Recently the Australian Charities & Not-for-profit Commission has been called in to check on some high profile charities, with Commissioner Gary Johns saying the ACNC’s role is to ensure charities are transparent and accountable. Transparency & accountability are key in order for a charity to earn a philanthropists or donor’s trust, and be financially viable.

In the recently published “Trust in Charities, 2018” the Charity Commission for England & Wales specifically looked at how trust is earned or lost through behaviour. Critically for charities, the findings were;

• those who trust charities are far more likely to make repeat or ongoing donations, whereas
• those who do not trust are more likely not to give at all.

This gives trust a direct link for ‘trust’ to the financial viability of an organisation.

When your charity is chasing the lucrative ongoing donation, remember what your donor is after – transparency & accountability. As the Charity Commission for England & Wales put another way; “Words are not enough; the public expect trustworthy behaviour and proven impact”.

How do I demonstrate transparency and accountability?

Before your charity panics about how to bridge the trust gap with donors, The Impact Suite has developed the Social Impact Rating which can be completed in minutes. The Social Impact Rating is based on careful analysis of the key factors that drive an organisation’s sustainability and effectiveness, and is represented visually – much like a star rating. With the Social Impact Rating available free to all of Australia’s charities, there’s no excuse for your charity to not have one and build trust with donors.