The Donor Bill of Rights

During the October 2006 IRE Board of Directors meeting, the board adopted the Donor Bill of Rights as a statement regarding IRE’s commitment to ethical fundraising and gift stewardship.

Philanthropy is based on voluntary action for the common good. It is a tradition of giving and sharing that is primary to the quality of life. To ensure that philanthropy merits the respect and trust of the general public, and that donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in the nonprofit organizations and causes they are asked to support, we declare that all donors have these rights:

To be informed of the organization’s mission, of the way the organization intends to use donated resources, and of its capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.

To be informed of the identity of those serving on the organization’s governing board, and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.

To have access to the organization’s most recent financial statements.

To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.

To receive appropriate acknowledgement and recognition.

To be assured that information about their donation is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law.

To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.

To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization or hired solicitors.

To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from mailing lists that an organization may intend to share.

To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.

The Donor Bill of Rights was created by the American Association of Fund Raising Counsel (AAFRC), Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). It has been endorsed by numerous organizations.

How do I contribute to IRE?

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to IRE, follow these easy directions:

To contribute by check, please mail your donation to:

Investigative Reporters and Editors
Attention: Heather Feldmann Henry, Fiscal Officer
141 Neff Annex
Missouri School of Journalism
Columbia, MO 65211

To make your donation by credit card, or to download a donation form, please visit our contributions page: http://www.ire.org/donate/contribution.html

IRE would like to thank the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for its generous support of IRE programming and the IRE endowment fund. To read more about IRE's Knight Foundation challenge grant that ended on Sept. 30, 2008, please click here.

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