Dorothee Burgers

Accountability in the Charitable Sector: the Influence of Negative Publicity on Charitable Organizations Dorothee Burgers

Scandals in the charitable sector have occurred in the past and the media was not afraid to report it. Consequently the reputation of several charitable organizations has been questioned because of the lack of transparency in this sector. The concerns for transparency are reasonable since the accountability of charitable organizations is hard to measure. Especially the accountability towards beneficiaries is a problem. Accountability, public trust and negative media attention are interrelated aspects that can affect the image of charitable organizations. The objective of this thesis is to gain a rich understanding of Dutch charitable organizations and the strategic choices concerning their public image. The case study among thirty Dutch charitable organizations, broadly consists of three main issues, namely the decisions of charitable organizations about accreditation labels, the accountability of the organizations, and their strategic responses towards negative publicity