When Susan Herr ran a struggling charity, she was sometimes tempted to reward her fund raisers financially for their success, not just for their effort.

“My (desperate) thinking: I’ve got no money to hire someone and if this gal can bring in some funds, why not give her a big chunk of money I don’t think I can access anyway?,” she writes on the Philanthropomedia blog.

But Ms. Herr says that, in hindsight, she’s glad that most ethics codes prohibit fund raisers from being paid based on a percentage of the money they bring in. She encourages readers to take a look at an essay by Paulette V. Maehara, the president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, on what she calls “the percentage problem.”

In a background paper on the issue, the association cites several reasons why percentage-based pay is a poor idea:

• The mission and long-term interests of the charity could become secondary to the fund raiser’s personal interests.

• Donors may be turned off by knowledge that the fund raiser will receive a commission on their gift.

• Fund raisers will be more focused on their own interests, and not enough on those of donors.

A poll released at the association’s annual meeting last month found that accepting commission payments is the most common ethical concern veteran nonprofit officials have witnessed.

What do you think?