NGOs in bed with the devil

Say Alif, in his NGOConnect Africa blog, reports that the Nature Conservancy has been in bed with BP for some time, accepting millions in donations and even having a BP executive on the board. Same with the Gulf of Mexico Foundation (New York Times, 5/5/2010), which it is revealed has "at least half of the 19 members of the group's board of directors with direct ties to the offshore drilling industry. One is currently an executive at Transocean, the company that owns the Deepwater Horzon rig that exploded, causing millions of gallons of oil to spill into the Gulf of Mexico. Seven other board members are currently employed at oil companies including Shell and Conoco Phillips."

Mr. Alif asks the right ethical question: should NGOs accept money from any company or organization, even if their activities run contrary to the NGO's mission? This is a question that has recently been batted around in the grants listserv on the Charity Channel, with most people weighing in in favor of caution. That is an obvious, if not disingenuous answer, in my opinion, especially when you are actually in a situation where your organization's survival can only be assured if you dance with the devil.