WISE GIVING GUIDE

Fall/Winter 2014

Better Business Bureau of Greater Houston & South Texas

Helping Donors Give Effectively

The giving season is here and this is the time of year charities are in full swing of their year-ending fundraising campaigns and other events, which also means it is the peak time for donor giving to charities. If you are not sure whether to give to a charity you are in-terested in, you can always trust the BBB as an objective resource and guide on a charity’s op-erations and stand-ing. The BBB’s Wise Giv-ing Guide is a listing of 501 (c) (3)publicly- soliciting charities in the Greater Houston area, Galveston and South Texas.

Our list is created based on donor in-quiries to help you make informed giv-ing decisions during this holiday season. The BBB list in-cludes approxi-mately 500 chari-ties who meet our Standards, are un-der review, do not meet Standards or those who have de-clined to partici-pate. You can view the latest, most up-to-date reports on our website at BBBHouston.org or by calling 713-868-9500. Go to page 4 for the list as of November 6, 2014.

About the Philanthropy Review Program

· Verify a charity’s status. Check the BBB’s charity reports for a BBB confirmed Accredited Charity. You can also see if the charity is registered on the IRS.gov website or if their current IRS Form 990 is publicly available directly on their website or GuideStar.org.

· Don’t give in to pressure to donate on the spot. Don’t be pressured to give a certain amount of money or to give

on-the-spot. Take the time to check out the charity first with the BBB and make sure they are managing their programs and finances properly.

· Be wary of “100 percent of donations will go to program services”. If a charity claims that 100 percent of collected funds will be assisting those they serve, the truth is that the organization is still probably incurring fund raising and administrative expenses. They may use some of their other funds to pay this, but the expenses will still be incurred.

· Be certain you are giving to the organization you intend to receive the donation. If you are donating online, some charity scams have websites to mimic and confuse donors into thinking they are donating to a well-know charity when they are not. Double-check to make sure you are donating to a legitimate organization online.

Tips for Making the Most of Your Gift

The BBB’s Accredited Charity seal provides the donors with an easy and clear symbol that a charity adheres to the BBB’s Charity Standards. Check for the seal this holiday season!

BBB Keeps Donors Informed

The BBB’s Charity Review Program reviews charities against the Council of Better Business Bureau’s 20 Stan-dards for Charity Account-ability. We ask for informa-tion from charities to deter-mine whether they maintain high ethical standards of

operation, fundraising, and governance, such as spend-ing at least 65% of its overall expenses on programs ser-vices aimed at achieving the charity’s mission. See page 3 for more informa-tion.

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Charities must meet all 20 BBB Standards for Charity Accountability to become a BBB Accredited Char-ity. The BBB Standards below are a summarized version of the official 2003 Standards for Charity Ac-countability published by the Wise Giving Alliance. You can view the official version online here: http://www.bbb.org/houston/charities-donors/standards-for-charity-accountability/

Standard 1 - A charity must have a board of directors that provides oversight of the staff and operations.

Standard 2 - A charity must have at least 5 board members.

Standard 3 - They must have at least 3 board meetings a year with a majority of members in attendance.

Standard 4 - Compensated board members must be less than 10% of the board.

Standard 5 - If a charity purchases goods or services from a board member, they must prove their impartiality by obtaining other competitive bids. Also, the board member should not vote to hire his own company.

Standard 6 - They have written policies for assessing the organization’s performance on a regular basis.

Standard 7 - They provide a written report offering an evaluation and recommendations for improvement to the charity’s governing body.

Standard 8 - A majority of a charity’s spending goes to supporting their programs (a minimum of 65% of their total expenses).

Standard 9 - They do not spend an excessive amount on fundraising (no more than 35% of contributions revenue).

Standard 10 - A charity should avoid accumulating assets that are not spent on running and expanding their operations (assets should not be more than 3x their expenses).

Standard 11 - Charities need to provide the BBB with their current audited financial statements if their income is greater than $250,000.

Standard 12 - All financial statements must include a functional breakdown of their expenses including amounts spent on each program, fundraising, and administrative costs.

Standard 13 - The charity must accurately report expenses. Financial statements should not inaccurately claim zero fund raising expenses or otherwise understate the amount a charity spends on fund raising, and/or overstate the amount it spends on programs.

Standard 14 - A charity must provide a functional budget of projected expenses for its current fiscal year.

Standard 15 - Solicitations and appeals are accurate, truthful, and not misleading. They must include a clear description of the programs for which contributions are sought.

Standard 16 - The charity has an annual report, available to all, that includes a mission statement, past year’s program service accomplishments, officers and members of the board roster, and financial information (income, expenses, and ending net assets).

Standard 17 - The charity’s most recent IRS Form 990 and annual report should be placed on its website.

Standard 18 - Their website includes a detailed privacy policy to address privacy concerns of donors.

Standard 19 - If a charity engages in cause-related marketing, they must clearly disclose how the charity benefits from the sale of products or services.

Standard 20 - The charity responds promptly to complaints brought to its attention by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance or the local BBB regarding fundraising practices, privacy policy violations and/or other

issues.

BBB’s 20 Standards for Charity Accountability

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Better Business Bureau of Greater Houston & South Texas

 

Houston Office 1333 West Loop South, Suite 1200

Houston, TX 77027 Main: 713-868-9500 Toll: (877)468-9222 Fax: 713-867-4947

bbbinfo@bbbhou.org BBBHouston.org

 

South Texas Office 502 East Expressway 83, Suite C

Weslaco, Texas 78596 Main: 956-463-5586

Fax: 956-968-7638 dsalinas@bbbsouthtexas.org

BBBSouthTexas.org

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