An Update on the Great Charity Watchdogs Ratings Debate

Back in September, FundRaising Success held its annual Virtual Conference & Expo, with the opening keynote session centering on the charity ratings systems and the debate surrounding them. In that session, "The Great Ratings Debate: Exploring the True Measure of Nonprofit Success," moderator Angie Moore, vice president of strategy and development at Eleventy Marketing Group, led a discussion between Art Taylor, CEO of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, and Angel Aloma, executive director of Food for the Poor.

Angie provided a wonderful recap on her Navigating Off the Napkin blog in October, tackling everything from how the different watchdogs go about calculating their ratings to why there are so many watchdogs in the first place, what donors should and shouldn't do, and what the sector as a whole should be focusing on. If you haven't read it, please go back and do so.

Now with 2014 upon us, the debate continues with some of the major charity watchdogs making changes to reflect some of the concerns of fundraisers.

On Jan. 30 — that's this Thursday — at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., the Direct Marketing Association of Washington is holding another panel discussion on this great debate: "Charity Watchdogs, Donor Perceptions and the Overhead Myth." The panel, moderated by CDR Fundraising Group President Geoff Peters, includes Steven Nardizzi, executive director of Wounded Warrior Project; Bunkie Righter, director of business development at GuideStar USA; Dan Pallotta, president and CEO of Charity Defense Council; Andrew Watt, president and CEO of the Association of Fundraising Professionals; and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance's Taylor.

Check out and register for the event here, and make sure to make your voices heard as fundraisers to help both donors and the watchdogs make better-informed decisions on donating and ratings.