One Website Enables Nonprofits to Tell Their Stories, Commit to Transparency, and Define Their Impact
Integration of Charting Impact into the GuideStar Exchange Allows Easier Information Sharing, Crucial to Social Sector
Washington, DC – August 14, 2013 – BBB Wise Giving Alliance, GuideStar, and Independent Sector today announced the integration of Charting Impact into the GuideStar Exchange. The integration enables nonprofit leaders to visit one website—www.guidestar.org—to share an organization’s story with a broad audience, provide additional information about a nonprofit, and describe the progress, growth, and effectiveness of an organization. Charting Impact is the most prominent program that provides nonprofits across the sector with a standardized process for collecting self-reported impact information.
Charting Impact, www.guidestar.org/chartingimpact, created with the help of an Independent Sector nonprofit effectiveness advisory group, and further developed in partnership among BBB Wise Giving Alliance, GuideStar, and Independent Sector, was launched two years ago.
“One of many benefits for organizations answering Charting Impact's questions is that the process encourages deep, meaningful conversations with stakeholders about the impact the organization has made, will make, and how to bridge the gaps,” explained Art Taylor, president and CEO of BBB Wise Giving Alliance, which promotes accountability standards in the nonprofit community. “As we share these reports with the donating public, we also seek, in part, to emphasize the importance of a charity’s accomplishments, which is essential in making a more informed giving decision.”
At the heart of Charting Impact are five deceptively simple questions that require reflection and promote communication about what really matters—results. The five questions were carefully developed and tested by nonprofits and foundations in order to insure the highest and best use for the tool. The questions are:
- What is your organization aiming to accomplish?
- What are your strategies for making this happen?
- What are your organization’s capabilities for doing this?
- How will your organization know if you are making progress?
- What have and haven’t you accomplished so far?
“Charting Impact has the potential to empower charitable organizations to crystalize and align their missions, goals, and achievements. It facilitates strategic thinking about practices and how results are measured and fosters idea sharing within the nonprofit community,” said Diana Aviv, president and CEO of Independent Sector, the leadership network for nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs. “I am delighted that the Charting Impact reporting tool is now embedded in the GuideStar Exchange, extending our important partnership. Independent Sector will provide, on our website, tips and resources that will help users respond to the report questions.
The program into which Charting Impact was integrated, the GuideStar Exchange, is the only program of its kind that encourages nonprofit transparency on a national scale and allows nonprofits to supplement the public information that is available from the IRS. The integration of these two programs provides one robust platform for nonprofits to connect with millions of donors, funders, volunteers, and other supporters through information-sharing and storytelling. GuideStar Exchange also allows nonprofits to keep their various programs, mission, governance, and other information up to date, and tell their stories. Further, through this integration, nonprofits benefit from GuideStar’s wide distribution network to gain more visibility.
Jacob Harold, president and CEO of GuideStar, the leading source of nonprofit information, also sees the potential in this next phase for Charting Impact. Harold stated, “The integration of Charting Impact into our GuideStar Exchange program reduces the information-sharing burden on nonprofits. It provides a single resource for leaders looking to connect their organizations with the 3 million people who visit our website each year. Moreover, nonprofits can reach millions more who visit our client and partner platforms that use GuideStar’s data.”
Currently, participants receive a host of benefits once they publish their respective reports. In the future, once an organization has used the GuideStar Exchange interface to complete its report, the responses will produce a document with a unique URL that is shared on GuideStar, on the reports of charities participating in BBB Wise Giving Alliance evaluations, and with other websites and information sources about nonprofits. Reports of Independent Sector members will also appear on Independent Sector’s website.
In the last two months, since the integration of these programs, the number of nonprofits answering the Charting Impact questions has increased more than ten-fold. For more information, please visit www.guidestar.org/chartingimpact.
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Media Contacts:
GuideStar
Lindsay J.K. Nichols, Communications Director
(202) 637-7614
BBB Wise Giving Alliance
Bennett Weiner, Chief Operating Officer
(703) 247-9323
Independent Sector
Cynthia Dodd Adcock, Vice President, Communications and Marketing
(202) 467-6132
cynthiaa@independentsector.org
About BBB Wise Giving Alliance
The BBB Wise Giving Alliance seeks to help donors make informed giving decisions and to advance high standards among publicly soliciting charities by producing reports that specify whether the charity meets 20 Standards for Charity Accountability. There is no charge to the charity for the accountability evaluation, and the resulting reports are available to the public for free at www.give.org.
About GuideStar
GuideStar, www.guidestar.org, connects people and organizations with information on the programs and finances of more than 1.8 million IRS-recognized nonprofits. GuideStar serves a wide audience inside and outside the nonprofit sector, including individual donors, nonprofit leaders, grantmakers, government officials, academic researchers, and the media.
About Independent Sector
Independent Sector is the leadership network for nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs committed to advancing the common good. Our nonpartisan coalition leads, strengthens, and mobilizes the sector; we advocate for public policies that fortify our communities; and we create unparalleled resources so staff, boards, and volunteers can further their missions and increase their impact. http://www.independentsector.org/
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