On Monday, we released the Give.org Donor Trust Special Report: Sexual Harassment and the Charitable Sector. The report provides the results of a survey of 2,100 adults across the United States and more than 1,000 adults in Canada, exploring how donors react to allegations of sexual harassment involving a charity or house of worship. As featured in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, survey findings confirmed that donors care about this issue, with 22% of donors who heard such allegations reporting that they no longer contribute to the organization and another 17% reporting a reduction of support.

Donors who maintained support for a specific charity or house of worship after learning about sexual harassment allegations most frequently stated that “the actions of a few bad actors do not represent the organization as a whole” as the reason to continue giving. But, while sexual harassment can occur at any organization, well-governed charities can build cultures that do not tolerate sexual harassment, be prepared to react in a timely and appropriate fashion, and openly communicate with their donors about any issues and solutions. Also, it appears that many donors are willing to resume support for the charity or house of worship after proper corrective actions are taken. When asked about the hypothetical example of a charity taking action to address a sexual harassment problem, 38% of U.S. participants say they would resume normal levels of support as soon as they believe the charity reacted appropriately.

As an issue of good governance, charities must strengthen their cultures so that sexual harassment is clearly understood and never tolerated, and they must be prepared to react in a timely and appropriate fashion. To maintain donor trust, charities should also be prepared to openly communicate with their donors about the issues and any implemented solutions.

Video of the Week

This week, we are featuring an interview with Alice Thomas, Executive Director of Central Asia Institute (a BBB Accredited Charity) where she discusses the goals of the organization and challenges it faces including those caused by the pandemic.

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 Center for Appropriate Technology
• Pet Partners
• SIM USA

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