Elements of Disclosure
● Terms of the campaign. How long will the promotion run?
● Percentage / cost of the donation. How much exactly is going to be donated? Avoid being vague with the donation amount.
● Guaranteed minimum or maximum amount that goes to the campaign. Will there be a ceiling or cap donation that will go to the charity?
4.
What is the most common mistake entrepreneurs commit when choosing a charitable organization? The no. 1 mistake is to base your judgment on how popular the charity is. It may make your marketing department happy as it’ s always easier to get people to support a popular cause, but look at the big picture. For all you know, a charity that is local or community-based may be more marketable and offers a tremendous value of goodwill versus a popular or national charity.
More importantly, don’ t choose an organization just through a recommendation by a client or patron. While it’ s important to listen to your customers and what they are passionate about, it is critical that you do your due diligence when finding an organization that is a good fit to your company values or brand. Your reputation is on the line each time you support a cause, so don’ t simply take someone’ s word for it.
5.
How effective are charity ratings in identifying an organization’ s effectiveness? The Alliance does not rate charities but helps donor in the decision-making process through our standards and reports which are available at give. org. Some organizations grade or rate a charity based on their financial ratio, on whether they raised much more money over other charities or if they are able to spend more on campaigns than others. I personally think, while the financial ratio is a good way to filter your options, it offers a limited view of an organization’ s effectiveness. For instance, an organization may rank high as a charity that spends more than others, but is it really an effective use of donations?
FASTFACT
The BBB Wise Giving Alliance was formed in 2001 through the merger of the National Charities Information Bureau with the Council of Better Business Bureaus’ Foundation. Its mission is to help donors make informed giving decisions and advances high standards of conduct among organizations that solicit contributions from the public.
BBB’ s Web site— give. org— has standard reports from nearly 1,400 charities soliciting on a national scale. Of all the charities that submit for standards assessment, only 52 percent of these organizations meet the Alliance standards.
USEFUL RESOURCES
INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE ON FUNDRAISING ORGANIZATIONS. With over a dozen national accrediting bodies in North America, Europe, and Australia, ICFO has developed a set of international standards for good governance and management for international non-governmental, or nonprofit, private organizations that directly or indirectly through subsidiary bodies, raise funds from the public for charitable or public benefit purposes. spendensiegel. net / icfo
CHARTING IMPACT. A collaborative effort among the independent sector, GuideStar USA and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charting Impact produces a common framework that enables charities to share information on their goals, accomplishments and effectiveness. chartingimpact. org
GUIDESTAR was founded to promote nonprofit transparency and to provide a central repository of nonprofit information, including resources like IRS Form 990 and other financial documentations. Web site: guidestar. org
IMAGINE CANADA is the result of a union of two of Canada’ s leading charitable umbrella organizations: The Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, and the Coalition of National Voluntary Organizations. Its goal is to advance knowledge and relationships to foster effective and sustainable charitable and nonprofit organizations. imaginecanada. ca
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE RED FLAGS to keep in mind when deciding which organization to partner with? Visit digital Pulse at experienceispa. com to read more.
December 2011 ■ PULSE 47