Whether your experience is similar to the story to the right or not, we all face tough dilemmas in our personal and professional lives. We can help you think through these difficult decisions and come to moral resolutions. |
When a family foundation grows from private business, where is the demarcating line drawn?
A foundation must choose between making multiple small grants or just a few large ones annually.
What do you do when a worthy cause falls outside of established giving guidelines?
When is furthering your organization’s mission the wrong thing to do?
In need of funding to continue their research, a group of scientists must decide to accept substantial funding that comes with a stipulation.
John Merritt is a program coordinator for the Grand Scholarship Foundation, managing a fellowship program aimed at supporting recent graduate degree recipients in carrying out social science research.
Susannah Rose, a fellowship award recipient, was initially referred by a trustee of the foundation. Her grant award calls for her to produce a white paper on the motivations that drive criminal behavior, with a chapter due each month of the fellowship period.
Just as her fellowship is scheduled to begin, she receives a consultancy offer that will advance her field in a very practical setting, allowing her to recommend new prison policies to the state. She accepts the position, meaning that she will be absent for the first eight months of the fellowship period. She tells the foundation trustee who had referred her for the program, and the trustee indicates that the absence is acceptable. However, neither Susannah nor her trustee friend informs the fellowship program coordinator, John Merritt.
After a couple of months, John notices that Susannah is not submitting any of the required work for the fellowship. John tries to contact her with no luck. The fellowship program’s policies are clear that fellows who fail to meet the terms of their agreement will lose the balance of the award. Following this policy, John writes to Susannah that the fellowship funding is being withdrawn due to nonperformance.
When the trustee hears what has happened, he pushes for an extension of the fellowship time—which is normally not allowed.
Should John terminate the fellowship, or make an exception and grant an extension?Read more dilemmas: Philanthropy Dilemmas
Note: This and other dilemmas on this site come to you without their real-life resolutions. We encourage you to think for yourself about how you might resolve them, since the nature of each dilemma is highly individualistic. In sharing these dilemmas, we do not endorse them in any way, but rather offer them for your consideration.
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