via a moderation analysis. After segmenting the sampled nonprofits by gross revenue, the authors analyze the impact of the positive and negative emotional tone in each group to determine how the content of a mission statement impacts organizational revenue.FindingsThe paper provides empirical insights about how the emotional polarity of a mission statement influences money earned through fundraising. However, the positive and negative tone of a mission statement impacts organizations differently based on size. For nonprofits that report an annual revenue of less than $1 million, a positive tone in the mission statement results in higher revenue. Conversely, nonprofits that report over $1 million earn less revenue with a positive tone in their mission statement.Research limitations/implicationsOwing to the specialized group sampled, the findings possibly only apply to the sampled group. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the relationships found in other areas of nonprofits. However, the implications of mission statement polarity influencing financial performance in any population should be of keen interest to practitioners when crafting mission statements.Practical implicationsThe finding that mission statement emotional tone influences the financial performance of a nonprofit has direct implications for the effective delivery of services in the nonprofit realm. Leaders of nonprofits can use the study’s findings to position their organizations to capture potential needed revenue in the crafting of their mission statements.Originality/valueThis paper uniquely exposes the moderating impact of the emotional tone in mission statements in relationship with financial performance.
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