Ethics Case 6E: Finger Pointing And Blaming

Case 6E: Finger Pointing and Blaming
In any fundraising effort, it is critical that the Executive Administrator (often the person collecting the checks) and the Treasurer (the person balancing the books) trust one another. In this volunteer board, they did not. The lack of trust between these two individuals spelled disaster. How could we expect the public to trust us with their donations if we didn’t trust ourselves? We needed to find a way to build trust and hold them accountable for their actions.
To help build trust, I looked for some project that would require their collaboration, an activity that would be highly visible to the board and to the public in general — a project that would help stop the finger pointing and blaming and require teamwork. I considered a community-outreach program, a highly visible project that would hold them accountable for recording every penny raised and every penny spent. We had an ambitious, eight-week media plan for the program; I assured them that the media would be watching our every move. I assigned them key roles
I believe that bringing them together, giving them important responsibilities, and elevating their profiles not only helped elevate their self-esteem, but also increased their accountability and willingness to work as a team. In the end, they both seemed happier and their finger pointing and blaming