Wise Giving Wednesday: Strengthening Charity Fundraising Oversight

Charity fundraising oversight may happen behind the scenes, but it plays a critical role in keeping fundraising appeals accurate, transparent, and worthy of donor trust.

Building Fundraising Processes That Protect Donor Trust

BBB Wise Giving Alliance has years of experience working with charities to strengthen the truthfulness and transparency of their solicitation appeals.

Beyond our formal evaluation process, charities consult with us between biennial reviews to ensure their fundraising practices remain aligned with the BBB Standards for Charity Accountability.

This week, we’re sharing a bit of “inside baseball” guidance for charities on how to structure effective oversight of their fundraising efforts and avoid common pitfalls in solicitation materials.

Strong Oversight Practices Help Prevent Mistakes

If your charity manages fundraising in-house, it’s important for teams to stay aligned and communicate clearly to avoid missteps.

We’ve seen cases where stronger oversight could have prevented misleading or inaccurate appeals. For example, having sensitive materials reviewed by legal or finance colleagues can help catch well-intentioned mistakes.

Practical Steps to Strengthen Charity Fundraising Oversight

The following “rules of thumb” can help charities reduce the risk of problematic appeals that could put donor trust in jeopardy:

• Identify key players who should review fundraising copy and plans, including legal and finance representatives, among others.

• Establish an organizational checklist that outlines your organization’s unique fundraising practices and procedures, incorporating lessons learned from past issues to prevent them from recurring.

• Formalize the fundraising review process to ensure it occurs consistently, rather than sporadically. For example, you might assign clear responsibilities, use a standard checklist, and ensure oversight happens before new appeals are distributed.

• Develop a culture of disclosure where sharing information is valued and considered essential to organizational transparency.

Oversight Responsibilities When Working with Fundraising Firms

If your charity contracts with outside fundraising firms, it’s critical that both the board and staff are part of the process.

BBB Charity Standard 1 calls for outside arrangements with fundraising firms to be made in writing and shared with the charity’s board of directors. This gives the board an opportunity to review key financial terms, such as the expected portion of gross proceeds that will benefit the charity.

Beyond good governance, careful oversight of these arrangements helps protect your organization from unfavorable agreements with fundraising firms.

Additional Guidance on Charity Fundraising Materials 

In addition to the above charity fundraising oversite tips, we recommend that charities review our Do’s and Don’ts in Fundraising Copy.

This resource provides guidance on avoiding common issues identified by our staff under BBB Charity Standard 15, requiring solicitation materials to be accurate, truthful, and not misleading. This standard applies to all fundraising materials, including calls, event invitations, print and broadcast ads, grant proposals, and online appeals.

We hope this guidance is helpful for development teams and other key players creating trustworthy fundraising content.

Recent Reports

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

• Cure Alzheimer’s Fund
• March of Dimes
• Mercy Multiplied America

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.