Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

Navigation Bar

  • About
  • Services
  • What Clients Say
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Fundraising / What a Seal of Approval Says about Your Nonprofit

What a Seal of Approval Says about Your Nonprofit

July 15, 2014 by Dennis Fischman 2 Comments

“There are about a dozen charity evaluation and watchdog organizations that offer seals of approval” to nonprofit organizations, according to Janna Finch of nonprofit fundraising software evaluation company Software Advice. But do they mean anything?

Yes–to your supporters.

giving-increase

Donors look for ratings seals

Finch’s survey found:

  • 55% of respondents “always” or “sometimes” check for ratings seals on your website.
  • 32% say the seal would “greatly” raise the chance they would make a donation.
  • 40% say the seal would “moderately” or “slightly” increase their chance of giving.

Why it’s too bad

There are lots and lots of nonprofits.  As a donor myself, I understand why people want better information about what they’re giving to.  But I think the focus on ratings and seals of approval is misguided.

First: ratings are based way too heavily on financials, and specifically, on overhead ratios.  But the overhead myth is holding nonprofits back.  For every charity that spends too much on administration and infrastructure, there are probably ten who spend too little–especially compared with the for-profit world.

Second: the ratings system costs money that small nonprofits can’t spare.  To display the seal of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, your nonprofit would have to come up with $1,000-$15,000 every year.  This “pay to play” system discriminates against small-budget organizations.

Third: it’s hard to measure the “program impact” of a social movement.  What was the impact of all that marching and praying, Dr. King?  Where are your measurable outcomes for the last six months?  When seals of approval are awarded like Boy Scout badges, they may trivialize real, important, even historic work that donors should want to support.

What you should do

In the end, though, it doesn’t matter what I think of seals of approval.  It matters what your donors think.  They like them.  So if you can afford the time and the money it takes to win them, you should have them and display them on your website.

Really, though, you should communicate well enough, and often enough, with your supporters that they don’t need the Better Business Bureau or Charity Navigator to tell them how good you are. What a seal of approval is less important than what you say…and what your supporters say about you.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Related

Filed Under: Fundraising, Nonprofit Tagged With: Able Altruist, Better Business Bureau, Charity Navigator, CharityReviewCouncil, CharityWatch, donor, Great Nonprofits, GuideStar, Independent Charities of America, Janna Finch, Software Advice, website, Wise Giving Alliance

Comments

  1. The Other Bottom Line says

    July 15, 2014 at 10:07 am

    Dennis I think a seal would help if a donor accidently falls into your site, never having heard of you before. But how often does that happen? Really donors give mostly to the organizations they know and trust. Organizations that they have a relationships with.
    Diana

    Reply
    • Dennis Fischman says

      July 15, 2014 at 10:15 am

      Diana, I think you’re exactly right. Not that many donors shop for causes at random! People give to people. If they’ve met you in person or seen your scintillating material on social media, they will use your website to make sure you’re legit. That’s where the seal may clinch the deal. But they have to want to give BEFORE they see it.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Yes, I’d like weekly email from Communicate!

Get more advice

Yes! Please send me tips from Communicate! Consulting.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Copyright © 2025 · The 411 Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Notifications