How To Improve The Inconsistent Charity Ratings

Charity ratings are something so inconsistent that highly rated charities might easily find themselves outdone in rating by unknown ones that materialize out of nowhere. Charity Water is a representative though new sample of this. The power of the online medium and ingenuity are helping brand new charities to drive their ratings sky high. A charity that may not have any rating one day might be considered as one of the top of the chart charities by the New York Times the next day and their rating would then go through the roof in no time.

Because of the power the mass communication media have over the people, when a charity is in the good books of the media, it expands very quickly and manages to get a lot of charitable giving. By that same yardstick, when media do not have much interest in propping up a given charity, its rating also plummets in the same proportion.

Directory lists of charity rating

With cynicism a bit on the higher side and eagle eyed guardians of charity practices ever on the lookout for malpractices, with huge amounts of money spent on managing or misuse of funds, directory listings of charity ratings are having a field day. It is rather strange that altruistic organizations, the purpose of which is to give others, themselves come under the scrutiny of guardians of ethics. Altruism is becoming a knotty issue!

Institutions like Givespot.com, Guidestar.org etc. provide comprehensive listings of charity ratings. GiveSpot 100 list is the list of the 100 highest ranking charities that is provided by Givespot.com. Another one that provides similar data is charitynavigator.com which has a list of the top ten charities as well a charity check system. Finding out charities is made easy by this. The biggest charity director of US is Guidestar.org with lots of free data on charity as well as information that can be availed for payment. Though its name gives a different impression, Better Business Bureau is a charity directory that gives a list of both commercial and non-profit ventures of USA.

With enough charity rating guides, there is no data shortage for anyone who wants to get information on the 100 top charities, but what constitutes real rating is something different. What in reality makes a charity superior has nothing much to do with its ratings. There are characteristics that make an organization, whether charity based or otherwise, stand out from the rest.

Charity Ratings and belief in the public

A 2005 YouGov poll published that the majority of the British population – 56% – had only a ‘fair amount’ of trust in the global charities like Save the Children and Oxfam . Only 15% of the charities surveyed had ‘a great deal’ of trust – even in the ones that do well in charity ratings.

Charity Critics’ Warnings are profuse

Belief in charities is at an all time low these days. Public can hardly be blamed for this. Charity watchdogs are ringing warning bells of charity institutions spending even up to 60% of the amount collected on overheads that include big salaries for managers so that very little remains for real charity giving.

It has been shown in recent studies that the expenses for raising funds in places like UK and Australia amount to about18% in the case of the former and 22% in the case of the latter. The corresponding amount in USA is about 30% according to the Association of Fundraising Professionals. These are without administrative expenses, which might be higher. This is a big issue with donors especially in situations like what happened in Singapore a few years ago when the issue fell under the media scanner. This sort of negative attraction leads to a reduction in charity giving which is definitely not a good sign.

Charity ratings secret exposed

There is little difference between businesses and charities when it comes to attracting money. Their end use of the money is of course different, but their special secrets to attracting it in the first place are much the same.

To increase the charity rating as well as attract better flow of funds the secret can be found in a single word – attraction.

When we see an object and would like to buy it, or make an investment in it, or want to connect with it, we tend to take a decision on the basis of how tempting it is to us. If it is very appealing, we might instantly buy it or plan to get it but if it is not all that tempting, we would definitely postpone the idea.

Charity Water was exceptionally successful in getting media backing and good charity rating because of their appealing idea. The scheme of charging a good price for a bottle of charity water, and using the profits thereof for getting clean water to areas where it was not available, was a fascinating idea that appealed to all.

The factors that make Charity Water quite fascinating and promote its rating are the following.

* They have the perfect name – Charity Water that makes people easily respond to the obvious passion of the founder to the idea, and his eagerness to share it with others.

* Their idea of the vocation and their message is lucid, plain and remarkable – sell water and give water – Buy One Give One

* They gave importance to the solution and not to the problem. This is an assured way for any charity to get a good charity rating in the public’s eye. People by and large have no interest in being reminded of the miseries of life. They prefer to feel elated. So in this case when they know that their act, that of buying a bottle of water, can affect the lives of others positively, they are glad.

How to let Charity Ratings plummet in a second

The fastest way for a charity to lose its rating is by making itself less appealing by concentrating on the problem. People are hardly inclined to listen about all that negativity going on in the world. On the other hand, most people are ready to listen to sagas of vigour, eagerness, drive and dedication to fashion a better world.

We only need to observe ourselves with our own children and experience how when our children ask us for something in a fun and lively and enthusiastic way we just want to say yes. And when they ask us for the same thing in a whinging and whining way we say no very quickly.

The picture a charity projects would strongly affect its ratings. By projecting an arousing and motivating picture of itself it will be able to influence people well. Then people will be ready to give more in response.

Social Enterprise increases Charity Ratings and helps solve Fundraising Problems

Social Enterprise is a new business pattern that evolved a few years ago. This combines trading with a social purpose. This pattern is a result of the interest of some businessmen who have social objectives but does not find the type of functioning of charitable enterprises satisfactory enough.

Many socially conscious businessmen may find the ambience of a full fledged commercial venture and its decision making mechanism unpalatable. For such people a social enterprise is an apt field where they can use their business acumen and inspiration effectively to solve social problems and usher in changes. One of the best known among such socially aware entrepreneurs is Muhammad Yunus who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. He was the first business man to be given such recognition.

A new global social enterprise, Buy1GIVE1 commonly known as B1G1 (Buy 1 Give 1), partners businesses with worthy cause and charity organisations right around the world. Buy1GIVE1 cuts traditional fundraising and administrative costs down to nothing: promising to give 100% of all funds received. Similar to successful online entities like Kiva.org , recently endorsed by Bill Clinton; Buy1GIVE1 is an alternative to the traditional way of direct giving to charities. Many find them a more efficient way to make contributions while gaining significant value in return.

Successful businessmen, who are searching for a chance to give back richly to the society and to provide for deserving charities, fully understand the importance and properly structured working credos of institutions like Buy1GIVE1. Every single sale is able to affect a change somewhere – not only altruistically. It has also the ability to forcefully influence things in such a way that each act becomes a unique marketing story. There is a world of difference in the way in which Buy1Give1 works and those charities which give away thousands and thousands of dollars work, because Buy1Give1 lets their customers know what the joy o f giving is. Buy1Give1 transaction-based giving is a perfectly beautiful way of giving.

All ventures like Buy1GIVE1 particularize charities and these are mostly charities where help is considered to be fully necessary, with enough potential to attract contributions. Businessmen obviously understand how poignant situations attract customer interest and as such they tend to support such causes rather than give importance to the organisation’s rating. They are only too conscious of the customers’ proclivity to bond better with a stronger story than worry about charity rating.

The Australian company Maple Muesli collaborates with an Indian charity called Midday Meals in the city of Mumbai. Whenever someone buys a bag of muesli, the contribution from it feeds a needy child there. A meal for a child costs only the equivalent of 30 US cents and the charity in this way feeds 125,000 kids in Mumbai every day. This makes the children desist from begging, keeps them away from streets, and makes them remain in school.

Maple Muesli has familiarised the whole of Australia with the noble cause of the Midday Meals. The company has made all its customers aware of the stupendous service the charity is doing and how their money is helping it. This has made Midday Meals tremendously popular even though all they are doing is providing meals for the kids. The era of Effective Giving has dawned – that of Plain Charity Donations is disappearing at the horizon.

In a matter of a few years, changes are bound to happen in the background of the top 100 charities as more inventive and effectual ways of giving originate. The current scenario offers very few choices on how to give for a charitable purpose. All the available ones are not good enough to make a dent in the existing problems.

Alternative Charity Ratings

Some of the new and different ways to give are highlighted and rated in the table below. Charity Comparison Points

We have compared and rated a few well-known and less well-known charities and Social Enterprises on areas that are important to their donors.

THE SALVATION ARMY

WAY TO GIVING: DIRECT GIVING

One of the Top 100 charities in the world – The Salvation Army is a charity that individuals and businesses often donate to directly.

CANDOUR – B – Insufficient candour – Lots of money is donated – but result is not completely quantifiable.

MARKETING VALUE TO BUSINESS – C – Businesses’ one-off contributions to Salvation Army may be mentioned in the press.

COSTS OF FUNDRAISING – B – Huge amounts are spent every year for raising funds.

DONOR’S CHOICE OF CHARITY – B – There are many charities and the contributors can decide to which one they would like to give directly.

POTENTIAL FOR REAL GLOBAL CHANGE – C- Nothing new to offer in terms of market change.

PRODUCT (RED)

ROUTE TO GIVING: MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Product (RED) is a brand licensed to partner companies, to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Africa.

OPENNESS – B – Not sufficiently open – Plenty of money is being collected – but the results are not always completely clear.

MARKETING VALUE TO BUSINESS – A – People and businesses love to support (RED) as it is backed by adored personalities like Oprah & Bono. Marketing results a little hard to track though.

COSTS OF FUNDRAISING – C -Simply splurges money on advertising – it would be far better if that money is sent directly to Africa.

DONORS’ CHOICE POTENTIALS – C – Enterprises that partner with them have limited options in where their money should go – all needs are in Africa.

ABILITY FOR EFFECTING A CHANGE – B – All those who collaborate with Products (RED) are big enterprises and all the income is spent on Africa.

THE BODY SHOP

WAY TO GIVING: BUSINESS TRADE & GIVING

The Body Shop has a purchasing program known as community trade to help Third World countries; and from the income they generate, substantial contributions are made to charities.

OPENNESS – B – Not sufficiently open – Plenty of money is being collected – but the results are not always completely clear.

BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS – A-tve – Customers are interested in community trade and it increases their interest to do business with the venture. Visibility is not entirely sufficient.

COSTS OF FUNDRAISING – A -Comparatively low – It is a good business pattern that makes a lot of donations to charities and enhances community trade.

CONTRIBUTORS’CHOICE OF CHARITY – A – Businesses can choose where their money goes.

POTENTIAL FOR REAL GLOBAL CHANGE – B – Businesses’ giving back is great – but very few take the added effort to push for change like Body Shop.

LIVE EARTH

ROUTE TO GIVING: EVENT FUNDRAISING

Live Earth consisted of a string of global musical programmes which set in motion a three-year campaign to battle climate change and was held on July 7, 2007.

TRANSPARENCY – F – According to Intelligent Giving, there were big questions about accountability as to where the proceeds of ticket sales went.

BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS – B – It was beneficial to business sponsors as they got good media coverage, but as it was a single event results are not easily measurable.

FUNDRAISING COSTS – C – Spent millions of dollars on advertising on what some say was an unsuccessful event, which had no real goals.

DONORS’ CHOICE POTENTIALS – C – Funds were made available only to three charities.

POTENTIAL FOR REAL GLOBAL CHANGE – C – These events are usually held one-off or annually. Money is often given to larger, more established charities.

Buy1GIVE1 (B1G1)

WAY TO GIVING: SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

B1G1 is a brand licensed to form a partnership with any business – connecting them with any worthy cause in any place. A truly universal precept.

OPENNESS – A – The one for one style of giving sees to it that the donors’ money reaches the specific cause that it is meant to help. Donors are provided information on how exactly their money is being utilised – how many kids were fed or how many trees were planted.

BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS – A+tve – Superb marketing value as a result of:

* Quantifiable giving * Press coverage * Valuable stories * Individual to individual * Continuing customers

FUNDRAISING COSTS – A+tve – Zero costs – B1G1 can take care of a charity’s fundraising needs including a large percentage of admin as well. 100% of funds received go to the charity.

DONORS’ CHOICE POTENTIALS – A – Businesses have the option of choosing a particular project to donate to, or give to a worthy cause of their choice like feeding, knowledge training etc.

PROMISE FOR GLOBAL CHANGE – A – Unlimited. If more and more businesses can collaborate with charities internationally, the prospects for real change is colossal.

You Would Think Giving away Money Would Be No Big Deal!”

You would think that giving money is easy – pull out a wad of cash, write a cheque or punch in your credit card details. Yet, billionaires philanthropists like George Sores , have gone on the record as saying that effective giving is one of the hardest things to do. Developing nations receive billions of dollars every year and yet it often seems like nothing changes much.

Asking the right questions is necessary for bringing about the required changes. Social entrepreneur Mohammed Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize, has done pioneering work in the field of Microfinance and is revolutionizing the ways in which indigence and environmental problems can be tackled. People like him are showing the way as to how consumerism and social enterprise can change the face of the world. Another such example is the ‘Trade – Not Aid’ of The Body Shop. The ideals of Buy1GIVE1 are equally potent and are a model for charities. Social enterprise needs total recognition.

Bill Gates, when asked how one can make a difference in the world, pointed to the Internet. Kiva.org and Buy1GIVE1 (www.b1g1.com) are organisations that add value to the giver. With Kiva.org, people can receive email journal updates from the business they have sponsored. This happens with Buy1GIVE1 as well. Businesses also get the added benefit of marketing stories to tell their customers: buy a laptop with us, and we give one computer to someone who cannot afford it.

Other ways to improve your Charity Ratings

Ensure that you have an inquisitive mind, and remain connected to a computer, and spare some time to find out about the new types of charities and how they function. These programs are mainly based on networking and work through the internet.

The present situation is that if a venture is not allied online with global networks of good standing, it stands to lose quite a lot whatever its charity rating is, by tomorrow things are likely to change — completely.

Many enterprises emerge out of thin air nowadays and grow enough in the matter of maybe three years to be sold for more than a billion dollars. This was unconceivable ten years ago, though today it has become a routine state of affairs. All these online enterprises are doing the same thing – drawing on international networks or themselves making international networks.

Buy1GIVE1 (Buy One Give One)

Buy1GIVE1 is a rather new entrant to the world of Social Enterprises and was launched in 1997 by a Japanese lady called Masami Sato. Any business can avail a membership in Buy1GIVE1, and membership charges for smaller ventures will only be one dollar a day and donations can be as little as one cent on a sale. Buy1GIVE1 is in the forefront of the Buy One Give One transaction-based giving world movement. Joining hands with Buy1GIVE1 is totally uncomplicated for businesses as well as charity needs. The working pattern of Buy1GIVE1 is perfectly controlled and practical. It connects the products or services of any given business to a needy cause (Buy1GIVE1′s or their own) and after that whenever a sale is closed, it has to be recorded and the contribution percentage sent to the charity at the end of the month or end of quarter year directly or through Buy1GIVE1.

If you are not forging an alliance with Buy1GIVE1 and encouraging your business sponsors to become Buy1GIVE1 members you will be missing our more and more as this amazing enterprise makes a huge impact in the world of giving.

A new era of charity giving

Organizations that have been non-entities just a couple of months ago have now invaded internet with resounding user acceptance. Having an online presence on sites like MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, NING or TipJoy are becoming survival requirements. Likewise companies like The Present, Buy1GIVE1 and Kiva are organisations that one should build a relationship with. These are the avant garde institutions that help to create and sustain charity ratings. Now is the time to give new life to a perfect future.

Discover more about how Buy1GIVE1 (BOGO) can transform your business using Cause Marketing. Click here to get your own unique version of this article with free reprint rights.