You know that line, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?” Well, the same thing could be said for some of what takes place at community and education foundation board meetings. Though the phrase “What happens in the board meeting stays in the board meeting” does not have the same marketing ring, it is an important rule to live by.
I’m not insinuating that anything untoward or inappropriate goes on at your meetings. I’ve been to enough of them to know that they are usually pretty staid affairs! But there is often discussion of private information, financial or otherwise, that needs to remain confidential. It is the nature of our business that people entrust us with their personal information. And it is no secret that how we handle this information is central to keeping their trust and maintaining our own integrity.
Advisory board members have access to sensitive information from donors and grant applicants. It is also often the case that we have inside knowledge of specific projects that are happening in our communities. Handling this information in a way that honors others’ need for privacy and strengthens relationships also benefits us as we serve our communities. As someone wise once said, “Trust takes years to build, seconds to break and forever to repair.”
Southwest Initiative Foundation has revised our Confidentiality Agreement to reflect the changing nature of the information that we are entrusted with. We are asking that you take some time at one of your upcoming board meetings to review and have all your board members sign this agreement. You can use this as an opportunity to consider what it means to be good stewards of the information we are entrusted with and as a reminder of how important it is to uphold that trust.
Click here to download the SWIF Confidentiality Agreement.
