My charity has just been offered a large donation from a tobacco manufacturer. Is it ethical to take money obtained from a product that kills when used as directed?

Many people are surprised to find there are two sides to this issue. Some will take ANY money without a thought if it can be used to further the mission, and some would rather see the organization fold than touch such monies. Interestingly, most of the documented discussions on the topic are from religious sources, on both sides, and opinions appear to differ within religious organizations.

Only discussions among staff and board can determine where your organization stands. This should be a board decision, though, of course, it would have been easier to make before the money was dangling.

So use your ethical decision-making system. Start with how it relates to your mission. Will the monies further achievement of the mission, or will taking the monies turn off enough other donors and supporters that the end result is negative? Look at least medium term, not short term, and assume your existing staff, volunteers, donors and partners WILL hear about the donation. It is rarely in the interest of corporations to make donations without getting credit.

General Booth of the Salvation Army apparently said long ago, “I shall take all the money I can get, and I shall wash it clean with the grateful tears of widows and orphans.” There are several variations of that quote on the Internet, but the gist is consistent – the good works that can be done with tainted money outweigh the qualms about taking it. Another frequent version, described as an old Irish saying, is, “There is no money too dirty it cannot be washed by the tears of widows and orphans.” This is sometimes described as the commonsense view – not only does the money end up with a good cause, but also someone who should not be rich now has less.

However, corporations give the money for long-term benefits, whether that be goodwill with consumers, staff recruitment and retention, or employee morale and productivity. So taking the money will help the corporation somehow. Do you want to help a tobacco company? It would be especially problematic if your mission relates to air quality, asthma, lung cancer, or other issues worsened by tobacco smoke. And if your ethical values include truthfulness or honesty, keep in mind that tobacco companies have been in trouble over failure to reveal research results that showed how dangerous their products were, and over advertising of “light” products in a manner that falsely implied reduced risk.

Can you live with, and sleep well after accepting the donation? This part of the question is about the ethical values of both the decision-makers and the organization. Be prepared to explain the reasons for accepting or rejecting the donation to the media and, perhaps harder, to your parents or children.

As mentioned before, what will happen when your stakeholders learn of the potential donation? If you take the money, will some be furious and stop supporting you, or be glad to have the programs they care about funded? If you turn the money down, will they be furious if you have to make program cuts, or delighted to give you more for being courageous? It may depend on the type of organization. I am a founder and past chair of the Ethics Practitioners Association of Canada; we could not have expected any credibility if we had taken money from tobacco producers. The sponsorship policy can be found at www.epac-apec.ca/cont-ang/sponsorship-policy.htm.

All these results are possible, and you may need to talk to key representatives to know what will happen in your community and what your level of risk is.

The situation gets even more complicated if the corporation signing the cheque is a subsidiary of the tobacco company, and not directly involving in the manufacturing or distribution of tobacco products. You should be prudent and check on the corporate structure behind every donation from national and international corporations.

By the way, this discussion often arises over lottery and gaming monies too. Many people assume all religions are against gambling, but in Canada, church basements were the primary place to legally gamble (usually bingo) before governments got into lotteries and casinos. FYI, the Irish Sweepstakes tickets were always illegal, but as a child I saw them bought and sold by “pillars of the community” including church leaders.

Generally, I am somewhat more comfortable with products that can be used safely than with products that have no safe use whatever, like tobacco or landmines. Weapons and bullets might be needed for peacekeeping or law enforcement, and most users of alcohol do not abuse it or drive drunk. Overall, I lean toward turning down problematic monies because of the long-term harm to organizational and personal reputation, but I have to look at the details of both the donation and the organization. That said, I have never recommended or voted to accept tobacco monies and probably never will, but I cannot know if a desperate situation in my community might change my mind some day.

In summary, I cannot answer your question about what is ethical. I am not in a position to reject either position for you. Your board needs to talk seriously about it, with staff advice on the expected reaction if possible. If you are part of a faith-based organization, I suggest you check on the current position taken by your faith group to help you make the decision. If the ethical values of your organization are not helpful in the discussion, it is time to revisit them since they should be helping to guide such decisions.

Since 1992, Jane Garthson has dedicated her consulting and training business to creating better futures for our communities and organizations through values-based leadership. She is a respected international voice on governance, strategic thinking and ethics. Jane can be reached at jane@garthsonleadership.ca.

To submit a dilemma for a future column, or to comment on a previous one, please contact editor@charityvillage.com. For paid professional advice about an urgent or complex situation, contact Jane directly.

Disclaimer: Advice and recommendations are based on limited information provided and should be used as a guideline only. Neither the author nor CharityVillage.com make any warranty, express or implied, or assume any legal liability for accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information provided in whole or in part within this article.