Launching Guaranteed Trust and Transparency Ratings at Give.do

FOR the 23 years that Give.do has been the bridge of connection between trusted nonprofits in India and donors from around the world, the challenge has always been to establish trust and confidence between the two. 

As India’s first online platform showcasing a bank of nonprofits and their work, right from the word go Give.do has endeavoured to address the trust deficit that Indian NGOs suffer from. In fact, its reputation as the most trusted giving platform in India is based on the stringent due diligence standards Give.do developed for its nonprofit partners over the years to alleviate this issue. 

However, since Give.do’s inception in 2000, the donor-NGO landscape has evolved – not to mention the giant leap in technology that has directly impacted this ecosystem. Moreover, the changing complexity of government regulations for the nonprofit sector and adherence to them has spurred Give.do to frame watertight compliance and verification structures for its NGO partners – making this one of the most significant changes in Give.do’s history to boost the donor-NGO relationship.

Trust and transparency

Give.do’s Guaranteed Trust seals – Gold, Silver and Bronze – based on the highest levels of trust, are only awarded to bonafide NGOs listed on Give Discover. The standards of verification that nonprofits have to fulfil draw on the experience and knowledge gathered over more than two decades in the sector and analysis of the giving ecosystem in consultation with industry experts.

The new model will provide both donors and NGOs with the best-in-class framework to instil mutual trust and confidence, leading to meaningful, long-term impact. Being the only platform in India to partner with the country’s most credible nonprofits together with highly valued, committed donors – from HNIs and socially responsible corporates to foundations and everyday givers – this will further accentuate Give.doas a leader in facilitating high-impact philanthropic giving.

Besides the seals of trust, all NGOs on the Give Discover platform can actively participate in star ratings for transparency, based on predetermined fields of information and other compliance documents that have to be uploaded and kept up-to-date on each NGO profile. Those who provide the most due diligence data required and keep it updated will have the highest ratings.

Gold, Silver and Bronze seals

Gold:

 

For nonprofits to have been granted Gold, Give.do’s highest seal of trust, they will have undergone rigorous due diligence and passed verification checks for 48 parameters that cover:

 

• organisational capability
• capacity to deliver impact
• governance practices
• financial and legal processes
• HR maturity
• understanding of impact metrics
• tech capabilities

NGOs with the Gold seal would also have been able to meet the verification requirements of an extensive site visit from Give.do’s team to confirm the credibility of information they have provided. 

Silver:

 

As the second seal of trust and transparency, nonprofits granted Silver will have undergone due diligence for 24 verification parameters that cover:

 

• financial and legal compliances
• governance
• organisational capability to deliver a project

This standard does not require a field visit from the Give.do team but, instead, a virtual conversation with its finance and leadership teams and some of its donors to establish the level of trust. 

Bronze:

 

This is the standard level of due diligence that will be granted to nonprofits on the Give Discover platform. The Bronze seal requires verification for 9 parameters which cover:

 

• valid registration
• legal compliance documents to establish the nonprofit is bonafide
• all relevant documents required by government authorities

However, since the work and structure of organisations and government guidelines are ever evolving, to ensure all the information on Discover is current, Give.dowill put in place a regular renewal cycle for the three seals. This means every seal will be valid for a year from the date it is granted and nonprofits will have to undergo the following processes regularly to keep the due diligence standards live on their profiles:

1. Documentation renewal: Including financial information, validity of certificates, governance information and impact updation. This will take place across all three standards as per the requirements.
2. Fund utilisation certificates: For any funding channelled through Give.do, the nonprofits are expected to submit a Chartered Accountant attested FUC at the end of the financial year. This will take place across all three standards as per the requirements.

Verification visits: All NGOs with the Gold seal will have to undergo a verification visit to their programmes by the Give.do team to assess the impact delivered in that financial year.

Transparency star ratings

Along with these new standards of compliance, Give.do will introduce transparency ratings for all nonprofits based on the completeness of information provided on each NGO profile on its Discover platform. The star ratings (1-5) will depend on NGOs uploading all required information and documents in a predetermined format and keeping them up-to-date. As NGOs share more, the higher their transparency ratings will be, which in turn will help improve their discovery on the platform.

This will not only act as an incentive for Give.do’s nonprofit partners to keep the data on their profiles current, but also provide donors with a ratings benchmark to follow – with or without the Gold, Silver and Bronze seals or, if the due diligence process is pending.

Give.do’s goal is to provide NGOs a simple yet powerful tool to transparently convey the information donors need to understand the organisation’s value. Besides, it will also cut the repeated queries and checks that occur between each NGO and a donor and encourage NGOs to maintain and share all their information in a standard, easy-to-understand manner across all donors.

Give was launched in 2000 to help foster a culture of giving by making it easy for retail (individual) donors, HNIs, philanthropic foundations and CSR active companies to contribute to India’s social progress. And that has meant that Give.do has continually addressed two major needs of donors – assurance of an NGO’s credibility and access to verified relevant information about their work. 

This new model of due diligence comprising trust seals and transparency ratings is designed to raise the bar of confidence in the character, capacity and impact on the ground of Give.do’s network of committed, hard-working NGO partners and give donors of every denomination the ability to easily identify nonprofits that align with causes they want to support.

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