The Nature Conservancy, Research Paper Example

The Ethisphere Institute publishes an annual list of what it describes as “The World’s Most Ethical Companies” (WMEs). Among the organizations on Ethisphere’s 2013 list is The Nature Conservancy, a charitable organization devoted to the preservation of the world’s natural resources.  The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is involved in a wide range of activities, including non-profit and for-profit ventures. The organization gets high marks for devoting a significant portion of its donated proceeds and profits to programs and for maintaining a strong ratio of spending on programs vs. spending on administrative costs, salaries, and other non-program costs. TNC is also notable for treating its employees well, offering competitive salary and benefits packages and a positive organizational culture. TNC is not without its critics, however; the organization has been accused of overcompensating its management team ad of engaging in questionable legal and political practices in the pursuit of its conservation mission. While the preponderance of available evidence demonstrates that TNC is an ethically-sound, such criticisms also make clear that making determinations about the ethical standards f any organization is an inherently subjective experience, and that no organization is without its detractors.

Like most well-known charitable organizations, TNC is given ratings by a number of independent watchdog groups that monitor the organization’s activities and examine its expenditures. The Ethisphere Institute is not the only group to give TNC a high overall rating, charitywatch.org also provides a breakdown of the criteria by which it rates charitable organizations, and it rates TNC fairly high in most categories. While charitable organizations are typically engaged in activities that most would consider to be inherently and objectively ethical –from preserving the environment to feeding the poor to aiding in recovery efforts for disaster victims- it is still necessary to consider how well these organizations live up to the the expectations associated with their stated goals. TNC gets high marks for spending 73.9% of its proceeds on charitable programs, with the remainder of their money used to cover fundraising costs (11%) and administrative costs (15.1%) (charitywatc.org). TNC is devoted to finding “market-based” solutions to environmental issues by developing programs that balance environmental sustainability with robust economic and business-oriented programs (nature.org).

TNC offers a wide variety of volunteer positions as well as paid employment opportunities. Their job offerings include positions for scientists and researchers, public policy advocates, grassroots organizers and fundraisers, and a range of other positions. Employment at TNC, from management to staff members, is generally well-compensated; the organization offers salaries and benefits that are commensurate with its missions and generally completive (salarylist.com). Some critics have charged that TNC pays salaries to its top management that are inappropriately generous (undueinfluence.com, 2013); such charges are disputed by other observers who assert that TNC’s salary-vs.-program expenditures are entirely reasonable (washingtonpost.com., 2013.  Moreover, the organization receives high praise for providing employees a positive working environment and organizational culture (washingtonpost.com, 2013).

If TNC faces any notable ethical challenges, it is in those areas where the organization has simply grown to massive proportions. It is one of the largest environmental charities I the U.S> in terms of assets and donations, and it has developed and implemented thousands of different environmental programs. Because TNC is committed to balancing environmental preservation with realistic goals, it is more concerned about minimizing environmental damage than opposing any activities that may harm the environment. Some TC programs have involved partnerships with logging companies and other business that are opposed by some environmentalists. While TNC may make compelling arguments in favor of such partnerships, critics of the organization insist that it has become too big for its own good (washingtonpost.com, 2013). In order to shore up its ethical standards, TNC should consider a stronger self-auditing program to determine where and how it could make changes better balance its commitment to environmental preservation. The organization could also implement a panel or working group to serve as a direct liaison between TNC and ts public critics to generate annual oversight reports. While the overall ethical framework of TNC is quite positive, any organization of this size and scope must constantly guard against losing sight of its ethics and core principles.

References

Charity Navigator. (2014). Charity navigator rating – the nature conservancy. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4208#.UycIB6hdVr0 [Accessed: 17 Mar 2014].

Ethisphere.com. (2014). World’s most ethical companies – honorees | ethisphere® institute. [online] Retrieved from: http://ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/wme-honorees/ [Accessed: 17 Mar 2014].

Nature.org. (2014). Nonprofit & environmental careers | the nature conservancy. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.nature.org/about-us/careers/ [Accessed: 17 Mar 2014].

Salarylist.com. (2014). The nature conservancy salaries, average salary & jobs pay. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.salarylist.com/company/The-Nature-Conservancy-Salary.htm [Accessed: 17 Mar 2014].

Undueinfluence.com. (2014). Nature conservancy. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.undueinfluence.com/nature_conservancy.htm [Accessed: 17 Mar 2014].

Washingtonpost.com. (2014). Washingtonpost.com: the nature conservancy. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/specials/natureconservancy/ [Accessed: 17 Mar 2014].

Washingtonpost.com. (2014). Washingtonpost.com: the nature conservancy. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/specials/natureconservancy/ [Accessed: 17 Mar 2014].