This edition represents the 400^th post! Over seven and a half years ago, on January 14, 2015, the first entry of Wise Giving Wednesday was shared on Give.org. Over time, quite a variety of topics have appeared in this feature, including describing each of the 20 BBB Standards for Charity Accountability, offering donation advice in response to tragedies and disasters, sharing original research from the Give.org Donor Trust Reports, alerting readers to potential fraudulent solicitation practices, encouraging donations to BBB Accredited Charities (i.e., charities that meet BBB Charity Standards), and more recently, recommending how people can help those in need during times of war such as Ukraine.

From the start, we sought to alert donors that the BBB Charity Standards are based on much more than how much money charities raise or spend. They offer a comprehensive approach to accountability that recognizes, among other things, the vital oversight role of a charity’s governing body, the importance for charities to periodically measure results and goals, the value of charity transparency, and the significance of ensuring that charity appeals, and communications are accurate, complete, and respectful.

Wise Giving Wednesday also sought to look at the future of giving and the potential challenges facing donors regarding privacy and security. And we introduced new features such GiveSafely.io which provides a donation platform that uses blockchain technology to keep personal information secure and provides a safe way to give cash or cryptocurrency to trusted charities.

While it is difficult to capture or summarize the content of thousands of words that have appeared in Wise Giving Wednesday, it could be said that the vast majority has been about trust. Through many aspects of our work and outreach, BBB Wise Giving Alliance seeks to strengthen trust in charities. We are encouraging donations to trustworthy organizations and recognize the growing importance of that goal in an increasing complex charitable sector.

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Video of the Week

As part of our Building Trust Video Series, we are pleased to revisit a video featuring an interview with Michael Roberts, President and CEO,  First Nations Development Institute  (a BBB Accredited Charity ) which works to improve economic conditions for Native Americans through technical assistance and training, advocacy and policy, and direct financial grants.
 

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Heart of Giving Podcast

This week’s Heart of Giving Podcast is the 100^th episode of this program. BBB Wise Giving Alliance offers Part 3 of its Powerful Black Women Giving Back series. This edition features clips of previous interviews with Mesky Brhane, Practice Manager, The World Bank, Lysa Ratliff, CEO of KABOOM! And Elizabeth Clay Roy, CEO of Generation Citizen.

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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:

• American Kidney Services
• Gift of Life Marrow Registry
• Lymphatic Education and Research Network

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.