How To Increase Charity Ratings
Charity ratings are highly unpredictable with highly appraised top ranking charities being overtaken by new charities that suddenly make their appearance in the horizon. Charity Water is a rather new but typical example of this. Innovativeness and the all-powerful Internet are causing charity ratings of brand new charities to skyrocket. A charity that could be relatively unknown today might get rated as the best the next day by the New York Times. And then the rating of that charity might shoot up from nowhere to the top of the chart within the matter of a single day.
Because the general public are swayed so much by the charity ratings the press and media give, a brand new charity can flourish very quickly with a flood of charitable giving being thrown its way. And of course when the media lose interest, then the charity rating can drop out of the sky overnight.
Charity rating directory listings
With scepticism running quite high with charity watchdogs pinpointing charity problems such as misconduct, having exceptionally high amounts of funds spent on admin or the misappropriation of funds, charity rating directory lists are flourishing. It’s so funny that philanthropic organizations that set out to give to others are now under the eye of charity watchdogs. Philanthropy is becoming a little complicated!
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.
The fact is that there are enough guides that provide information about 100 top ranking charities but these ratings does not, in reality, convey the correct picture. The ratings of a charity has actually nothing much to do with what actually makes it superior to the rest. There are unique features that place a charity or non-charity institution above the rest.
Charity Ratings and faith 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 Watchdog Scares are more common
Trust in charities has dropped a lot in recent times. Yet who can blame the public. Charity watchdogs tell unsettling stories of very highmanagement salaries, charities taking as much as 60% of donations for overheads with their being little left for the actually charitable 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 mystery revealed
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 a thing and might prefer to buy it, or would consider putting money in it, or creating a bond with it, we are likely to make the decision based on how enticing the whole idea is. If it is a very attractive proposition, we might instantly choose to opt for it while if it is not very enticing, we may not do it immediately.
Charity Water is highly attractive and hence why it’s charity-rating sky rocked so quickly and the media got behind the idea. The simple idea of selling a bottle of charity water for a premium price with the extra profit been giving as a donation to the needy to access clean water was highly attractive.
The elements making up the attractiveness for Charity Water and boosting it’s ratings are quite obvious.
* They have a cool name – who would think of calling a charity Charity WaterThe person behind the charity was on overdrive with passion in sharing about their idea
* They had a simple, single and clear message and mission – sell water give water – Buy One Give One
* They focused on the solution and not the problem. This is the number one mistake that loses charities rating points lowering their charity rating in people’s minds. No one wants to feel guilty and sad. They want to feel uplifted and happy. In this case happy to know they could make a difference in the lives of others by buying a simple bottle of water.
How to instantly reduce one’s Charity Ratings
The quickest and easiest way to lose attraction or attractiveness and thus your ratings is by focusing on the problem. No one wants to listen to anyone complaining how bad things are. Yet everyone will listen to someone who has high energy, enthusiasm, drive and determination to create something better.
All we have to do is see ourselves with our own kids and understand how we easily answer in the affirmative when they request for things in an eager and happy and excited way. But when they prefer to make their demands in a peevish or weepy way, we may tend to refuse.
The ratings of a charity depend substantially on the image it projects in front of the public. With a motivating and inspiring image people will be swayed to its ideas. They will then be ready to contribute well to the cause of the charity.
Social Enterprises improve Charity Ratings and solve the problems in Getting Funds
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 comparatively new global social venture, Buy1GIVE1, also known as B1G1 (Buy 1 Give 1), combines commercial activities with noble causes and charity organisations across the globe. Buy1GIVE1 has reduced the costs of administration and fundraising so completely that it is able to give away the whole of the funds it gets. It functions in a way quite similar to online enterprises like Kiva.org, which has been given support by Bill Clinton; Buy1GIVE1 is a substitute for the conventional style of direct giving to charities. Lots of people find them a more practical way for making donations while receiving valuable things 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.
Enterprises like Buy1GIVE1 provide details of charity requirements, especially those which are really needy causes, and these always manage to attract lots of donations. Entrepreneurs understand very well the fundamentals of these equations and so are more likely to help such causes rather than worry about the charity rating. They know very well that people have an inherent tendency to respond to a more touching requirement, than simply to media 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.
The company has managed to advertise the worthy cause of the charity Midday Meals in Australia. The inspiring story is continuously shared by Maple Muesli with all their buyers which has resulted in increased rating for the institution of Midday Meals in Mumbai, though all that the charity does is provide a daily lunch for those needy children. This is the era of Effective Giving – The sun has almost set on the Era of Plain Charity Donations.
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.
Other choices in Charity Ratings
Newer and varied ways of gifting things to others are rated and featured in the table given below. These are Charity Comparison Data.
Rating and comparison has been done on some better known and lesser known charities and Social Enterprises on issues that concern those who donate to these.
THE SALVATION ARMY
ROUTE TO GIVING: DIRECT GIVING
The Salvation Army comes among the top 100 charities globally – contributions are made directly by both businesses as well as individuals.
TRANSPARENCY – B – Lack of transparency – Sum of money is contributed – but result is not fully measurable.
BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS – C – Contribution to Salvation Army gets mention in the press even if it is a one time contribution.
FUNDRAISING COSTS – B – Spends millions of dollars annually to raise funds.
CONTRIBUTORS’CHOICE OF CHARITY – B – For direct giving, you can have a lot of charities to check out before settling which one is best.
ABILITY FOR EFFECTING A CHANGE -C – Nothing specific in the activities that is likely to bring about a change.
PRODUCT (RED)
WAY TO GIVING: MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Product (RED) is a brand licensed to collaborate with companies, and collect money for their Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis in Africa
TRANSPARENCY – B – Lack of transparency – sum of money is contributed for every purchase – but result is not fully measurable.
ADVANTAGE TO BUSINESS – A – People and enterprises by and large prefer to support it as it is promoted by popular idols like Bono and Oprah. End result of marketing is not correctly available.
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 engages in community trade helping Third World countries; and makes huge donations to charities from their profits.
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.
FUNDRAISING COSTS – A – Lower costs – Successful business model that makes donations and boosts community trade.
DONORS’ CHOICE POTENTIALS – A – Ventures that donate has the option to decide in what way their donations are to be used.
PROMISE FOR GLOBAL CHANGE – B – The potential for giving back to the community is substantial – but not everyone have the impetus and the extra energy to impel the change.
LIVE EARTH
PATH TO GIVING : EVENT FUNDRAISING
Live Earth was a series of worldwide concerts held on 7 July 2007 that initiated a three-year campaign to combat climate change.
TRANSPARENCY – F – According to Intelligent Giving, there were big questions about accountability as to where the proceeds of ticket sales went.
ADVANTAGE TO BUSINESS – B – The sponsors of the business benefitted by the good press coverage, though by being a single occurrence results were not properly assessable.
COSTS OF FUNDRAISING – C – Huge amounts were spent on advertising and according to some the whole event was a damp squib without any actual goals.
DONORS’ CHOICE POTENTIALS – C – Funds were made available only to three charities.
ABILITY FOR EFFECTING A CHANGE – C – Occasions like this can be managed only yearly or may be still rarely. The earnings are mostly donated to charities that are already established.
Buy1GIVE1 (B1G1 )
PATH TO GIVING : SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
B1G1 is a brand licensed to any business – partnering them with any charity anywhere in the world. A truly global concept.
TRANSPARENCY – A – One for one giving ensures funds given are used for what they were intended. Customers know their giving translates into real change (e.g. numbers of trees planted, numbers of children fed).
BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS – A+tve – Superb marketing value as a result of:
* Measurable giving * Media attraction * Good stories * Word of mouth * Repeat customers
COSTS OF FUNDRAISING – A+tve – Absolutely no cost – B1G1 can oversee a charity’s needs for raising funds and also manage much of the administration as well. So the funds go entirely 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.
POTENTIAL FOR REAL GLOBAL CHANGE – A – Exponential. If more businesses partner charities globally, the potential for real change is massive.
You Would Think Giving away Money Would Be No Big Deal!”
Donating money may not seem to be a difficult job – it is just a question of handing over some money as cheque, cash or via the credit card. Still, someone like George Sores, who is as generous a donor as could be, agrees that effectual giving is no cakewalk. Underprivileged communities and countries receive millions of dollars in aid and still the situation remains much the same year after year.
People make changes by asking probing questions about the problems they find in front of them. The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Mohammed Yunus, by his introduction of the new category of banking known as Microfinance has made groundbreaking achievements in solving social problems and is leading the way in showing how social enterprise and consumption of goods can positively change the world. Other such ideas worth emulating are that of Buy1GIVE1 or ‘Trade – Not Aid’ of The Body Shop. The overwhelming importance of social enterprise has to be fully appreciated.
When queried as to how someone can effect a change in the world, Bill Gates pointed towards organisations like Buy1GIVE1 (www.b1g1.com) and Kiva.org which reward the giver richly. Kiva.org ensures that those who sponsor a business get regular updates via email from those businesses. Buy1GIVE1 also ensures this. With such communication, customers get a clear picture and come to know the stories behind the charities. For example, when they buy a laptop, someone who badly needs a computer might be getting it at some other corner of the world.
Other methods for improving 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.
Lots of companies nowadays make their appearance out of nowhere and are sold a few years later for billions of dollars. This was a scenario that would have been considered impossible a decade ago. But today this is a normal phenomenon. What every one of these internet companies primarily do is to tap into global networks or even perhaps create one themselves.
Buy1GIVE1 (Buy One Give One)
Buy1GIVE1 is a rather new entrant to the world of Social Enterprises and was launched in’97 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.
You could be losing out a lot if you are not interested in forming an association with Buy1GIVE1and not persuading your business patrons to do so. Buy1GIVE1 is a unique and brilliant organisation whose impetus as well as global impact is huge.
The dawn of a new age in charity giving
Companies that had no presence a few months ago are ravaging cyberspace with the echo of user acceptance. Services life Twitter , Facebook , MySpace , YouTube, NING and TipJoy are places you must have a presence in. Organisations like Change The Present, Kiva and companies like Buy1GIVE1 you should be building relationships with. These are all the new future and will all help maintain and build charity ratings. Today is a new opportunity to build a new future.
Discover more about how Buy1GIVE1 (BOGO) can transform your business using Cause Marketing. You are welcome to reprint this article – but get your own unique content version here.