1. Sexual Harassment in the Fundraising Profession

2. Dr. Erynn Beaton
Dr. Megan LePere-Schloop
Questions:
Content Warning: sexual harassment and assault

3. “The AFP IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access) Women’s Impact Initiative has made a deep impact on the fundraising community by spreading awareness about all-important issues affecting women in the nonprofit sector.”

4. 2018 survey brought to light problem of sexual harassment in the profession
Survey also raised questions that it was not designed to answer

5. What actions can we take to combat sexual harassment in fundraising?
Purpose
How is sexual harassment experienced by fundraisers? What does it look like?
How are fundraisers, bystanders and managers affected by these experiences? How are they interpreting them?
What actions can we take to combat sexual harassment in fundraising?
Because sense-making shapes how we respond.

6. What does sexual harassment in fundraising look like?

7. Liz
LeClair

8. 21% of survey respondents were sexually harassed
Survey Analysis
21% of survey respondents were sexually harassed
Most common perpetrator is a donor (65%); less frequently a colleague (39%) or board member (35%)
Probability of being sexually harassed:
Increases by 86% for heterosexual females compared to heterosexual males
Increases by 81% for gay/queer/pansexual/asexual males compared to heterosexual males
Liz isn’t alone

9. Harassment of all Kinds
Types of sexual harassment we’ve heard about:
Unwanted or lewd sexual statements
“I want to see up your skirt”
“Is that a stripper name?”
Sexual advances
“You should go out with me”
Inappropriate greetings or gestures
Kissing, hand placement
Assault
Hands down pants or on buttock

10. How are fundraisers, bystanders and managers affected by these experiences? How are they interpreting them?

11. Fundraisers Feel Vulnerable
“When you're in fundraising, you're exposed to that… You're in a vulnerable position with people who would tend toward acting inappropriately.”

12. Fundraisers Feel Vulnerable
“The workplace – most people probably would think of the physical place where they work, an office building of some sort or a home office. Particularly for fundraisers, a lot of us are frontline, out on the road, which is often where, a lot of times, these situations occur. It might be in a donor's home, office, or social events.”

13. It is Easy to Second-Guess
“It really sucks to not trust your own judgement, and...I'm getting a little emotional...I don't know if I lost trust for myself or if it brought to light that I didn't have trust for myself in the first place, but either way the result was the same. Instead of pushing back, I just felt like I did what I needed to do to keep things moving, and I'm disappointed in that instinct.”

14. Especially When Unnoticed
“It was so minor and it's something that I guess maybe other people didn't even notice. I have no doubt that the CEO probably never even noticed that the board president did that.”

15. What if we responded differently?
An Uncommon Response
What if we responded differently?
“As we were walking out, my boss said to me,
‘I didn't like the way he greeted you.’
I said, ‘Oh, you saw that?’
And she said, ‘Yeah, I did.’
I said, ‘I was kind of questioning myself about that.’
And she said, ‘No, that was out of line, he shouldn't have done that.’”

16. What actions can we take to combat sexual harassment in fundraising?

17. Findings from Research
Research suggests that the following organizational factors have an effect on sexual harassment:
Policies
Training
Culture
We will talk in more detail about each of these factors in our break-out session
For now, we want to point to steps that you can take to get people in your organization thinking sexual harassment in fundraising and how it relates to each of these factors

18. Help ensure that policies address:
What Can Be Done
Help ensure that policies address:
Behavior of volunteers, donors and other stakeholders
Reporting process for different stakeholders
Help ensure that trainings:
Include volunteers and other stakeholders
Include examples of sexual harassment relevant to different groups of employees (e.g. fundraisers)
Identify strategies for protecting employees working in the field
a comprehensive sexual harassment policy should clearly define what the organization qualifies as sexual harassment.
recognize all stakeholders in the policy’s definition and examples of sexual harassment.
establish clear procedures for reporting and investigating complaints. For instance, it should explicitly identify those to whom employees can report incidents of sexual harassment.

19. Help build a culture of awareness and support:
What Can Be Done
Help build a culture of awareness and support:
Talk to other members of your organization and raise awareness about the specific ways fundraisers may be vulnerable
Identify other groups of stakeholders that might have particular vulnerabilities
Use what-if scenarios to identify options for how you, your peers and your manager could proactively and retroactively respond
a comprehensive sexual harassment policy should clearly define what the organization qualifies as sexual harassment.
recognize all stakeholders in the policy’s definition and examples of sexual harassment.
establish clear procedures for reporting and investigating complaints. For instance, it should explicitly identify those to whom employees can report incidents of sexual harassment.

20. Participate in the Study
Help us build a knowledge base:
Let us know how to contact you using this secure link:
Work with us to schedule a 60-minute interview with one of the researchers
Help us connect with other women by sharing information about the study