Wise Giving Wednesday: Help Shape the Future of BBB Charity Standards

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calendar icon Sep 24, 2025

Your voice can help shape the future of transparency, accountability and trust in the charitable sector.

Help Us Update the BBB Charity Standards

BBB’s Give.org recently announced the launch of a project to revise our BBB Standards for Charity Accountability and we’re asking for your help. If you have any thoughts, please follow this link to comment on current standards, raise new issues, or suggest areas of accountability for us to consider. We welcome your input as a stakeholder in the revision of our Standards.

The Advisory Committee Leading the Effort

The process is led by a 20-member Advisory Committee that includes leaders from charities you may already know, such as Alzheimer’s Association, American Red Cross, Disabled American Veterans, Humane World for Animals, KABOOM!, Native American Native Rights Fund, The Salvation Army, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. We are also grateful for the participation of other Philanthropic experts.

Why This Update Matters

According to Bennett Weiner, BBB Wise Giving Alliance’s President and CEO,

“Over the past twenty years, the BBB Charity Standards provided guidance to strengthen trust in the charitable sector and served as a valuable assessment tool to help donors make informed giving decisions.”
And that won’t change, but our hope is to address new issues that have emerged since the Standards were developed.

Lysa Ratliff, CEO of KABOOM! (a charity dedicated to providing access to play areas for children), will help lead our revision team as the Co-chair of the Standards Revision Committee. Ratliff stresses the need to:

“address emerging matters facing the charitable sector, particularly as charities face federal funding cuts and the challenges of new technologies.”

Weiner adds,

“we look forward to enhancing and revising these efforts at a time when our public survey research has shown that trust has grown in importance.”

While our Standards will be modified, BBB WGA will continue to address fundamental areas, such as charity board oversight, finances, appeal accuracy and transparency.

How You Can Get Involved

We believe Standards should reflect the needs and values of the broader giving community, and that includes you.

  • ✅ Click here to share your input
  • ✅ Forward this post to others who care about nonprofit trust
  • ✅ Stay tuned for updates throughout the revision process

We look forward to hearing from you!

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:

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.