These days, every nonprofit seems concerned about conflicts of interest and appropriate conduct of its board members and staff. Hewlett-Packard, the giant computer maker, has a very simple “Standard of Business Conduct.” (http://bit.ly/lfnp78) It is simple: “Before I make a decision, I consider how it would look in a news story.”
If your non-profit is considering revising its conflicts policy, this would be a good start. Of course, once adopted the policy must be enforced. If there is any doubt that your nonprofit should enforce its conflict policy, according the The Wall Street Journal, here’s what happened to HP’s CEO when he misstated information on an expense report (http://bit.ly/lfnp79). Hint: he now is the former CEO.
To download HP’s policy, click here (http://bit.ly/lfnp78).