ASK THE EXPERT
Bennett Weiner
S
electing a charity to partner with or a cause to support is more work than you think. “Do
your due diligence,” advises Better Business Bureau (BBB) Wise Giving Alliance Chief
Operating Officer (COO) Bennett Weiner. With your brand and company reputation at stake
when partnering with shady charity organizations, Weiner highlights red flags to look out
for, including some charities’ unwillingness to be transparent—from its operations to finances.
As COO, Weiner is an authority on nonprofit topics and was previously included by The NonProfit
Times in its annual list of Top 50 influential nonprofit executives. He manages all aspects of the
Alliance that monitors and reports on charitable organizations.
1.
What top three pieces of advice can you give to
ensure that companies and business owners
who intend to partner with a charitable organization
are indeed choosing reputable organizations?
● Watch out for cases of mistaken identity. Keep in mind
that there are thousands of charities that address the same
causes, like breast cancer, poverty, children welfare, etc.
Just because the charity looks familiar doesn’t necessarily
mean that it is the organization you have in mind.
Unfortunately, with so many organizations out there, there
are those with the intent to deceive, so you need to
protect yourself from these individuals or organizations.
● Visit the Web site of the organization you intend to
support and seek out the information they are willing to
share. Look for descriptions of what they do, who is on
their board and how they spend their money. If these are
not clearly available on their site, thes e could be a red flag
that they are not very transparent.
● Go to third-party sources to find out about the charity. There
are two types of sources: 1) government, and 2) monitoring
organizations. Charities are generally required to register in
the Attorney General’s Office or Secretary of State’s Office to
allow them to legally solicit. Verify if the charity is registered
in these offices in your State. However, one thing to keep in
mind is that just because they are registered doesn’t mean
they have charity accountability or standards.
2.
What are some of the Standards of Charity
Accountability?
As a standard-based monitoring organization, we adhere to
four areas of standards which we thoroughly review:
● Governance: Are there any related-party transactions that
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result to any conflict of interest? Is the board adequately
overseeing the operations and staff?
Finances: Do they have an audited financial statement?
Has the total fundraising cost (like marketing expenses,
staff salary, etc.) exceeded 35 percent of the total contributions raised?
Effectiveness: Is the charity achieving its long-term mission
or immediate goals? Do they do effectiveness assessment at
least every two years and share this with the board?
Solicitations/information materials: Do they have
truthful and accurate appeals? Do they have certain facts
that they provide about the charity? When doing cause
marketing, do they include disclosures in promotions?
3.
Speaking of cause marketing, several spas
engage in this type of marketing. How can they
protect themselves against possible issues when doing
cause marketing?
There are two basic things that spa owners or companies can
do to protect themselves:
● Have a written agreement with the subject charity. I
strongly encourage spas or business entities to require an
official written agreement that is signed by both parties.
Do not simply agree to a hand-shake agreement. The
written agreement ensures that each party knows its
responsibilities in the partnership, as well as protects you
in the event of a dispute.
● Have a clear disclosure in the promotion that would indicate how much is going to the campaign. Be upfront and
transparent when doing cause marketing because getting
questioned later on by consumers or donors may tarnish
the brand or business’s reputation.