Want to Increase Funding for your NPO? Start by Increasing your Transparency

Editor's Notes

1. Hi everyone. Thanks so much for joining us. As – mentioned we have some great speakers today and their all focusing on how they use transparency and particularly the GuideStar profile to help with their funding processes. So I want to kick things off by talking to you about your profile directly. What is it, why is it important and what does it take to keep it current and robust.
2. Hi everyone. Thanks so much for joining us. As – mentioned we have some great speakers today and their all focusing on how they use transparency and particularly the GuideStar profile to help with their funding processes. So I want to kick things off by talking to you about your profile directly. What is it, why is it important and what does it take to keep it current and robust.
3. Hi everyone. Thanks so much for joining us. As – mentioned we have some great speakers today and their all focusing on how they use transparency and particularly the GuideStar profile to help with their funding processes. So I want to kick things off by talking to you about your profile directly. What is it, why is it important and what does it take to keep it current and robust.
4. So before I go there. Let’s begin at the beginning. This document is likely familiar to most of us. This ladies and gentlemen is the Form 990. This is the information form that we all have to file as nonprofits. It has been the predominant way that we’ve structured info about the complex activities of trying to make the world better. It’s the financial page to your nonprofit’s overall story. And it’s an important piece of the puzzle. That’s why GuideStar works hard to make this information available for nearly all of the 1.8 million U.S. tax exempt organizations. But it is just one piece of a large, complex story of a nonprofit Since the launch of ourfirst website in October 1996, GuideStar has provided nonprofits with a way to update their information in its database. Then, as now, their goal was to give nonprofits a platform by which they could tell their full stories, enabling them to go beyond basic IRS and Form 990 data and share information about their missions, programs, leadership, needs, and accomplishments. Organizations could update as often as they wished, allowing them to provide more current information than what is available in IRS records. In late 2007, GuideStar launched the second generation of its program. We’ve gone through a lot of changes but the real goal has always been to help nonprofits be transparent for their donors and their beneficiaries and provide information in just one place. In a nutshell it is to move beyond the 990
5. Nonprofits automatically have a profile on GuideStar weather or not they update it and share added useful information for their funders and peers. So we work hard to encourage nonprofits to come on the website and update their profile and so far we’ve had lots of success. Since the reboot of the program 100k nonprofits have updated information on their profiles. Currently we have over 30k who are participating at a bronze, silver, or gold levels. We also have 85 of the top 100 branded nonprofits participating. This includes boys and girls clubs of America, planned parenthood, American Society, and more.
6. So how can your organization make it’s way to a gold profile? Well here is a list of the required questions for each profile level.
7. And this is your one stop to get your nonprofit’s information out to over 120 data partners. This information goes straight to foundations (like the one’s we’ll here from in a moment), sites that educate and serve as a donation platform for individual donors, volunteers sites and so much more. And those directly fiel your nonprofit. With money, people power, potential beneficiaries, all the things you need to be great. And it starts with sharing your information– in one place fist instead of hundreds individually.
8. While we’re talking about information to share across partners I want to introduce you all to the next profile level we have coming soon. So we’ve covered bronze, silver, and gold profile levels. I want to take a few minutes to let you all know about a 4th and final tier we’re working on. Later in 2015 we’ll be releasing the platinum level, which will ask nonprofits to share qualitative programmatic data. And these are the metrics of your choice. We understand the diversity of the sector and would never impose a standardized list, but we do want to encourage organizations to start talking about their outcomes. It will push the sector and just as importantly all of our individual organizations forward in so many important ways. Impact will be made even more clear, year to year progress can be mapped over time, you’ll be able to benchmark yourself against your peers. And we’ll also have a great step forward in squashing the overhead myth by helpng donors understand the true costs of outcomes.
9. I’ve got one more new thing to share. Later in our call I’ll show you all our great new interface for updating your interface. We’ve worked hard to make it clean and easy. I can’t wait to show you more!
10. We make it possible for nonprofits anywhere to access the tools, training, and support they need to make our world a better place. 
11. Every org passes through a comprehensive due diligence process. We use Guidestar data to vet all US registered organizations that come to our site.
12. What we look for in partner profiles. Every organization has a history. Guidestar allows us to see the complete picture of an organization—it’s financial history, legal name changes, IRS umbrella grouping etc.
13. GG Guidestar partnership We have embedded the API into our online system which pulls in data directly into the application so organizations with up to date profiles need not supply letters of determination, 990’s etc. This allows organizations to quickly complete the application and spend more time crafting their public profile for donors. GG staff are able to process applications more quickly.
14. Hi everyone. Thanks so much for joining us. As – mentioned we have some great speakers today and their all focusing on how they use transparency and particularly the GuideStar profile to help with their funding processes. So I want to kick things off by talking to you about your profile directly. What is it, why is it important and what does it take to keep it current and robust.