Board Code of Ethics

As a nonprofit organization at the forefront of poetry in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets (WFOP) must uphold the highest legal, ethical, and moral standards. Our members support the WFOP because they trust us to be good stewards of their craft and their personal resources, and to uphold rigorous standards of conduct.

To that end, we, as WFOP's leadership (elected officers, voting board members, key advisors), dedicate ourselves to carrying out the mission of this organization by individually and collectively agreeing to the following:

  1. We will compiy with all applicable laws and regulations.

  2. We will know and be guided by our constitution and bylaws.

  3. We will contribute our energies, time, and expertise to the mission of WFOP.

  4. Disagreement is healthy, but we will share our opinions, ideas and questions in a respectful manner, while listening respectfully to the opinions and ideas of others.

  5. We will refrain from personal attacks, negative assumptions and generalizations about others, and we will avoid bad-faith arguments.

  6. We will respect and protect privileged information to which we have access in the course of our official duties, including but not limited to the membership roster, sales tax#, etc.), and we will not malign the organization or our programming publicly.

  7. We will share information with the board to the best of our ability, as regards the functioning of our areas -- this includes timely reports, clear information, and (if applicable) relevant financial data.

  8. We will read reports and proposals in advance of board meetings, votes, and other decision-making conversations (such as via WFOP email), to be well informed and ready to contribute to the functioning of the organization.

  9. We will recognize that we each have different roles to play. Voting members of the board may be asked to weigh in differently than non-voting members of the board. All our voices are important, but in some cases leadership may need to make decisions based on votes, and consensus (or unanimity) may not be possible.

  10. We will strive for personal and professional excellence and encourage the same in others.

Approved at the April 29, 2022 WFOP Board Meeting