One of every four female fundraisers reports having been sexually harassed during her career, a survey by the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Chronicle of Philanthropy finds.

Based on a survey of more than a thousand AFP members in the United States and Canada, the study found that 21 percent of all fundraisers surveyed had personally experienced harassment in their work — including 25 percent of women and 7 percent of men — and that only a quarter (26 percent) of those who had experienced harassment had been harassed only once. The survey also found that 16 percent of respondents reported witnessing harassment, while 26 percent had been told about an incident of harassment and one in five agreed that sexual harassment was rampant within the fundraising profession.

Conducted by Harris Poll, the survey found that the instigator of the harassment was a donor in nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of the cases and male in 96 percent of the cases, and that the most common types of harassment were inappropriate comments of a sexual nature (80 percent), unwanted physical contact (55 percent), and unwelcome sexual advances (36 percent). Among those who had personally experienced harassment, fewer than half had reported it to their organization (43 percent), told a colleague (34 percent), set boundaries with the offending party (27 percent), or changed the nature of their role or relationship with the offending party (14 percent), while 27 percent took no action, mainly because they feared the consequences, were unsure of what to do, or were nervous about their own interpretation of the situation. According to the survey, 35 percent of those who took action experienced a negative impact on their career.

At the same time, the survey found that 69 percent of respondents were very satisfied and 28 percent were somewhat satisfied with their organization's policies on sexual harassment, while 91 percent felt that their organization would support them should they ever experience harassment. In addition, 35 percent strongly agreed and 48 percent somewhat agreed that the #MeToo movement was having a positive effect on workplace culture and policy.

Although longtime fundraisers who are women told the Chronicle that they are seeing a decrease in harassment on the job, the problem persists. Indeed, the survey may understate the share of professional fundraisers who have been harassed, said Ariane Hegewisch, an official at the Institute for Women's Policy Research, because everyone polled belongs to AFP and is more likely to have had a positive career experience, while those who have faced harassment and left the profession would not be included in the responses.

"A big takeaway from the survey is that many fundraisers like their organizations and believe it will support them if harassment occurs," said Tycely Williams, chair of AFP's Women's Impact Initiative. "But at the same time, the data shows that once harassment was reported, oftentimes very little was done. We need to begin a larger conversation with everyone in the sector about what we can all do to not only prevent harassment but respond appropriately and timely when it does occur."