How To Increase Charity Ratings
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by: David Anttony
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Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2010 Time: 12:00 PM
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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.
Directory lists of charity rating
With steadily rising distrust and morality guardians of charity being ever suspicious of charity problems like transgression, having pretty large amounts of money spent on the running of charities or mishandling of funds, listings of charity ratings are booming. It is real quaint that humanitarian institutions that are meant for giving others are under the watchful eye of charity watchdogs. The whole idea of benevolence is getting a bit problematical!
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 YouGov poll of 2005 stated that about 56 percent of the British population did not have a considerable amount of belief even in well known global charities like Oxfam and Save the Children. Even among the charities that had a good charity rating, only about 15 percent enjoyed the public's belief in them.
Charity Warning Bells 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.
Recent studies show that the average costs of raising funds in the UK and Australia are'% or 22% respectively. In the USA, the Association of Fundraising Professionals found the statistic to be around 30%. These figures do not even include admin expenses, which are often much higher. Some charity givers see this as a key issue especially with charitable giving often in the media spotlight like it was in Singapore a fewyears ago. The additional negative focus tends to reduce charitable giving which is not good.
Charity ratings secret revealed
There is practically no difference between a charity and a commercial enterprise when it comes to the question of drawing money. They way they put the money to use might be different, but the techniques they use to get that money are more or less 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 look at something and consider buying it, investing in it or connecting with it, we make an instant decision based on how attractive it is to us. If the level of attraction is high, we are highly interested and take action quickly and of course if low, we take our time or decide no.
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
* Their idea of the vocation and their message is lucid, plain and remarkable - sell water and 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 images that a charity uses will affect its charity ratings. Using uplifting and inspiring images will uplift and inspire people. Uplifted and inspired people give more and spend more.
Social Enterprise increases Charity Ratings and helps solve Fundraising Problems
Social Enterprise is a new business paradigm that arose some time ago. This endeavour combines in it a commercial enterprise and charity. This has been initiated by those who are enthusiastic of solving social problems but are not satisfied with the pattern of charity organizations.
The medium of a conventional business enterprise may not be suitable for many businessmen whose ideas of ethics and integrity would be contrary to the way decisions are made in a commercial world. Such people use a social enterprise to use their acumen and ability to create a profit and effect great changes in the social arena. A typical example of such a social entrepreneur is Muhammad Yunus who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his rich contributions to improving social conditions.
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.
Business leaders who are looking for opportunities to give back in effective ways and give to worthy charitable causes, see the great value and well-defined key marketing advantages businesses like Buy1GIVE1 offer. Each sales transaction makes a difference - and not just in an altruistic sense. With powerful 'impact-matching', businesses are gifted with an eye-opening, attention-grabbing marketing story. Compare the business that gives away a million dollars to charity with the one that lets their customers experience the joy of giving with Buy1Give1 transaction-based 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.
Maple Muesli of Australia has allied itself with a charity called Midday Meals in India, in the city of Mumbai. As a result when a packet of muesli is bought, a needy kid is given food in Mumbai. Since a simple meal is available there at the cost of 30 US cents, Midday Meals daily manages to feed about 125,000 kids. The charity feeds these children in schools and it helps substantially in protecting children from begging and other harsh realities and abuse of street life.
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
Methods of charity have changed over the years and newer ways are making their presence, some of which are rated below. Comparison Points of Charity.
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
PATH 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.
OPENNESS - B - Not sufficiently open - Plenty of money is being collected - but the results are not always completely clear.
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.
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
OPENNESS - B - Not sufficiently open - Plenty of money is being collected - but the results are not always completely clear.
BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS - A - Popular among business ventures as well as people as it is supported by charismatic personnel like Bono and Oprah Winfrey. Marketing results are however not fully traceable.
FUNDRAISING COSTS - C - Spends hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising - could have just given that money to Africa.
CONTRIBUTORS'CHOICE OF CHARITY - C - Partner businesses do not have much choice in the charities that receive their contributions - all are in Africa.
POTENTIAL FOR REAL GLOBAL CHANGE - B - Products (RED) only partner huge companies and all their profits go to Africa.
THE BODY SHOP
WAY TO GIVING: BUSINESS TRADE & GIVING
The Body Shop is involved in community trade to help economically backward countries and makes large donations to causes from the profit they generate.
CANDOUR - B - Insufficient candour - Lots of money is donated - but result is not completely quantifiable.
ADVANTAGE TO BUSINESS - A-tve - Clients are by and large happy to become part of the community trade and are encouraged to buy more - the enterprise could afford to be more visible.
COSTS OF FUNDRAISING - A -Comparatively low - It is a good business pattern that makes a lot of donations to charities and enhances community trade.
DONOR'S CHOICE OF CHARITY - A - Enterprises are at liberty to choose where their contributions should go.
ABILITY FOR EFFECTING A CHANGE - B - The ability of the business to give back to the society is good - still few make the required additional effort to press on for change.
LIVE EARTH
ROUTE TO GIVING: EVENT FUNDRAISING
Live Earth was a series of music concerts for a global audience held on July 7, 2007 which kick-started a three-year long campaign to fight climate changes across the world.
OPENNESS - F - Intelligent Giving had reported that the takings from the concert tickets sales were not accounted satisfactorily.
MARKETING VALUE TO BUSINESS - B - Business sponsors got good coverage - but it was only a one time event and it is not easy to test and measure results.
FUNDRAISING COSTS - C - Spent millions of dollars on advertising on what some say was an unsuccessful event, which had no real goals.
CONTRIBUTORS'CHOICE OF CHARITY - C - Only three charities received funds.
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 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).
MARKETING VALUE TO BUSINESS - A+tve - Great marketing value because of:
* 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.
DONOR'S CHOICE OF CHARITY - A - Any donor can contribute to a specific charity, or they can insist on giving to specific causes such as food, environment, or instruction.
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!"
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 asking smarter questions will bring about the needed change. Social Entrepreneurs like Mohamed Yunis, Nobel Prize winner, creating innovative solutions to poverty and environmental issues with Micro Finance are carving the way to a new future where business initiatives, social enterprise and conscious consumerism transform our world. Initiatives like The Body Shop's 'Trade - Not Aid' need to be replicated. New ideas like Buy1GIVE1 need to be embraced. The value of social enterprise needs to be recognised.
When questioned on how one can bring about some positive global change, Bill Gates showed Kiva.org and Buy1GIVE1 (www.b1g1.com) as examples of charities that enrich the giver. Those who sponsor a business are updated by Kiva.org about the activities of the business. Buy1GIVE1 also does this. By this arrangement enterprises get enough stories to tell their clients - if they buy a laptop they will know that it will help in some needy person somewhere else getting a computer.
Other ways to improve 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.
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 comparatively new Social Enterprise established in'97 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.
You are strongly advised to create lasting bonds with Buy1GIVE1 and also motivate your business associates to join Buy1GIVE1. It is a singular and wonderful organisation doing stupendous work and no one can afford to ignore it.
A new epoch 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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