1. Commitment to Integrity

An important goal of the SEE INIT is to increase discussion around critical ethical issues in the social enterprise field. In 2000, NESsT published Commitment to Integrity: Guiding Principles for Nonprofits in the Marketplace, the first "code of ethics" designed to help social enterprise leaders recognize and better prepare for the unique ethical challenges of entrepreneurship in the nonprofit sector. Commitment to Integrity was developed by NESsT in collaboration with colleagues in Europe, Latin America and the United States.

Commitment to Integrity is an evolving document intended to be discussed and revised for use by practitioners. One key component of the SEE INIT is to widen the distribution, discussion, and use of Commitment to Integrity among social enterprise donors and practitioners. We encourage you to use and adapt the ideas within the document to your unique needs. NESsT is distributing Commitment to Integrity for free -- we only ask that users quote and cite NESsT accordingly. No part of Commitment to Integrity may be sold in any form or reproduced for sale without prior written permission of NESsT.

We welcome your input! Please send your comments and ideas to us.

2. SEE INIT Priority Issues

Building on the Commitment to Integrity, the SEE INIT is currently focusing attention on three priority issues:

- Accounting: A challenging issue for social enterprise managers is how to account for social enterprise income and expenses (as related to the overall financial performance of the nonprofit parent) in a clear and transparent manner. NESsT will work with partners in 2003+ to develop guiding principles on this issue.

- Legal structures/ownership: Many social enterprises are incorporated as for-profit structures, often with unclear lines of ownership and staff relationships with their nonprofit parent. It is important to clarify these structures to ensure transparency and clear lines of accountability. In 2001, NESsT launched the NESsT Legal Series to help nonprofits understand the complex regulatory regime governing social enterprise. In 2003+, NESsT will expand this work with legal and tax experts to develop more specific guidelines for social enterprises outlining the pros and cons of various legal structures.

- Staff incentives: A challenge for many social enterprises comes from adopting staff incentive programs from the for-profit sector to motivate staff to increase income from social enterprise. This raises ethical issues regarding the profit motive in the nonprofit sector and creating salary inequities between social enterprise and nonprofit program staff. In 2003+, NESsT will also work with partners to develop guiding principles on this issue.

NESsT is producing practical tools on each of these three priority issues as a part of an on-line SEE INIT compendium, forthcoming on the NESsT website.

For more information on the SEE INIT, write us.