Category: Wise Giving Wednesday

Forty-one years ago, during America’s bicentennial year − 1976, we introduced a printed list summarizing our evaluation of nationally soliciting charities in relation to the BBB Charity Standards. It was called “Give, But Give Wisely.”  The poster-sized publication was folded to fit into a regular business-size envelope and served as a means to spread our accountability information before today’s electronic alternatives. 

Twenty two years ago, in 1995, we became the first charity monitoring program in the nation to post its evaluative charity reports on the Internet. We always provided free access to these detailed reports which not only summarized our evaluation conclusions but also shared information on the charities’ mission, programs, governance, tax-exempt status, fundraising methods and finances. 

Although our website traffic on Give.org continues to grow, we continue to receive demand for our-hard copy magazine-style publication, now called the Wise Giving Guide, which is produced three times each year. Despite the fact that the cover story for this magazine is available online, some people prefer the ability to review a hard copy alternative, particularly older donors, who don’t rely on computers or laptops as much as younger generations.  In addition, the printed version of this magazine continues to include the summary listing of our national charity evaluations. 

If you know someone who would appreciate a copy of the printed version of this magazine, send their name and street address via email to charities@council.bbb.org and we would be happy to mail them a free copy of the Guide that will help them Give, But Give Wisely. 

Video of the Week 

As part of our Building Trust Video Series, we are pleased to provide a video that features Stacy Pagos Haller, President and CEO, BrightFocus Foundation (a BBB Accredited Charity).  BrightFocus is an organization that seeks to advance research and public information in three areas: Alzheimer’s disease, age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma. 

Recent Reports 

We are always working with charities to publish or update reports for donors. Visit Give.org or local BBBs to check out any charity before giving. Our recently evaluated charities include:

• Brother’s Brother Foundation
• Galapagos Conservancy
• Green Beret Foundation 

Finally, remember to let us know by going to https://www.give.org/ask-us-about-a-charity1/ if you are  interested in seeing a report on a charity not on the list and we will do our best to produce one.   

H. Art Taylor, President & CEO
BBB Wise Giving Alliance

Unless told otherwise, donors are going to expect their contributions to be used for current purposes. This common sense principle is especially evident in disaster relief appeals when emergency assistance needs are in the headlines. Even if a charity is not addressing natural catastrophes, however, fundraising appeals usually engage the recipient by telling an emotional story about the significance of the issue the charity is addressing, often demonstrating how a specific individual was impacted. The objective is to motivate the recipient to send a donation today, but it also helps lead to expectations of contributions going for current activities.

Of course, good financial practice requires charities to also save and not to spend every single dollar as soon as they receive it. Otherwise, they won’t be able to continue their good works during times of the year when the flow of donations are typically less.  An unrestricted reserve fund that would be enough to pay for three months worth of expenses is considered a healthy financial goal for charities. This was evidenced in a report produced in 2008 by charity leaders including representatives from BBB WGA.

However, if a charity has an unusually large reserve fund that could pay for several years of the charity’s expenses, this is a material fact that donors want to know. Standard 10 in the BBB Charity Standards seeks to ensure that a charity uses its available resources to carry out its current program activities and not to build an unreasonably large reserve fund. To meet this standard a charity’s unrestricted net assets available for use should not be more than three times the size of either the past year’s expenses or the current year’s budget, whichever is higher. 

BBB WGA recognizes that charities that build such unusually large reserves generally have a rationale for saving such an amount.  In recognition of this and the fact that it may be inappropriate or impractical to spend more of these reserves in short period of time, a charity can still meet this standard if unrestricted reserves exceed the three year threshold as long as they include a recommended disclosure in their appeals and on their websites.  See the explanation for Standard 10 for additional details about this disclosure. 

On a separate note, as part of our Building Trust Video Series we are pleased to provide a video that features Mary Gilberti, J.D.,  Executive Director of NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (a BBB Accredited Charity). Mary provides a brief overview of the NAMI activities and explains what they do to help strengthen donor trust.

We are always working with charities to publish or update reports for donors. Visit Give.org or local BBBs to check out any charity before giving. Our recently evaluated charities include: 

• Conservation International Foundation
• National Psoriasis Foundation
• Youth Development Fund 

Finally, remember to let us know by going to https://www.give.org/ask-us-about-a-charity1/ if you are interested in seeing a report on a charity not on the list and we will do our best to produce one.  

H. Art Taylor, President & CEO
BBB Wise Giving Alliance

Yesterday, the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Foundation announced that the BBB Wise Giving Alliance (BBB WGA) is one of five awardees of the 2018 Innovation Grants Award Program.  BBB WGA’s “Advancing Collaboration” project featured an article series created in partnership with the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) that sought to capture and encourage a new spirit of collaboration among charities and others engaged in philanthropy. With a strong recognition of the importance of trust in establishing collaborations, such partnerships can help organizations reach larger audiences while sharing the risk and help achieve more than an organization can do alone. The project also introduced a Collaboration Pledge which helps display a charity’s commitment to seeking out potential partners to carry out shared goals. Such partnerships are not only possible between charities but also with others entities engaged in social good. 

The ASAE Foundation indicates that during the past six years, it has awarded a total of 25 IGP grants and has received close to 300 applications from organizations of varied sizes, locations and missions. 

The Advancing Collaboration article series is accessible on Give.org and includes pieces written by executives from GuideStar, Center for Effective Philanthropy, Mission Partners, BoardSource, 92^nd Street Y, Association of Fundraising Professionals, American Red Cross, ALS Association and others. In addition, a summary of the article series appears in the latest issue of the Wise Giving Guide: BetterTogether: Charities and Collaboration. 

We are honored and greatly appreciate this recognition and support and will use the $10,000 grant to help further address collaboration issues in the current year. We thank all the authors who contributed to this effort as well as SSIR for helping to make this series available to social change leaders throughout the world. 

Video of the Week 

For this week’s Building Trust Video Series entry, we are pleased to provide a playlist featuring interviews with some of the authors of the Advancing Collaboration article series. The playlist includes interviews with Carrie Fox, Founder, Mission Partners, Pratichi Shah, Founder and CEO, Flourish Talent Management Solutions, Peter Panepento, Co-Founder, Turn Two Communications, Jake Porway, Founder and Executive Director, DataKind,  Gail McGovern, President and CEO, American Red Cross, Jacob Harold, President and CEO, GuideStar and Art Taylor, President and CEO, BBB Wise Giving Alliance.  The videos can be viewed individually on our YouTube page.

Recent Reports 

We are always working with charities to publish or update reports for donors. Visit Give.org or local BBBs to check out any charity before giving. Our recently evaluated charities include:

• CARE USA
• Lewy Body Dementia Association
• National Marine Sanctuary Association 

Finally, remember to let us know by going to https://www.give.org/ask-us-about-a-charity1/ if you are  interested in seeing a report on a charity not on the list and we will do our best to produce one.   

H. Art Taylor, President & CEO
BBB Wise Giving Alliance

On Monday I was honored to share our standards with business executives attending the Association of Corporate Contributions Professionals Annual Conference.  It was great working with executives charged with charitable investing for their corporations. The ones in my session seemed highly committed to supporting trustworthy charities. In assembling my presentation, I was reminded that the standard failed by the most charities is #16, which calls for the production of an annual report so I thought I would write about it. 

The key tenets of the BBB Charity Standards are transparency and accountability.  These two principles, when considered together, offer donors a more complete picture of a charity’s operations.  Previous #WiseGivingWednesday blogs have focused on the concept of accountability, which involves the inner workings of the board of directors and the charity staff.  Transparency, on the other hand, is the charity’s outward-facing image.  

Providing the public with descriptive and financial information is an important part of building trust.  Standard 16 of the BBB Standards for Charity Accountability calls for charities to produce a printed annual report that includes (a) the charity’s mission, (b) a summary of the year’s program accomplishments, (c) a roster of board members, and (d) financial information for the year including total income, total expenses broken out by programs, fundraising and administration, and ending net assets. 

While the IRS requires most of this information in its annual Form 990 filing, which is available to the public, BBB WGA’s annual report standard is designed to provide a more narrative and accessible document that will help the average donor without requiring them to navigate a tax form. 

Addressing this issue is not a difficult matter as BBB WGA does not require that the annual report to be a glossy, professionally printed document.  It could be a simple word-processed document or a web page with the information that can be printed out and mailed to donors upon request.  

Annual reports are by far the simplest way for charities to maintain a measure of transparency with the donating public.  In fact, an annual report may benefit a charity by acting as a valuable marketing opportunity to help tell their story and motivate support. 

Take a look to see if your favorite charities meet this important standard. For an A-Z directory of reports on nationally-soliciting charities, visit www.give.org/charity-reviews/national/.  To access both local and national charity reports, use the search engine on our homepage www.give.org. 

To keep you up to date, starting today, we are adding a feature to our #WiseGivingWednesday blog. Each post will list some of our most recently completed reports on national charities that seek to verify the trustworthiness of these organizations. Here is the first group:

• National Eating Disorders Association
• Optimist International Foundation
• Resources for Human Development
• Share Our Strength
• U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants

Finally, let us know by going to https://www.give.org/ask-us-about-a-charity1/ if you are interested in seeing a report on a charity not on the list and we will do our best to produce one. 

H. Art Taylor, President & CEO
BBB Wise Giving Alliance

As noted in this week’s Chronicle of Philanthropy, this holiday season is expected to result in significant gains for charities due to a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, large gifts from wealthy donors, a rising stock market, and a healthy response to the GivingTuesday campaign. While end-of-year donating is usually the most active time for contributors, the predictions are that charities will do better than anticipated. 

In view of this, we are pleased to share an infographic that provides donors with a holiday checklist of advice in making their giving choices: make sure you know what the charity does, watch out for name similarity, seek out advice from friends and family about which causes concern them most and verify if the charity meets the BBB Standards for Charity Accountability by visiting Give.org 

As part of our Building Trust Video series, we are pleased to provide a video that features Lt. Col. Ron Busroe, National Community Relations and Development Secretary of The Salvation Army’s National Headquarters in the United States (a BBB Accredited Charity).  The Salvation Army works through a network of 7,546 facilities in communities throughout the United States. The organization services include providing shelter for the homeless, food for the hungry, daycare services for the elderly, assistance for the disabled, job training for displaced individuals, Bible classes for people in prison, relief for disaster victims, after-school tutoring, youth camps, and recreation activities for children.   

We are always working with charities to publish or update reports for donors. Visit Give.org or local BBBs to check out any charity before giving. Our recently evaluated charities include: 

• World Emergency Relief
• Wreaths Across America
• Youth for Christ USA 

Finally, remember to let us know by going to  https://www.give.org/ask-us-about-a-charity1/ if you are interested in seeing a report on a charity not on the list and we will do our best to produce one.  

H. Art Taylor, President & CEO
BBB Wise Giving Alliance

Children return to schools around the country as we approach the Labor Day holiday. To many parents, this means more than just new backpacks, books and boxes of pencils. They may also be asked to help raise money for school needs such as special class projects or gaps in overall funding. These events can take a variety of formats such as bake sales, selling candy or holding an auction.

For those seeking to take steps for having a well-managed and accountable fundraising efforts, here are some tips:

• Make sure specific plans and goals are in place. What is the activity that is being supported through these donations? Is there a target dollar amount that is seeking to be raised?
• Are the parents provided with letters or online communications that introduce the fundraiser and explain how it will be conducted?
• Will someone be in charge for keeping track of volunteers and making arrangements for how funds will be recorded and collected?
• Will fundraising volunteers and participants be kept informed about how much was raised?
• Will thank you notices be sent to all contributors?

There are also online alternatives for teachers seeking to raise money for classroom projects or other needs, they can consider posting a request on DonorsChoose.org which helps teachers across America post classroom project requests so individuals can provide funding.

Video of the Week

As part of our Building Trust Video Series, we are pleased to provide a video of Ron Carter, President & CEO, Children, Incorporated (a BBB Accredited Charity) which seeks to improve children’s lives through greater access to education and basic needs assistance. The organization aims to provide children opportunities to learn skills that will one day help them to be able to support themselves and become contributing members of their communities. CI partners with existing organizations in each country or area in which the organization works, and those organizations appoint volunteer coordinators to manage and oversee CI’s child assistance efforts.

Recent Reports

We are always working with charities to publish or update reports for donors. Visit Give.org or local BBBs to check out any charity before giving. Our recently evaluated charities include:

• Keep a Child Alive
• National Arbor Day Foundation
• World Vision

Finally, remember to let us know by going to give.org/charity-inquiry if you are  interested in seeing a report on a charity not on the list and we will do our best to produce one.  

H. Art Taylor, President & CEO
BBB Wise Giving Alliance

Last week we provided advice for donors about Hurricane Florence relief. While Hurricane Florence has passed, many of the areas impacted by flooding from the storm are still under water. As there is still a need to raise funds for recovery, we will likely see a variety of fundraising events seeking to help homes and businesses that have been severely damaged. As these activities emerge, we offer the following to help avoid some of the common fundraising mistakes made in the wake of disasters.

Fundraisers Should Seek Permission to Use the Disaster Relief Charity’s Name.  Musicians, television stations, businesses or other groups that decide to hold some type of fundraising event to raise money should get permission, in writing, to use a specific charity’s name before holding the event on their behalf. In most cases, these names are service-marks owned by the subject charity. In addition, the charity will likely have certain requirements to help protect the charity’s brand image and to help ensure that potential donors are properly informed about how the money will be used.   

Ticket Sale Disclosures on Deductibility. If the fundraising event involves selling tickets to a concert or other performance, the IRS has certain disclosure rules for sales exceeding $75. That amount triggers the IRS requirement to provide a written disclosure that identifies the amount of the sale that exceeds the fair-market-value of the item. Only that portion is deductible as a charitable gift for federal income tax purposes. For example, if the show sells benefit tickets for $125 each for a performance that would normally sell for $100 each, then only $25 of the purchase is deductible.

Watch Out for 100% Claims in Fundraising Event Promotions. It costs money to raise money. All fundraising events will incur some expenses. Even a credit card transaction will incur a processing fee. If a disaster fundraising event is stating that 100% of collected funds will go to the charity, watch out. The promotion may either be misleading or omitting a material fact. If someone else is covering the expenses to hold the event, the organization should take the initiative to explain the circumstances in the promotion.

Cause-Related Marketing Disclosures.  Another popular fundraising alternative in the wake of a disaster is for a business to sell consumer items (ranging from t-shirts to canned goods) with the announcement that the purchase will help a specified disaster relief charity. If so, BBB Charity Standards require that the promotion disclose the actual or anticipated portion of the purchase price that will go to the charity (and, if applicable, the term of the campaign and any maximum or guaranteed minimum contribution amount). The business should also have a written agreement with the charity that gives them permission to use the charity’s name in this sales context.

Transparency on Results. Disaster relief fundraising events usually generate significant public attention. It is best to be transparent and post results about how much was raised, expenses incurred, and the resulting amount provided to the charity. This openness is expected by donors and will help strengthen trust for any subsequent or similar events held.

For more information on Disaster Relief fundraising issues, view the following IRS Publication: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p3833.pdf

Video of the Week
As part of our Building Trust Video Series, we are pleased to provide a video of Carolyn Aldige’, Founder and CEO, Prevent Cancer Foundation (a BBB Accredited Charity) which provides support for cancer research, education, community outreach, and advocacy. The organization reports that it provides funding for cancer prevention research and training to more than 450 scientists across the country. PCFs public education program applies this scientific knowledge to inform the public about ways they can reduce their cancer risks. The organization reaches the public through exhibits, distribution of materials, its relationship with the media, and through educational conferences for professionals in the cancer field.  

Recent Reports
We are always working with charities to publish or update reports for donors. Visit Give.org or local BBBs to check out any charity before giving. Our recently evaluated charities include:

• Marine Toys for Tots Foundation
• National Environmental Education and Training Foundation
• Outreach International

Finally, remember to let us know by going to https://www.give.org/ask-us-about-a-charity1/ if you are  interested in seeing a report on a charity not on the list and we will do our best to produce one.  

H. Art Taylor, President & CEO
BBB Wise Giving Alliance