Charity ratings are something so inconsistent that highly rated charities might easily find themselves outdone in rating by unknown ones that materialize out of nowhere. Charity Water is a representative though new sample of this. The power of the online medium and ingenuity are helping brand new charities to drive their ratings sky high. A charity that may not have any rating one day might be considered as one of the top of the chart charities by the New York Times the next day and their rating would then go through the roof in no time.
Because of the power the mass communication media have over the people, when a charity is in the good books of the media, it expands very quickly and manages to get a lot of charitable giving. By that same yardstick, when media do not have much interest in propping up a given charity, its rating also plummets in the same proportion.
Directory lists of charity rating
With scepticism running quite high with charity watchdogs pinpointing charity problems such as misconduct, having exceptionally high amounts of funds spent on admin or the misappropriation of funds, charity rating directory lists are flourishing. It's so funny that philanthropic organizations that set out to give to others are now under the eye of charity watchdogs. Philanthropy is becoming a little complicated!
Givespot.com, Guidestar.org etc. are institutions that give a detailed list of charity ratings. The list of Givespot.com is known as GiveSpot 100 list, which gives a list of charities that are rated as the top 100. Then there are other institutions like charitynavigator.org which has a charity check systems and also gives a list of the Top Ten charities so that searching for a charity becomes easy. The biggest US charity directory is Guidestar.org and it offers a wide range of charity information some of which is available for free while some of the data require payment. In USA Better Business Bureau is also a charity directory that provides a list of non-profit institutions as well as commercial enterprises.
The fact is that there are enough guides that provide information about 100 top ranking charities but these ratings does not, in reality, convey the correct picture. The ratings of a charity has actually nothing much to do with what actually makes it superior to the rest. There are unique features that place a charity or non-charity institution above the rest.
Charity Ratings and trust in the public
According to a YouGov poll of 2005, even well known charities like Save the Children and Oxfam did not enjoy a high amount of faith by the majority of the British population amounting to 56%. The public seemed to have faith only in about 15% of the charities even among those that had good charity ratings.
Charity Critics' Warnings are profuse
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.
It has been shown in recent studies that the expenses for raising funds in places like UK and Australia amount to about18% in the case of the former and 22% in the case of the latter. The corresponding amount in USA is about 30% according to the Association of Fundraising Professionals. These are without administrative expenses, which might be higher. This is a big issue with donors especially in situations like what happened in Singapore a few years ago when the issue fell under the media scanner. This sort of negative attraction leads to a reduction in charity giving which is definitely not a good sign.
Charity ratings secret exposed
There is little difference between businesses and charities when it comes to attracting money. Their end use of the money is of course different, but their special secrets to attracting it in the first place are much 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 see an object and would like to buy it, or make an investment in it, or want to connect with it, we tend to take a decision on the basis of how tempting it is to us. If it is very appealing, we might instantly buy it or plan to get it but if it is not all that tempting, we would definitely postpone the idea.
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 factors that combine to make Charity Water so enticing, making it popular, are easily decipherable.
* 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
* Their focus was on how to solve the problem and not the problem itself. It is important for charities to properly define their focus if they want people to rate them highly. No one has interest in getting their attention turned to the unpleasant things in life. People want a positive focus. So when they are told that they can make a positive change in the lives of others by buying a bottle of water they feel happy.
How to instantly reduce one's Charity Ratings
The fastest way for a charity to lose its rating is by making itself less appealing by concentrating on the problem. People are hardly inclined to listen about all that negativity going on in the world. On the other hand, most people are ready to listen to sagas of vigour, eagerness, drive and dedication to fashion a better world.
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 Enterprises improve Charity Ratings and solve the problems in Getting Funds
Social Enterprise is a new business pattern that evolved a few years ago. This combines trading with a social purpose. This pattern is a result of the interest of some businessmen who have social objectives but does not find the type of functioning of charitable enterprises satisfactory enough.
Many socially conscious businessmen may find the ambience of a full fledged commercial venture and its decision making mechanism unpalatable. For such people a social enterprise is an apt field where they can use their business acumen and inspiration effectively to solve social problems and usher in changes. One of the best known among such socially aware entrepreneurs is Muhammad Yunus who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. He was the first business man to be given such recognition.
A comparatively new global social venture, Buy1GIVE1, also known as B1G1 (Buy 1 Give 1), combines commercial activities with noble causes and charity organisations across the globe. Buy1GIVE1 has reduced the costs of administration and fundraising so completely that it is able to give away the whole of the funds it gets. It functions in a way quite similar to online enterprises like Kiva.org, which has been given support by Bill Clinton; Buy1GIVE1 is a substitute for the conventional style of direct giving to charities. Lots of people find them a more practical way for making donations while receiving valuable things in return.
Entrepreneurs, who are forever on the lookout for avenues to give in return to the society in effectual ways and to donate to beneficial charitable causes, realise the exemplary worth and strong marketing principles of organisations like Buy1GIVE1. Each and every sale that is made makes a change - not merely philanthropically. It makes a change with its strong impact as well, for every sale that is made becomes a poignant story that is an eye-opener. Buy1Give1 is a far cry from the commercial enterprises that might donate a million dollars to charity, for it lets the customers fully relish the joy of giving. The transaction-based giving of Buy1Give1 is a lesson in perfection.
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 in Australia has partnered with Midday Meals in Mumbai, India. With every bag of muesli bought, a hungry child in India is fed. Midday Meals is a charity that feeds 125,000 Mumbai children every day for just US 30 cents per meal. The meals are provided in schools to keep kids off the streets and encourage learning while reducing begging and child abuse.
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
Newer and varied ways of gifting things to others are rated and featured in the table given below. These are Charity Comparison Data.
We have compared and rated a few well-known and less well-known charities and Social Enterprises on areas that are important to their donors.
THE SALVATION ARMY
WAY 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.
TRANSPARENCY - B - Lack of transparency - Sum of money is contributed - but result is not fully measurable.
MARKETING VALUE TO BUSINESS - C - Businesses' one-off contributions to Salvation Army may be mentioned in the press.
FUNDRAISING COSTS - B - Spends millions of dollars annually to raise funds.
DONORS' CHOICE POTENTIALS -B- For those who want to give directly, there are plenty of charities to choose from.
POTENTIAL FOR REAL GLOBAL CHANGE - C- Nothing new to offer in terms of market change.
PRODUCT (RED)
ROUTE TO GIVING: MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Product (RED) is a brand licensed to partner companies, to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Africa.
CANDOUR - B - Insufficient candour - Lots of money is donated - but result is not completely quantifiable.
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.
EXPENSES FOR RAISING FUNDS - C - Spends huge sums of money on advertisements - giving that money directly to Africa would have been more practical.
DONOR'S CHOICE OF CHARITY - C - Limited choice for collaborators on deciding to which charity they should donate - all their charity work is in Africa.
PROMISE FOR GLOBAL CHANGE - B - All partners of Products (RED) are huge ventures and the entire profit is spent on helping people of Africa.
THE BODY SHOP
ROUTE 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.
OPENNESS - B - Not sufficiently open - Plenty of money is being collected - but the results are not always completely clear.
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.
EXPENSES FOR RAISING FUNDS - A - Costs are kept low - Business design is good enough to attract large contributions and further community trade.
DONOR'S CHOICE OF CHARITY - A - Enterprises are at liberty to choose where their contributions should go.
PROMISE FOR GLOBAL CHANGE - B - The potential for giving back to the community is substantial - but not everyone have the impetus and the extra energy to impel the change.
LIVE EARTH
WAY TO GIVING: EVENT FUNDRAISING
Live Earth consisted of a string of global musical programmes which set in motion a three-year campaign to battle climate change and was held on July 7, 2007.
TRANSPARENCY - F - According to Intelligent Giving, there were big questions about accountability as to where the proceeds of ticket sales went.
BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS - B - It was beneficial to business sponsors as they got good media coverage, but as it was a single event results are not easily measurable.
EXPENSES FOR RAISING FUNDS - C - Substantial sums were spent on promotion of an event which was considered a fiasco by many as it did not have any proper objectives.
DONORS' CHOICE POTENTIALS - C - Funds were made available only to three charities.
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 form a partnership with any business - connecting them with any worthy cause in any place. A truly universal precept.
CANDOUR - A - By giving for particular causes, makes sure that funds go exactly for that which it is intended. Customers get information on how exactly their money has made a change - i.e. the children whom it helped, or the environmental cause it protected.
BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS - A+tve - Superb marketing value as a result of:
* Calculable giving * Media interest * Effective stories * Person to person * Returning customers
EXPENSES FOR RAISING FUNDS - A+tve - No cost at all - B1G1 can look after a charity's fundraising requirements which will include a good percentage of management also. All the funds that have accrued go to the cause.
DONORS' CHOICE POTENTIALS - A - Businesses have the option of choosing a particular project to donate to, or give to a worthy cause of their choice like feeding, knowledge training etc.
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 Might Think Giving away Money Would Be simple!"
You would think that giving money is easy - pull out a wad of cash, write a cheque or punch in your credit card details. Yet, billionaires philanthropists like George Sores , have gone on the record as saying that effective giving is one of the hardest things to do. Developing nations receive billions of dollars every year and yet it often seems like nothing changes much.
Asking the right questions is necessary for bringing about the required changes. Social entrepreneur Mohammed Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize, has done pioneering work in the field of Microfinance and is revolutionizing the ways in which indigence and environmental problems can be tackled. People like him are showing the way as to how consumerism and social enterprise can change the face of the world. Another such example is the 'Trade - Not Aid' of The Body Shop. The ideals of Buy1GIVE1 are equally potent and are a model for charities. Social enterprise needs total recognition.
When queried as to how someone can effect a change in the world, Bill Gates pointed towards organisations like Buy1GIVE1 (www.b1g1.com) and Kiva.org which reward the giver richly. Kiva.org ensures that those who sponsor a business get regular updates via email from those businesses. Buy1GIVE1 also ensures this. With such communication, customers get a clear picture and come to know the stories behind the charities. For example, when they buy a laptop, someone who badly needs a computer might be getting it at some other corner of the world.
Other ways to improve your Charity Ratings
Make sure that you have an open attitude, use the laptop effectively, and keep apart a little time to observe the novel and wonderful systems of charity that are being born. These function through the internet and are mostly network based.
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.
There are more and more examples these days of companies rising up from nothing and being sold three years later for over a billion dollars. This was unheard of ten years ago. Today this is becoming a regular occurrence. All these new Internet companies are doing one thing - tapping into global networks or creating global networks.
Buy1GIVE1 (Buy One Give One)
Buy1GIVE1 is a comparatively new Social Enterprise established in 1997 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.
If you are not forging an alliance with Buy1GIVE1 and encouraging your business sponsors to become Buy1GIVE1 members you will be missing our more and more as this amazing enterprise makes a huge impact in the world of giving.
The dawn of a new age 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. - 20785
Because of the power the mass communication media have over the people, when a charity is in the good books of the media, it expands very quickly and manages to get a lot of charitable giving. By that same yardstick, when media do not have much interest in propping up a given charity, its rating also plummets in the same proportion.
Directory lists of charity rating
With scepticism running quite high with charity watchdogs pinpointing charity problems such as misconduct, having exceptionally high amounts of funds spent on admin or the misappropriation of funds, charity rating directory lists are flourishing. It's so funny that philanthropic organizations that set out to give to others are now under the eye of charity watchdogs. Philanthropy is becoming a little complicated!
Givespot.com, Guidestar.org etc. are institutions that give a detailed list of charity ratings. The list of Givespot.com is known as GiveSpot 100 list, which gives a list of charities that are rated as the top 100. Then there are other institutions like charitynavigator.org which has a charity check systems and also gives a list of the Top Ten charities so that searching for a charity becomes easy. The biggest US charity directory is Guidestar.org and it offers a wide range of charity information some of which is available for free while some of the data require payment. In USA Better Business Bureau is also a charity directory that provides a list of non-profit institutions as well as commercial enterprises.
The fact is that there are enough guides that provide information about 100 top ranking charities but these ratings does not, in reality, convey the correct picture. The ratings of a charity has actually nothing much to do with what actually makes it superior to the rest. There are unique features that place a charity or non-charity institution above the rest.
Charity Ratings and trust in the public
According to a YouGov poll of 2005, even well known charities like Save the Children and Oxfam did not enjoy a high amount of faith by the majority of the British population amounting to 56%. The public seemed to have faith only in about 15% of the charities even among those that had good charity ratings.
Charity Critics' Warnings are profuse
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.
It has been shown in recent studies that the expenses for raising funds in places like UK and Australia amount to about18% in the case of the former and 22% in the case of the latter. The corresponding amount in USA is about 30% according to the Association of Fundraising Professionals. These are without administrative expenses, which might be higher. This is a big issue with donors especially in situations like what happened in Singapore a few years ago when the issue fell under the media scanner. This sort of negative attraction leads to a reduction in charity giving which is definitely not a good sign.
Charity ratings secret exposed
There is little difference between businesses and charities when it comes to attracting money. Their end use of the money is of course different, but their special secrets to attracting it in the first place are much 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 see an object and would like to buy it, or make an investment in it, or want to connect with it, we tend to take a decision on the basis of how tempting it is to us. If it is very appealing, we might instantly buy it or plan to get it but if it is not all that tempting, we would definitely postpone the idea.
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 factors that combine to make Charity Water so enticing, making it popular, are easily decipherable.
* 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
* Their focus was on how to solve the problem and not the problem itself. It is important for charities to properly define their focus if they want people to rate them highly. No one has interest in getting their attention turned to the unpleasant things in life. People want a positive focus. So when they are told that they can make a positive change in the lives of others by buying a bottle of water they feel happy.
How to instantly reduce one's Charity Ratings
The fastest way for a charity to lose its rating is by making itself less appealing by concentrating on the problem. People are hardly inclined to listen about all that negativity going on in the world. On the other hand, most people are ready to listen to sagas of vigour, eagerness, drive and dedication to fashion a better world.
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 Enterprises improve Charity Ratings and solve the problems in Getting Funds
Social Enterprise is a new business pattern that evolved a few years ago. This combines trading with a social purpose. This pattern is a result of the interest of some businessmen who have social objectives but does not find the type of functioning of charitable enterprises satisfactory enough.
Many socially conscious businessmen may find the ambience of a full fledged commercial venture and its decision making mechanism unpalatable. For such people a social enterprise is an apt field where they can use their business acumen and inspiration effectively to solve social problems and usher in changes. One of the best known among such socially aware entrepreneurs is Muhammad Yunus who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. He was the first business man to be given such recognition.
A comparatively new global social venture, Buy1GIVE1, also known as B1G1 (Buy 1 Give 1), combines commercial activities with noble causes and charity organisations across the globe. Buy1GIVE1 has reduced the costs of administration and fundraising so completely that it is able to give away the whole of the funds it gets. It functions in a way quite similar to online enterprises like Kiva.org, which has been given support by Bill Clinton; Buy1GIVE1 is a substitute for the conventional style of direct giving to charities. Lots of people find them a more practical way for making donations while receiving valuable things in return.
Entrepreneurs, who are forever on the lookout for avenues to give in return to the society in effectual ways and to donate to beneficial charitable causes, realise the exemplary worth and strong marketing principles of organisations like Buy1GIVE1. Each and every sale that is made makes a change - not merely philanthropically. It makes a change with its strong impact as well, for every sale that is made becomes a poignant story that is an eye-opener. Buy1Give1 is a far cry from the commercial enterprises that might donate a million dollars to charity, for it lets the customers fully relish the joy of giving. The transaction-based giving of Buy1Give1 is a lesson in perfection.
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 in Australia has partnered with Midday Meals in Mumbai, India. With every bag of muesli bought, a hungry child in India is fed. Midday Meals is a charity that feeds 125,000 Mumbai children every day for just US 30 cents per meal. The meals are provided in schools to keep kids off the streets and encourage learning while reducing begging and child abuse.
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
Newer and varied ways of gifting things to others are rated and featured in the table given below. These are Charity Comparison Data.
We have compared and rated a few well-known and less well-known charities and Social Enterprises on areas that are important to their donors.
THE SALVATION ARMY
WAY 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.
TRANSPARENCY - B - Lack of transparency - Sum of money is contributed - but result is not fully measurable.
MARKETING VALUE TO BUSINESS - C - Businesses' one-off contributions to Salvation Army may be mentioned in the press.
FUNDRAISING COSTS - B - Spends millions of dollars annually to raise funds.
DONORS' CHOICE POTENTIALS -B- For those who want to give directly, there are plenty of charities to choose from.
POTENTIAL FOR REAL GLOBAL CHANGE - C- Nothing new to offer in terms of market change.
PRODUCT (RED)
ROUTE TO GIVING: MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Product (RED) is a brand licensed to partner companies, to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Africa.
CANDOUR - B - Insufficient candour - Lots of money is donated - but result is not completely quantifiable.
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.
EXPENSES FOR RAISING FUNDS - C - Spends huge sums of money on advertisements - giving that money directly to Africa would have been more practical.
DONOR'S CHOICE OF CHARITY - C - Limited choice for collaborators on deciding to which charity they should donate - all their charity work is in Africa.
PROMISE FOR GLOBAL CHANGE - B - All partners of Products (RED) are huge ventures and the entire profit is spent on helping people of Africa.
THE BODY SHOP
ROUTE 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.
OPENNESS - B - Not sufficiently open - Plenty of money is being collected - but the results are not always completely clear.
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.
EXPENSES FOR RAISING FUNDS - A - Costs are kept low - Business design is good enough to attract large contributions and further community trade.
DONOR'S CHOICE OF CHARITY - A - Enterprises are at liberty to choose where their contributions should go.
PROMISE FOR GLOBAL CHANGE - B - The potential for giving back to the community is substantial - but not everyone have the impetus and the extra energy to impel the change.
LIVE EARTH
WAY TO GIVING: EVENT FUNDRAISING
Live Earth consisted of a string of global musical programmes which set in motion a three-year campaign to battle climate change and was held on July 7, 2007.
TRANSPARENCY - F - According to Intelligent Giving, there were big questions about accountability as to where the proceeds of ticket sales went.
BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS - B - It was beneficial to business sponsors as they got good media coverage, but as it was a single event results are not easily measurable.
EXPENSES FOR RAISING FUNDS - C - Substantial sums were spent on promotion of an event which was considered a fiasco by many as it did not have any proper objectives.
DONORS' CHOICE POTENTIALS - C - Funds were made available only to three charities.
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 form a partnership with any business - connecting them with any worthy cause in any place. A truly universal precept.
CANDOUR - A - By giving for particular causes, makes sure that funds go exactly for that which it is intended. Customers get information on how exactly their money has made a change - i.e. the children whom it helped, or the environmental cause it protected.
BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS - A+tve - Superb marketing value as a result of:
* Calculable giving * Media interest * Effective stories * Person to person * Returning customers
EXPENSES FOR RAISING FUNDS - A+tve - No cost at all - B1G1 can look after a charity's fundraising requirements which will include a good percentage of management also. All the funds that have accrued go to the cause.
DONORS' CHOICE POTENTIALS - A - Businesses have the option of choosing a particular project to donate to, or give to a worthy cause of their choice like feeding, knowledge training etc.
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 Might Think Giving away Money Would Be simple!"
You would think that giving money is easy - pull out a wad of cash, write a cheque or punch in your credit card details. Yet, billionaires philanthropists like George Sores , have gone on the record as saying that effective giving is one of the hardest things to do. Developing nations receive billions of dollars every year and yet it often seems like nothing changes much.
Asking the right questions is necessary for bringing about the required changes. Social entrepreneur Mohammed Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize, has done pioneering work in the field of Microfinance and is revolutionizing the ways in which indigence and environmental problems can be tackled. People like him are showing the way as to how consumerism and social enterprise can change the face of the world. Another such example is the 'Trade - Not Aid' of The Body Shop. The ideals of Buy1GIVE1 are equally potent and are a model for charities. Social enterprise needs total recognition.
When queried as to how someone can effect a change in the world, Bill Gates pointed towards organisations like Buy1GIVE1 (www.b1g1.com) and Kiva.org which reward the giver richly. Kiva.org ensures that those who sponsor a business get regular updates via email from those businesses. Buy1GIVE1 also ensures this. With such communication, customers get a clear picture and come to know the stories behind the charities. For example, when they buy a laptop, someone who badly needs a computer might be getting it at some other corner of the world.
Other ways to improve your Charity Ratings
Make sure that you have an open attitude, use the laptop effectively, and keep apart a little time to observe the novel and wonderful systems of charity that are being born. These function through the internet and are mostly network based.
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.
There are more and more examples these days of companies rising up from nothing and being sold three years later for over a billion dollars. This was unheard of ten years ago. Today this is becoming a regular occurrence. All these new Internet companies are doing one thing - tapping into global networks or creating global networks.
Buy1GIVE1 (Buy One Give One)
Buy1GIVE1 is a comparatively new Social Enterprise established in 1997 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.
If you are not forging an alliance with Buy1GIVE1 and encouraging your business sponsors to become Buy1GIVE1 members you will be missing our more and more as this amazing enterprise makes a huge impact in the world of giving.
The dawn of a new age 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. - 20785
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