As part of an overall re-branding program for BBB, the national charity seal and BBB torch logo have been re-designed. The new “Accredited Charity” language was developed to provide donors with a clear understanding of the nature of our evaluations.
The national charity seal is not a seal of “approval”, but a seal that represent that the national organization displaying it meets the comprehensive standards of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance. You’ll come across the seal increasingly as more and more national charities decide to assure donors, in this highly visible way, that their organizations are operating responsibly.
Use of the seal is entirely voluntary. Not every national charity that meets the standards will choose to participate in the program. Participants sign a license agreement and pay a sliding-scale fee based on their total contributions in the last year. A national charity is eligible to apply for participation in the seal program only after an evaluation concludes that the charity meets standards.
Occasionally donors ask the Alliance whether payment from an organization we evaluate influences the outcome of the evaluation. The answer is no. Over the years, the Alliance has evaluated some of the largest and most influential national charities in the country and has not hesitated to report that they did not meet standards when that was the case. The Alliance’s commitment to objectivity in its reporting is unwavering. We know that the public’s trust in our work is essential to our credibility.
There is no charge to national charities for being evaluated. The Alliance reports about national charities that have requested to be evaluated as well as those that have received the highest volume of inquiries; The resulting reports, whatever their conclusion, are freely available on our website, www.bbb.org/charity.
The seal will:
· Provide the public with a clear, concise and accessible way to find out, by looking at the very appeal received, that a charity meets Alliance standards
· Give participating charities a means to increase donor confidence and strengthen public trust
· Extend public awareness of the Alliance’s work in charity accountability
· Help draw attention to the fact that charities are actively addressing issues beyond what government regulators require-and this is what our standards are about.
Watch for the seal in charities mailings, on their websites, in newspapers and magazine advertisements, and on TV in public service announcements.