Professional Standards

Our Ongoing Pledge

In keeping with The Nonprofit Center’s high level of ethical conduct and professional service, it is our obligation to conduct our practice in a way that will be of benefit to the public good. We put forth these standards to give nonprofits a basis for confidence and assuring them that we will provide services in accordance with professional standards of competency, objectivity, and integrity.

The Nonprofit Center and all of its staff, consultants, and instructors adhere to the following professional standards:

  1. We deliver only those services that our consultants and instructors are qualified to undertake and which we believe are beneficial to the nonprofit. We assign only those personnel who are competent to give effective service.
  2. The professional delivery of management support services requires objectivity, independence, and integrity. We assume joint responsibility for seeing that nonprofits benefit from services delivered.
  3. We ensure that nonprofits understand the objectives and scope of services and the costs before they are delivered. Subsequent significant changes are discussed with and agreed to in writing. When it is not possible to give a reasonable estimate of fees before work is started, we will provide an estimate as soon as feasible.
  4. In our consulting work, we refrain from undertaking or continuing an assignment where it is clear that the client’s only purpose is to use our name and reputation to lend weight to decisions already made or actions already planned, or where the consultant’s freedom of independent analysis and recommendation is restricted. Further, we reserve the right to withdraw if conditions develop which interfere with the successful conduct of the assignment.
  5. We hold in confidence all information gathered in the course of our professional relationships.
  6. We disclose any relationships, circumstances, or interests that might influence our objectivity.
  7. Through our formal quality assurance program, we carefully evaluate the quality of the work done by our personnel. These evaluations continuously improve the quality of service.
  8. We provide for ongoing professional development to keep our personnel abreast of the latest thinking and advances in the field of nonprofit management.