As, NPQ recently noted in two articles in its spring 2007 issue, nonprofit conflicts of interest come in many forms and they are not always easy to identify. Sometimes malfeasance tips right over into verifiable criminal behavior, but more often there is a accumulation of self interested behavior—stopping just short of the criminal, perhaps, but nevertheless enormously costly both in terms of philanthropic dollars and public trust.

This article identifies a number of interconnected concerns—the problems that can occur when philanthropic dollars are tied too closely to business and personal interests through interlocking directorates, and the gaps and shortcomings of current regulatory mechanisms when it comes to spotting and addressing these complex situations.

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