June 28, 2001 | Read Time: 2 minutes
By NICOLE WALLACE
The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability is holding a series of free daylong workshops on Internet fund raising for its member organizations.
Based in Winchester, Va., the council is an association of 1,000 evangelical Christian charities that the council has evaluated and found to meet its standards for fund raising, governance, financial management, and public accountability.
Paul D. Nelson, the council’s president, describes the series as an attempt to introduce ethical considerations into members’ discussions about online fund raising.
“Right now the technology forms the borders,” says Mr. Nelson. “If the technology allows you to do it, well then, do it. We are getting out there on the front edge of this thing, saying, ‘We’re not as much interested about how neat you can make your Web site. We’d like to get some ethical issues out before you.’”
The council has conducted eight meetings since last summer, with three more to be held this fall in Atlanta; Portland, Ore.; and Anaheim, Calif.
The workshops focus on topics like accountability in online fund raising, security measures to protect credit-card information, privacy and credit-card policies, procedures that allow people to choose whether they want to be on an e-mail list, and fund-raising regulations that may apply to Internet fund raising.
Before each meeting, participants complete a survey that asks about their organizations’ Internet practices, which allows the council to tailor each workshop to the participants’ level of experience with online giving.
Mr. Nelson says that there are many more similarities than differences in the way that evangelical and secular charities approach online fund raising. One area, though, where there may be differences is in Christian organizations’ attitudes toward credit cards.
Interpretations of the Bible’s teachings on debt vary, explains Mr. Nelson, and some of the council’s members worry that they will be encouraging donors to take on debt if they accept credit-card donations. During the workshops, the council encourages participants to think through their organizations’ philosophy on credit-card use, and offers examples of how organizations have communicated their concerns about credit cards on their Web sites.
For more information: Contact Paul D. Nelson, president; (800) 323-9473; info@ecfa.org.
