A Foodie in Development: Due Diligence and Homemade Pasta
Dear Diary,
Let’s talk about one of our favorite carbohydrates - pasta. Pasta can come in so many forms, from rigatoni to penne to spaghetti. Personally, I love them all. Tonight, I decided to create a macaroni pasta with marinara sauce that included chopped shrimp, minced garlic and red onions. It was delicious, so we will dive into the details and steps taken. Similarly, and as detailed, people are complex, and come in all forms. As we deal with people in this industry, and they support our mission with their money and time; Due diligence is, and has become, a critical piece of fundraising work, hence allowing us to be more careful and focused on who we are accepting money from.
As you increase the heat on the stove for your pot of macaroni to boil (add a pinch of salt and some bay leaves), fundraising shops have had to become more vigilant and critical of their gift acceptance practices and policies. Organizations have experienced the troubles and effects of accepting money from precarious and controversial donors. And by not conducting the necessary vetting processes, they have dealt with the consequences, some being able to return the money, and others dealing with public backlash for accepting the money.
In this day and age, ensuring that you do not accept everyone’s money is important to not only longevity but the balance of your organizational values. For our pasta dish, there is a balance of tasks, as your macaroni is boiling, a pan is ready for your shrimp. The shrimp has been cleaned, diced, seasoned, and is frying in the pan. As you watch it cook, you can add in the marinara sauce, mine is store-bought, if you’re skilled you can create your own sauce. Next, throw in some chopped red onions, minced garlic, a little heavy whipping cream, and one jalapeño pepper blended. Mix everything together slowly on medium heat.
At this point there’s a potent smell, that although indescribable, it’s an essence of garlic, pepper, tomato, something smokey and rich in texture and flavor. Keep mixing slowly on medium heat.
As we wait on that…let’s take note of the following -
Creating a vetting process can be complex and should involve a legal team, and/or a committee dedicated in making critical decisions on behalf of the organization. You also need to know who will actually conduct the vets – a specific research team or your current prospect researcher? When doing the actual vet on a prospect it is important to search based on keywords that could signal a red flag (do not proceed with accepting the gift) for example, “controversy,” “fraud,” “racism,” “exploit,” “sexism,” “fired,” “Lawsuit” – these are words that should be searched along with the person’s name to see top results. Companies are tricky because they are consistently linked to speculations and alarming articles, therefore, all flags should be reviewed by your dedicated committee. You specifically want to see if the company has been involved in, for example, a lawsuit in the last year and if it is still ongoing because that would signal a red flag. Please keep in mind that this is also a task that could be outsourced, there are firms specialized in conducting this type of research.
In all, these are steps in providing informative data that only serves to protect your organization, not hinder it from raising more money towards its goal. The goal will always be there, the money is not always worth it. Keep brainstorming with your team and come up with steps that work for your organization.
Your macaroni should be ready at this point, soft, with any remaining water sieved out. After some minutes, you should know when the sauce is ready to be transferred onto the macaroni, and then mixed up to form a delicious bond of ingredients and flavors.
And voilà, homemade pasta ready to be eaten while crafting a plan for due diligence and vetting at your organization.
Until next time, April 15th!
