Guide to Car Donations for Charities
The gifting of used cars to charities has become a favorite way for Americans to dispose of unwanted vehicles.
DEC 20, 2021
Wise Giving Wednesday: Government Regulation vs. Voluntary Standards
Aug 17, 2022
For today’s Wise Giving Wednesday, we wanted to revisit a topic – the difference between government regulations and voluntary standards. In describing what the law requires of charities, some of the fundamentals include, but are not limited to, annually filing the IRS 990 financial form, registering as a soliciting charity with the applicable state government agencies, not misleading donors, not engaging in fraudulent practices and/or not misusing charitable funds to benefit charity staff and/or board members.
As a standards-based charity evaluator, however, BBB Wise Giving Alliance looks beyond the legal requirements in completing its reports on charities. The BBB Standards for Charity Accountability, for example, encourage charities to ensure the volunteer board is active, independent and free of self-dealing, spend funds prudently and in accordance with statements made in appeals, have accurate appeals, respect donor privacy, and include specified disclosures on its website and in cause-related marketing promotions. While some of these issues overlap with legal requirements, the specific recommendations included in these standards, in many instances, call for practices that stretch beyond what the law can address.
The distinction between legal requirements and voluntary recommendations is also reflected in the language used to describe them. One complies with regulations because the law requires it, in contrast one meets a standard if one chooses to follow it.
The public expects charities “to do the right thing” and if asked, will likely indicate this means more than just meeting legal requirements. It embodies the notion of trust which we believe is an objective that is well addressed by meeting the BBB Standards for Charity Accountability.
Video of the Week
For this Video of the Week, we revisit a Coffee with Colleagues event from 2021 that features Matthew Eshleman Chief Technology Officer of Community IT which offers IT support services for nonprofits. He discusses the current state of cybersecurity and how charities can best protect themselves.
Heart of Giving Podcast
In this week’s Heart of Giving Podcast, BBB WGA interviews Roger Craver, a recognized expert and leader in direct response fundraising and co-founder of DonorVoice a donor relationship management firm and editor of the TheAgitator.net. He currently serves as member of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance Board of Directors.
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.
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