If you watch “60 Minutes” and have followed subsequent news stories, you know that a nonprofit, the Central Asia Institute in Montana, has been served with a class action lawsuit alleging fraud, deceit and racketeering. The lawsuit alleges Greg Mortenson, the founder, fabricated details about his work building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, defrauding donors as well as readers who bought his bestselling book “Three Cups of Tea,” the source of the inspiring stories that led to the founding of the nonprofit. “60 Minutes” aired claims that the stories were fabricated.
Not many nonprofits will ever be sued for fraud and deceit, much less racketeering, but the fabrication of stories is another matter. The lawsuit in Montana is a cautionary tale for all of us in charitable endeavors to keep our stories authentic and avoid rationalizations that the fictitious story we’re telling could have happened. Sometimes an agency will write the same story in multiple locations and suggest each time that “it happened right here.” These stories can bring embarrassment if found to be shared among locations. Such practices reflect poorly on the nonprofit although they are usually justified by the desire to reduce fundraising costs.
There are far too many inspiring stories about the good work nonprofits are doing, stories we can tell our donors to let them know who they’re helping, to be making them up!
