Should I blow the whistle on my cherry-picking charity?
This is the second edition of a new project I’m calling “the Brand Ethicist”. I’m answering reader questions on moral dilemmas in the brand + impact space. I ❤️ more questions! Submit yours to hello@brandthechange.org - I treat them confidentially unless you specify that you want your name publicly posted.
Dear Anne,
I'm in charge of selecting stories of beneficiaries of the charity I work for. I feel it's actually quite hard to find positive stories, but those are the only ones my boss is interested in. I'm angry. I feel we are fooling donors. Should I blow the whistle?
Dear Inside Activist,
Before you stomp out of the room and jump on X to vent your feelings, take a breath. We need more people to make good trouble in this world, but if this is coming from a place of emotion it might be good to take a pause.
Do your due diligence first before you sound the alarm.
I'm assuming your organisation does not only collect anecdotal evidence of impact, but also data. The age where we could present anecdotes about impact without some data to back it up is long gone.
I don't know if you work at a smaller or larger charity, but the first thing I would do is check if such data is already gathered.
If so, I would use that data in two ways.
First, to see if your gut feeling is correct. I would ask access to this data, explaining that you want to use it to find stories to feature, and see how your organisation is moving the dial on the impact indicators that they have set.
You write that you 'feel' that it is hard to find positive stories. If you see that your org overall is not moving the dial on any indicators, you could indeed be cherrypicking the few positive stories that are out there.
But, just because they are not moving the dial now, does not mean they won't in the future. Real systemic change takes a number of years to make happen. If your organisation is early on its journey, this could explain the impact still being small. Asking honest, interested, and non-judgmental questions to the people in charge of this impact data would be a great way to get a deeper understanding of the complexity of the mission and the true commitment the team is making.
The ethics of this can probably be mapped on a scale.
From the worst to the best:
They are false fying facts and data, and making up stories
They are actively withholding evidence that would lead your audience to stop donating, and cherry picking from a tiny percentage of positives
They are being selective about what facts and data they share to make it a clearer and stronger story
They are being transparent about the results and the road ahead, sharing a realistic balance of challenges and promising results
If your information confirms that your org is somewhere in the first two, try and raise your questions with the team, and only when you are shut down, would I take the whistle blower path.
If you find you are more in the middle of the scale, this might be a great opportunity to be an agent of changein your own organisation.
Let's talk about your boss, who you say is only interested in positive stories.
This sounds like a great opportunity to educate them gently and respectfully to see if there is some space for a new approach.
If your org does use data, you could use it to find the stories not just of the few that are positive, but also those that show the complexity of what you are trying to solve for. Showing the real stories of failure and the need to keep working at these issues can be just as valuable for your org. Being honest and transparent is a virtue these days - and your boss might see how this could lead to better relationships and more trust from donors.
If your organisation is not (yet) using data, this might be your chance to introduce a data driven approach. When bosses dismiss ideas, it's often because they are overwhelmed or don't have the time to invest in a new approach. If you position the data approach the right way, it might sound like a solution to their problem, rather than more work.
Impact measurement is not just good for donor communication, it will make your entire organisation is more focussed. They say that "what get's measured gets managed" and I've found this to be very true.
And, if your boss is in charge fundraising, they will like to hear that good impact numbers can lead to trustworthy certificates and rankings that donors love, like Charity Navigator and the Life you can save.
If your boss is data-adverse, it's good to know that data is a great source of anecdotes and stories. A great example of this is the work by Shujaaz, who interviewed 10,000 young kenyans on their lives - parsed the data, and highlight the personal (and personable) stories in the report.
Acumen has an excellent course on using lean data to measure impact. There might be a whole new career ahead of you in data driven storytelling for impact!
It's great to hear that you are on the side of the donors - and want to see your org make a real difference. Going public with your information will likely damage them significantly and prevent them from making a positive change in the future.
Before you take such bold steps, make sure you are 100% certain this is a rotten barrel before you take your story to the outside world. If you are right, you might prevent donor money from being wasted. If you are wrong, you will destroy a promising organistation and perhaps your own career along with it.