Foundation officers, evaluation, and ethical problems: a pilot investigation

Area of Science:

• Nonprofit Management
• Program Evaluation Ethics
• Organizational Behavior

Background:

• Foundation officers frequently engage in evaluation-related work.
• Ethical considerations are paramount in philanthropic activities and program assessment.
• Previous research has not fully explored the specific ethical challenges faced by foundation officers in evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and categorize ethical problems encountered by foundation officers during evaluation processes.
• To explore the perspectives of foundation officers on ethical challenges in their evaluation work.
• To investigate potential differences in the definition of ethical problems between foundation officers and evaluators.

Main Methods:

• An email survey was distributed to a sample of Council on Foundations member organizations.
• Respondents who had experience working with external evaluators were asked about ethical challenges faced.
• Qualitative analysis was used to categorize the reported ethical issues.

Main Results:

• One-third of foundation officers who worked with evaluators reported facing ethical challenges.
• Common ethical challenges were categorized into: Evaluation Findings, Internal Foundation Functioning, Evaluation Authorship/Ownership/Dissemination, and Evaluator-Focused Issues.
• Conflicts of interest involving diverse stakeholders were frequently reported.

Conclusions:

• Ethical challenges in foundation evaluations are common and multifaceted.
• Differing perceptions of "ethical problems" between foundation officers and evaluators may exist.
• A comprehensive understanding of both parties' viewpoints is essential for navigating and resolving ethical conflicts in evaluation.