Donor Handbook 2019
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TM WISE GIVING GUIDE BBB WISE GIVING ALLIANCE : SPRING/SUMMER 2019 DONOR HANDBOOK2019 ® INSIDE How to Read the 6 List of National ® 2 Donor Charities Q&A about the 51 Handbook 2019 Wise Giving Guide A Publication of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance National Charity 51 8 Seal Program BBB Standards List of Nationally 52 Soliciting Charities for Charity Accountability The Wise Giving Guide is published three times a year to help donors make more informed giving decisions. This BBB Wise Giving Alliance Board of Directors guide includes a compilation of Mark Shamley – Chair Elizabeth Mong the latest evaluation conclusions Vice President, Global Social Impact Executive Director, Ardor/Nxt Group completed by the BBB Wise Tupperware Brands Corporation • Orlando, FL Lancaster, PA Giving Alliance. Char Mollison – Vice Chair John Seffrin, Ph.D. Senior Fellow, Center on Nonprofit Professor of Practice, Indiana University, Management, Philanthropy and Policy, School of Public Health-Bloomington If you would like to see a George Mason University • Fairfax, VA (former CEO, American Cancer Society) particular topic discussed Atlanta, GA Bonnie Benhayon – Treasurer in this guide, please email (retired) Environmental Business Development Al Lenhardt suggestions to Executive, Bank of America • Boston, MA (retired) Acting Administrator, United States Agency for International Development [email protected] Beverly Baskin Washington, DC or write to us at the Interim President & CEO, Council of Better Business Bureaus • Arlington, VA Anne Schelle address below. Managing Director, Pearl TV • Washington, DC Chuck Bean Executive Director, Metropolitan Washington Patrichi Shah SPRING / SUMMER ISSUE 2019 Council of Governments • Washington, DC President & CEO, Flourish Talent Management Solutions • Washington, DC Warren Clark President & CEO, Better Business Bureau of Prabhash Shrestha BBB Wise Giving Alliance Upstate New York • Amherst, NY Executive Vice President and Chief Digital 3033 Wilson Blvd. Officer, Independent Community Bankers Robert Diggs of America • Washington, DC Suite 710 Program Coordinator, Pennsylvania Consortium Arlington, VA 22201 for the Liberal Arts • Lancaster, PA Lori Wilson President & CEO, BBB serving the San (703) 247-9321 Andras Kosaras Francisco Bay Area and Northern Coastal www.give.org Arnold & Porter LLP • Washington, DC California • Oakland, CA Janice R. Lachance H. Art Taylor – Ex-Officio Executive Vice President, Strategic and Wise Giving Guide Layout and BBB Wise Giving Alliance Production — art270, inc. Operational Excellence, American Geophysical Union • Washington, DC Publication No. 11-24-503 BBB Wise Giving Alliance Staff Copyright 2019 H. Art Taylor Edward Loftin Shawn Van Gorder BBB Wise Giving Alliance President and CEO Research Analyst Director, Charity Evaluation The name Better Business Bureau is a registered service mark of the Council of Better Business Bennett M. Weiner Danielle Nelson Ezra Vazquez-D’Amico Bureaus, Inc. Chief Operating Officer Research Analyst Research Analyst Kelley Bevis Holly Parker Shakila Wilson Research Analyst Research Analyst Administrative Coordinator Elvia Castro Julie A. Rizzo Manager, Regional Charity Director, Development & Reporting Charity Seal Licensing Program president’sMESSAGE o help our readers continue to make wise giving choices, we’ve brought back one of our most popular features: The Donor THandbook. In our Spring / Summer 2019 edition of the Wise Giving Guide , we hope to provide guidance on several philanthropic topics of interest. We’ll look at charity annual reports, which can provide donors a quick way to access basic facts before making a giving decision. We’ll also address data privacy to inform donors what to look for when sharing personal information with a charity. With the arrival of spring, we also thought it would be a good time to dive into athletic fundraising events such as walkathons and charity runs. If you’re already thinking about your summer vacation, BBB WGA provides some tips on volunteer vacation opportunities. Finally, this latest edition of the Wise Giving Guide offers a discussion of women and their growing role in philanthropy. We hope you enjoy the Donor Handbook. More importantly, we hope you can use it to continue to make smart giving choices. As always, we appreciate your continuing support. H. Art Taylor, President & CEO Wise Giving : SPRING / SUMMER 2019 1 DONOR 201HANDBOOK9 For this issue of the Wise Giving Guide , we want to provide some insight and advice on a variety of charity topics and throw in a little fun too. We hope you enjoy the spring and summer weather while also continuing to express your generosity to the charities and causes you care about most. Get a glimpse: charity annual reports One of the best sources of information on charities is the annual report. Many charities include the most recent annual report, and often those from previous years, in the “about us” section of their website, and it provides an easily digestible snapshot of the organization’s work from the previous year. As a donor, you likely want to get to the nuts and bolts of the charity you are considering supporting as quickly as possible, and may not have time to get into the minutia found in audited to connect donors to the actual “boots on the financial statements or IRS Form 990s. A well- ground” work performed by charities, from produced annual report can help you do just that. delivering goods to victims of natural disasters BBB Charity Standard 16 calls for charity annual to digging wells for fresh water in Africa. reports to include specific financial information, Unfortunately, BBB Wise Giving Alliance finds including total income, total ending net assets, that Standard 16 is one of the most frequently and program, fundraising and administrative unmet standards. We believe charities should expenses. An annual report will often include create an annual report each year (annually!) graphs to help you identify these items more to take advantage of this relatively easy way to easily. The Standard also calls for annual reports demonstrate transparency and share an overview to include the charity’s mission statement, a roster of their work with donors. While many annual of the organization’s board members, and a reports have a lot of flash and gloss, that is not summary of program accomplishments from necessary. What’s important is that the charity the previous year, which is often not found in tells its story to donors, and this can be done the audited financial statements or 990, or at in as little as a page or two. least not in much detail. Pictures and narrative An annual report should be easy to locate on summaries of program service accomplishments a charity’s website, and if it isn’t, don’t hesitate included in annual reports can be an effective tool to let the charity know and request a copy. 2 Protect yourself: data privacy While recovering from the holiday season earlier this year, many of us may have overlooked Data Privacy Day on January 28. Led by the National Cyber Security Alliance, Data Privacy Day helps create awareness of the importance of data security, including protecting personal information and avoiding data breaches. The giving public communicates with charities through websites, email, and social media, and it is always important to consider what policies each charity has in place to protect your personal information. BBB Wise Giving Alliance has long been concerned with donor privacy, as evidenced by our Standard 18, which calls for charities to disclose in their website privacy policy: • What information is being collected and how it will be used? • How to contact the charity to review personal information and to make corrections? • How to inform the charity if you don’t want your personal information shared? • And what security measures does the charity have in place to protect personal information? The above four principles of notice , access , choice and security provide a good lens through which donors can view data privacy. A good habit would be to begin looking at the privacy policies of charities before you give. BBB Wise Giving Alliance calls on charities to make these policies “clear, prominent, and accessible.” The privacy policy can often be found at the bottom of the homepage or “footer” or on the donation page. Once you’ve located the privacy policy, try to identify the four elements. Some policies will be clear and concise, others too simple or filled with legal jargon that can be confusing. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to the charity to find out how they protect your information, especially in an age in which cybercriminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated. For additional information on data privacy, please go to: bbbprograms.org/insights Walking for a cause: athletic fundraisers As the weather warms, we’re sure to start Race for the Cure began with a humble seeing advertising for charity walks, runs, and 800 participants in Dallas, TX in 1983, and a host of other events offering to let us sweat is considered the largest fundraising event it out with family and friends for a good cause. to support breast cancer. Now there are Such events have been around for close to countless similar events to support charities, fifty years. The March of Dimes’ March for enabling donor-athletes to choose among Babies , which began in 1970, is one of the a variety of causes or even the level of athletic most prominent examples. Susan G. Komen’s prowess required for participation. Wise Giving : SPRING / SUMMER 2019 3 However, the Peer-to-Peer Professional Women and philanthropy Forum’s Fundraising Thirty report indicates that donations from such events are Friday, March 8th was International Women’s Day, declining. According to the report, and women’s issues have certainly been at the donations have decreased for six years in forefront of popular consciousness in recent years. a row, with 2018 showing a 2.7% decrease Women-focused philanthropy also has grown.