Yesterday, March 23^rd, was our 20^th anniversary under the name “BBB Wise Giving Alliance.” Our history of charity reporting, however, goes back over a century. Originally, we functioned as a division of the national office of the Better Business Bureau and produced reports on nationally-soliciting charities starting in the 1920’s. Charity reporting efforts at BBBs, both nationally and regionally, expanded after World War II with the development of many war relief efforts. Then in 1971, when the national office re-organized and re-located to Washington, DC, the division’s name changed to Philanthropic Advisory Service. In 2001, the Philanthropic Advisory Service program merged with the National Charities Information Bureau which began in 1918 as the first organization in the nation to establish charity accountability standards. Both charity reporting entities had a shared mission of helping donors make wise giving decisions and both completed reports on nationally-soliciting charities using a broad set of standards that addressed governance, finances, and transparency issues.

Helping Donors Give Wisely and Verify Charity Trustworthiness

Throughout our history, the primary audience of our reporting has been the donating public. We have always encouraged contributors to check out charities before making a gift and millions have used our services to make informed giving decisions. Initially this was accomplished through individual reports that summarized basic facts about the charities’ program services, finances, finances and fundraising efforts. With the help of the charitable community, standards were developed to help assess the accountability of these organizations while also encouraging charities to meet recognized practices. In 1976, a summary list of the latest national charity evaluations was distributed which later evolved into the Wise Giving Guide magazine still produced today. In 1995, we were the first charity monitor to provide free online access to our latest reports through our website. Today, our Give.org website includes access not only to 1,500 national charity reports produced by BBB Wise Giving Alliance but over 10,000 reports on regionally soliciting charities produced by Better Business Bureaus.

Strengthening Charity Practices

One of our dual objectives has been working with charities to help improve accountability practices and strengthen public trust in organizations. To accomplish this, there is no charge to charities for the accountability assessment that we complete. Due to the rigorous nature of our reviews and the variety of issues addressed in the 20 BBB Standards for Charity Accountability, we ask charities to provide more information than just an IRS Form 990 or what appears on the organization’s website. Charities are provided with draft versions of these assessments and we often correspond with them to recommend improvements so they can address any deficiencies identified. The resulting report, indicating if a charity meets or does not meet these standards, is then posted on Give.org.

Future of Donor Trust

In our view, strengthening donor trust in giving is not only a function of verifying charity trustworthiness (such as identifying if a charity meets BBB Charity Standards) but is also related to how comfortable a contributor is in making a secure and safe online donation transaction. To help accomplish this objective, last year we launched a new donation platform: GiveSafely.io. Through the use of blockchain technology, this platform enables contributors to donate to participating BBB Accredited Charities while having greater control and security over personal information shared with the charity. Donors can donate on GiveSafely.io via cash or cryptocurrency. BBB Wise Giving Alliance does not touch the donation or take any transaction fees. It goes directly to the charity.

Video of the Week

As part of our Building Trust Video Series, we are pleased to provide a video featuring Lieutenant General Robert Ruark USMC (Ret.), CEO of the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation (a BBB Accredited Charity), an organization that assists the families of United States Marine Corps and of United States Navy Corpsmen by providing their children with scholarships to attend colleges, universities and vocational and technical institutions.

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 Institute for Cancer Research
• Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America
• Native American Rights Fund

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