As announced in our press release, BBB Wise Giving Alliance launched a new donation platform on July 4th: GiveSafely.io. BBB WGA chose to introduce this new program service on Independence Day since it is intended to provide donors with more freedom and control over the use of their personal data through the use of blockchain technology (also called a digital ledger where “blocks” of records are distributed in a secure fashion to many computers.) Because blockchain transactions are processed without institutional intermediaries, it enables peer-to-peer interactions between donors and charities. Donations go directly to the charity without donors having to worry about their personal data being mined, monetized or potentially misused by third parties. Also, BBB WGA has no access to detailed donor data and receives no transactions fees from the donations.

Only nationally-soliciting charities that are found by BBB WGA to meet all 20 BBB Standards for Charity Accountability (i.e., BBB Accredited Charities) can choose to receive contributions on this platform. The initial charity participants are as follows and we anticipate a growing number will join them in the coming weeks: Save the Children, Easterseals, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Population Media Center, RedRover, Wild Animal Sanctuary, Cure Alzheimer’s Fund and World Emergency Relief. In turn, as this charity donation website expands, it also will evolve as BBB Wise Giving Alliance identifies how to further address concerns about trust, security and related matters.   

We are also proud to provide donors with interactive opportunities with charities. As donors choose to share more personal data with charities, they are rewarded with TrustTokens which are redeemable for online experiences with charities such as video chats with charity leadership or staff. While this engagement may be particularly of interest to younger donors, we believe that older donors also will be motivated to access such offerings since COVID-19 has limited in-person experiences with charities such as fundraising events (walkathons, dinners) that are no longer being held. Go to Givesafely.io to learn more about this cutting edge platform.

Video of the Week

As part of our Building Trust Video Series, we are pleased to provide a video interview with Bill Ryerson, President of Population Media Center, a BBB Accredited Charity that uses entertainment education and mass media to promote social and cultural change towards environmental and women’s rights and empower individuals to live healthier and prosperous lives that are in reciprocity with the world’s renewable resources.

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:

• National Park Trust
• Nuru International
• UNCF

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