On March 21, 2024, the standards-based, charity-evaluation group, BBB Wise Giving Alliance (BBB’s Give.org), is hosting a Donor Trust and Participation event at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice in New York City. The event is co-hosted by Charity Monitoring Worldwide (CMW), a network of charity monitors representing 20 countries from the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Europe. BBB’s Give.org is the US member of CMW.

The program seeks to gain insights into the roots of the generosity crisis in the United States, with references from around the globe, and for charities in attendance to learn about actionable advice from sector experts on how to gain broad and pluralistic support and foster community around causes.

Event participants include Asha Curran (Chief Executive Officer of GivingTuesday), Jane Wales (Co-Chair of the Generosity Commission), Jon Bergdoll (Associate Director of Data Partnerships, Statistician for Giving USA), Margaret Richardson (Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, GoFundMe), Sara Lomelin (Chief Executive Officer,  Philanthropy Together), Nathan Chappell, Senior VP, Donor Search AI, and charity leaders from American Heart Association, charity:water, and CHC: Creating Healthier Communities.

“Given the unique and vital role that charities play in society, the decline in American households giving to charities, and the rise in the average age of the U.S. donor, are truly concerning” said H. Art Taylor, President and CEO of BBB’s Give.org (and Co-Chair of the Generosity Commission’s Policy Task Force), “Recent BBB Donor Trust Surveys have highlighted the importance of building community, broadening the ask, and effectively differentiating the impact charities make as compared to other forms of generosity. Through this gathering, we want to further the conversation with sector leaders and participating charities.”

For a copy of the agenda, go to https://give.org/donor-trust-and-participation/

About BBB Wise Giving Alliance: BBB Wise Giving Alliance (BBB’s Give.org) is a standards-based charity evaluator that seeks to verify the trustworthiness of nationally soliciting charities by completing rigorous evaluations based on 20 holistic standards that address charity governance, results reporting, finances, fundraising, appeal accuracy and other issues. National charity reports are produced by BBB’s Give.org and local charity reports are produced by local Better Business Bureaus – all reports are available at Give.org.

About BBB: The Better Business Bureau has empowered people to find businesses, brands, and charities they can trust for over 110 years. In 2023, people turned to BBB more than 218 million times for BBB Business Profiles on 5.3 million businesses and Charity Reports on 12,000 charities, for free at BBB.org. The International Association of Better Business Bureaus is the umbrella organization for the local, independent BBBs in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Media contacts: For more information, journalists should contact Elvia Castro (703) 247-9322 or ecastro@give.org)

Heart of Giving Podcast

This week’s Heart of Giving Podcast features Eric Kessler, founder of Arabella Advisors which offers philanthropy and management expertise and connections to funders and changemakers to help their clients overcome challenges standing in the way of needed change.

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:

• The Blue Card
• Equine Land Conservation Resource
• Hearing Health Foundation

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.