At Give, our mission is to make giving towards impactful causes bigger and better. A key aspect of building a giving culture is fostering a strong sense of trust and transparency between the donors and nonprofits. To that end, we are excited to launch Guaranteed Trust seals and Transparency Ratings.
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. Over the last two decades Give has established itself as the most trusted giving platform in the country.
One of our founding philosophies was to bridge the trust gap between donors and nonprofits doing exemplary work on the ground and impacting the lives of people and communities. And since inception, we have actively worked to address this gap.
Trust is one of our core offerings, we take it very seriously. Our due diligence framework is designed to bring this trust, which is why we verify and validate all the legal requirements that a nonprofit needs to abide by to be compliant with the prevailing law.
However, since Give started operations the donor-NGO landscape has evolved, not to mention the giant leap in technology that has directly impacted this ecosystem and the changing complexity of government regulations.
To reflect all these changes, along with the deep knowledge gathered through Give's 23-year experience in the field, we have re-evaluated our due diligence processes. The new model will provide both donors and NGOs the best-in-class framework to instil mutual trust and confidence, leading to meaningful, long term impact.
Guaranteed Trust Seals - The 3 Tiers of NGO Due Diligence Standard
This is the highest seal of trust Give will grant its nonprofit partners.
The nonprofits who receive this seal will have undergone extensive due diligence verification checks on 48 different parameters that includes organisational capability, capacity to deliver the impact, governance practices, financial and legal processes, HR maturity and tech processes.
The nonprofits here would also have to undergo an extensive site visit from Give's team which includes interaction with all the stakeholders in an NGO's ecosystem - governing body, leadership team, employees, beneficiaries and donors of the organisation to validate the accuracy of the information provided.
Also, Gold nonprofits will undergo a regular renewal cycle of updating their details as well as an regular verification visit by the Give team.
Silver is the second seal of trust given to an NGO wherein the nonprofit has to undergo due diligence verification across 24 parameters, including their financial and legal compliances, governance and organisational capability to deliver a project.
This standard does not require a field visit from the Give team, but a virtual conversation with the finance and leadership teams and donors of the organisation to establish the level of trust.
Also, the nonprofits will undergo an regular renewal cycle of updating their details.
This is the first, standard level of due diligence any nonprofit has to undergo to be on board Give Discover. To award a nonprofit with the Bronze seal, Give checks for valid registration and legal compliance documents to establish the bonafide credentials of the nonprofit.
The documents scrutinised for awarding the badge include registration documents, 12A, 80G, PAN, bank account details and FCRA certificate (if applicable).
Along with these new standards of compliance, Give 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’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'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.
How can nonprofits claim their profile?
Search for your nonprofit in the search bar on the homepage.
Once you find your nonprofit profile page, click on “Claim it” button on the top right corner of the profile page, you will find the button 'Claim it'. Click on it.
Now, enter your registered nonprofit Email ID and click on the 'claim' button. You will receive an email with a link.
Clicking on this link will take you to the verification page, where you will find an edit link. The edit link can be used at any time to update your NGO profile on Give Discover.
If the organisation does not exist on Give Discover, you can send us the details of the organisation such as name of the organisation, website, PAN number, 12A, 80G and the registered address from your official email ID/email ID registered with Give to claimprofile@give.do A new profile will be created and the edit access will be provided to you.
How can nonprofits update their information on the platform?
Please follow the steps to claim your nonprofit profile. Once you have claimed the profile, search for your nonprofit name on https://give.do/discover/ It will open the Discover page of the searched NGO. Click on the edit link. It will show all the sections available for the NGO to update. Fill in all the sections and save the details by adding the name, email ID and click on the 'Submit' button.
What is the due diligence process to receive a Gold seal?
For nonprofits to receive the Gold seal of trust, Give’s highest seal of trust, they will have to undergo rigorous due diligence and pass 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's team to confirm the credibility of information they have provided.
What is the due diligence process to receive a Silver seal of trust?
As the second seal of trust and transparency, to receive a Silver seal of trust, nonprofits have to undergo 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 team but, instead, a virtual conversation with its finance and leadership teams and some of its donors to establish the level of trust.
What is the DD process to receive a Bronze seal of trust?
This is the standard level of due diligence that is 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
What are the transparency star ratings?
The transparency ratings for all nonprofits are based on the completeness of information provided on each NGO profile on Give Discover. 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.
How can a donor connect with Give Discover to conduct due diligence for their partner nonprofits?
Any donor who wants their partner NGOs to undergo the due diligence process can write to us at partnergivegrants@give.do
How often is the information updated on the Discover platform?
Since the work and structure of organisations and government guidelines are ever evolving, to ensure all the information on Discover is current, Give has put in place an 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:
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.
Fund utilisation certificates: For any funding channelled through Give, 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 team to assess the impact delivered in that financial year.
How can a nonprofit connect with Give Discover to get a Gold, Silver or Bronze seal of trust?
A nonprofit who wants to get any seal of trust, can write to us at membership@give.do and we'll initiate the process.
