COI Statement
In a rural region, nonprofit board members are likely to have multiple connections to the communities where they live, work, and serve. Their civic engagement may range from PTA to choir practice; community theatre to sports events; grocery shopping to city council; granting loans and mortgages or raising funds for local causes; borrowing books from the library and running concessions at the farmers’ market. As a result, a written policy governing conflicts of interest is crucial to the integrity of the organization board and the board.
For The Murray Sentinel, the policy requires employees and board members to submit a list of potential conflicts of interest, to be updated annually and assessed for actual conflicts or the appearance of conflicts.
In assessing conflicts, the board will rely on consensus decision-making, engaging all participants and empowering the group to move forward with full support of the governing body. If it is deemed a conflict is present, the employee or board member will be excluded from further discussion and voting associated with the conflict.
A key question in evaluating potential conflicts is the nature of any benefit that might accrue from an individual’s connections, e.g., financial, political, professional, etc.
(Approved 4.10.24)
