News & Updates

Cause-related marketing refers to promotions that sell products or services to consumers with the announcement that some of the purchase price will help a specified charity.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month (aka Mental Health Month). The stress, grief and anxiety associated with coping with COVID-19 for over a year are to be expected. A year ago, the pandemic caused nearly 100,000 American deaths which have since climbed to over 575,000.

News accounts from the past week noted that India is in the midst of a growing COVID-19 crisis. On Monday, India reported over 350,000 new cases.

Every April, environmental activists around the world honor our planet through April 22nd Earth Day celebrations and environmental action. Now in its 51st year, Earth Day also inspires environmental supporters to reflect on pressing environmental concerns of our time

National Volunteer Week takes place from April 18th to the 21st. This provides recognition to all the individuals that help charities and others through their generous donation of time.

One of the principle lessons in charitable fundraising is that donors contribute when they are “asked” either through direct mail, telephone calls, online requests, grant proposals, fundraising events and/or social media.

On March 25, 2021, the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General announced it is suing a company using the names “Contributing to Combatants” and “Coast 2 Coast (C2C) Marketing” for defrauding Minnesota donors.

Yesterday, March 23rd, was our 20th anniversary under the name “BBB Wise Giving Alliance.” Our history of charity reporting, however, goes back over a century.

During the March 2021 meeting of the Board of Directors of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Ambassador Al Lenhardt, a long-time friend and supporter of the accountability mission of this organization, announced that he was stepping down from the Board.

On March 4, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) along with 38 U.S. States and the District of Columbia announced a shutdown of a telefunding operation accused of carrying out deceptive robocalls for charity.

A few weeks ago, we noted that, as reported in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Blackbaud Institute released its 2020 Charitable Giving Report which estimates that overall giving rose 2 percent during 2020. We are pleased to note that yesterday, The NonProfit Times announced more good news.

Wise Giving Wednesday previously discussed the importance of charity transparency which has been viewed in past years as the availability of charity financial information but in more recent times is seen as charities providing disclosures about a variety of areas such as those addressed in the 20 BBB Standards for Charity Accountability.​