Caroline Schiavo
2020
Ethics in the Nonprofit Sector
Tainted Donors Analytical Framework Analysis
In the twenty-first century, nonprofit donations are under heavy scrutiny as a result of societal shifts of what constitutes acceptable morals and ethics. The solution seems simple at first glance, just do not accept these types of contributions. The challenge is a majority of the billion dollar nonprofit industry consists of wealthy donors who have complicated personal stories, hide behind anonymity, or play a direct role in the operational activities of the nonprofit. This analysis aims to discuss the core challenges surrounding tainted donors and the future prospect of accepting this tarnished money as communities fight illicit and immoral donations. Complex solutions involve the separation of stakeholders from funders, the creation of conflict of interest policies, and an explicit code of ethics.
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Donor Privacy or Disclosure: What’s Better?
Over the past decade, many controversies regarding the ethics of donor confidentiality have arisen, such as the hacking of Blackbaud, HIPAA privacy rights, the implementation of individual state donor privacy and disclosure mandates, donor list sharing, and the historic NAACP vs. Alabama Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutional right for donors to remain anonymous. As a topic for conversation in nonprofit ethics, the Principles for Good Governance and Ethical Practice and the BBB Standards for Charity Accountability discuss charitable solicitation compliance protocols to ensure ethical conduct by nonprofits and to entrust public confidence. This paper will explore the commitment to donors by nonprofit organizations in maintaining donor privacy and disclosure practices based on the integrity, fairness and the intention of donor philanthropic freedom, while upholding the law.
Senior Thesis: The Effects of Negative Ambient Air Quality and Their Threat to Climate Change
In a time when vulnerable populations suffer disproportionately from wealthy individuals, the poor and those of color suffer from bad air quality due to climate change within the United States. This is significant as it highlights how socioeconomic status and demographics play a role in air pollution as a climate change concern, indicating that nonwhite populations and those in poverty suffer, increasing their burden of disease. My research will focus on in what ways and why, will the poor suffer from bad air quality due to climate change within the United States? More specifically, my research reveals that people of color and poor populations suffer disproportionately to their white counterparts. Furthermore, populations in the Southern United States will have a negative impact on their health. In addition, Blacks and Hispanics are impacted significantly harder than the overall population. The poor in general suffer, due to socioeconomic status and disparities that contribute to pollution exposure. From a regional demographic standpoint, the Southern United States historically have higher levels of air pollution and negative air quality data, due to high ozone levels. In regard to socioeconomic status (SES), I will argue that it is the most important school of thought as it refers to air pollution effects on individual and group levels. My research will also reveal that those living below the poverty line often work and reside in urban and to a lesser extent rural areas and their wellness is threatened by the air they breathe, as their exposure is greater. I will further explore the relationship of air pollution effects on targeted populations and how income and wealth are overarching factors that emerge, as well as the health implications to those marginalized.
Public and Societal Benefit: Nonprofit Subsector
Black Lives Matter. Me Too Movement. Voting Rights. Immigration Policy. Nonprofits form the social framework of civil society and public goodwill. “Philanthropy is often defined as the giving of time, talent, and treasure,” playing a critical role in funding nonprofits. With activism and technology use rising, the importance of public and societal benefit nonprofits is changing rapidly in response to community needs to advocate for equity and justice. This subsector covers a large scope representing civil rights and liberties, community improvement, philanthropy, volunteerism, and voter education and registration. While encompassing 13.2% or 205,729 nonprofits in the United States, this area is one of the largest subcategories. With infection rates increasing with the resurgence of COVID-19, public and societal benefit nonprofits will fill the gap and shortfall of government subsidies, providing basics for victims of this virus. The entire nonprofit sector is mostly based on public and societal benefit with the intersection between church and state, giving broad appeal, and maintaining the fiscal ideology of tax-exempt organizations. Civil society is defined as “the space of uncoerced human association and also the set of relational networks—formed for the sake of family, faith, interest and ideology—that fill this space”. The exponential growth of social injustice will determine the engagement level of public and societal benefit nonprofits as they attempt to strengthen democracy and access and equity, locally and nationally.
Women in Prisons: Healthcare Injustices and Violations
In the last few decades, the number of women incarcerated in United States prisons has grown at an alarming rate. According to The Sentencing Project, “Between 1980 and 2017, the number of incarcerated women increased by more than 750%, rising from 26,378 in 1980 to 225,060 in 2017” (The Sentencing Project 2019). This mass incarceration of women correlates to an increase in healthcare needs for female prisons, which is inadequate and unmet with quality health. To offset overcrowding, private companies are leased to provide healthcare services, but this guise results only in profits, not better health. In fact, “former inmates from the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility [in Michigan] confirm . . . that access to healthcare was so nonexistent that it was known as ‘“deathcare”’ among the inmates” (Ziazadeh 2019).
Politics and the Power of Pardons
There are many deserving clemencies and commuted sentences: for amnesty, for humanitarian reasons, for non-violent drug and self-defense offenders, and minors. This paper will examine the history of pardons, prominent and controversial presidential pardons, the process of pardons, and the disparities of women unjustly incarcerated under the criminal justice system to understand the scope of pardons granted by the United States Constitution.