Building up the unpredictable 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 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 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!

Organisations like Givespot.com and Guidestar.org list detailed charity ratings. Givespot.com has a detailed list called the GiveSpot 100 list, which shows its top 100 rated charities. Other organisations like charitynavigator.org have charity check systems as well as a charity Top Ten list so that look up a charity is easy. Guidestar.org is probably the biggest US charity directory offering an amazing array of charity information some free some at a cost. The Better Business Bureau in the USA, despite its name is also charity directory that lists both business and non-profit organisations.

So if you want to find the 100 top charities then there are so many charity rating guides out there and yet maybe charity ratings are actually about something else. What makes a charity stand above the rest often has nothing to do with its ratings at all. There are special ingredients that make any charity or non-charity organisation successful.

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

People do not have faith in charities any more. They cannot be blamed for this state of affairs. Eagle eyed critics of charities complain about mismanagement in the field with high salaries for the staff and about 60% donations being spent on overheads for running the venture, leaving little for actual charity giving.

Recent analyses reveal that just the cost of raising funds could amount to about 18% in UK and 20% in Australia. The studies of the Association of Fundraising Professionals in USA put the amount to be about 30%. Administrative expenses are in addition to this and could be higher. Many charity givers find that this is the main problem, more so when charity giving grabs media attention as was the case in Singapore a couple of years ago. Such unwelcome focus becomes conducive to a decrease in charity giving which is quite unpleasant.

Charity ratings mystery revealed

There is not much difference in the way in which charity organizations and commercial organizations try to get money. How they eventually use that money may be different, but their modus operandi for attracting that money is essentially the same.

In order to get the funds necessary for functioning, as well as to improve the charity ratings, there is only one assured way – make it tempting.

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 factors that combine to make Charity Water so enticing, making it popular, are easily decipherable.

* 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.

* They had a simple, single and clear message and mission – sell water 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 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.

Businesses like Buy1GIVE1 profile charities and it tends to be the charities or worthy causes as they call them, that are the most attractive that receive the most contributions. Intrinsically business owners understand the power of attraction and they tend to go with non-profit causes that have the best story rather than look at their direct rating. They intrinsically know that their customers will connect with a better story and not ever think about a charities 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.

Other methods of Charity Ratings

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

Some better known and not so well-known charities as well as Social Enterprises are evaluated and rated below so as to be of help to those who contribute to these.

THE SALVATION ARMY

WAY 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.

ADVANTAGE TO BUSINESS – C – Even a single donation to Salvation Army by a business might find mention 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.

PROMISE FOR GLOBAL CHANGE -C- No potential noticed for bringing about a market change.

PRODUCT (RED)

PATH 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.

DONOR’S CHOICE OF CHARITY – C – Limited choice for collaborators on deciding to which charity they should donate – all their charity work is in Africa.

PROMISE FOR GLOBAL CHANGE – B – All partners of Products (RED) are huge ventures and the entire profit is spent on helping people of Africa.

THE BODY SHOP

PATH 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.

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

WAY 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.

CANDOUR – F – As per the reports of the site Intelligent Giving, satisfactory accounts were not produced on the proceeds from the sales of tickets.

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.

EXPENSES FOR RAISING FUNDS – C – Substantial sums were spent on promotion of an event which was considered a fiasco by many as it did not have any proper objectives.

CONTRIBUTORS’CHOICE OF CHARITY – C – Only three charities received funds.

PROMISE FOR GLOBAL CHANGE – C – Such events can be held just once or at the most once a year. The amount collected generally goes to better known charities.

Buy1GIVE1 (B1G1 )

PATH TO GIVING : SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

B1G1 is a brand licensed to collaborate with any enterprise – uniting them with any cause across the globe. A fully comprehensive model.

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).

ADVANTAGE TO BUSINESS – A+tve – Outstanding marketing value due to:

* Calculable giving * Media interest * Effective stories * Person to person * Returning 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.

ABILITY FOR AFFECTING A CHANGE – A – Infinite. If increasing number of businesses can team up with charities worldwide, the possibility for real change is boundless.

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

Giving away money appears simple on the face of it – it just involves pulling out notes or writing a cheque or punching in a credit card. But reality is a bit different. George Sores, who has donated billions to charity, insists that effective giving is a very complicated business. Underdeveloped nations receive a lot of money in aid year after year but the changes effected do not seem to be proportionate.

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

Adopt a questioning mind, hop onto a wired laptop, and with a few hours to spare look at some of the new and amazing giving systems that are being created. Most of these new systems are network based and driven from 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 comparatively new Social Enterprise established in 1997 by a Japanese lady named Masami Sato. Today any business globally can be a member of Buy1GIVE1. The membership fee for smaller enterprises is as low as $1 for a day. Contributions can also be as low as one cent on a sale made. Buy1GIVE1 is spearheading the Buy One Give One transaction-based giving global movement. For any enterprise or charity requirement, working jointly with Buy1GIVE1 is very simple. It is perfectly structured and accommodating enough to adjust to the requirements of its partners. An organisation can connect its products or services with any charity endeavour (Buy1GIVE1’s or their own) and each time a sale is made, the sale has to be recorded and the input paid at the end of a specific period. The amount can be sent through Buy1GIVE1 or directly to the concerned charity.

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.

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.

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