Everyone has standards. Whether you are buying a car or choosing a college to attend, you have standards that you consider acceptable for your life.

Did you know there are also standards for charities that measure their performance? These standards have become increasingly important, especially after recent high-profile charity scandals.

Trust is the lifeblood of charities. The single greatest threat to charities from effectively serving their communities is the loss of public confidence. Many charities are seeking ways to assure their giving public that one bad apple does not spoil the barrel. Compliance with the Charities Review Council’s Accountability Standards is a credible way charities can demonstrate their trustworthiness to the giving public.

The Council’s Accountability Standards consist of 27 standards, which address a charity's performance in four critical areas: public disclosure, governance, financial activity, and fundraising. The standards have evolved over the Council's 65 years, with broad participation from Minnesota’s nonprofit and philanthropic communities, to reflect reasonable public expectations of nonprofits. 

Through the Council’s Accountability Wizard, voluntarily participating nonprofits apply these standards to themselves. Council staff then independently verifies nonprofit responses and provides assistance to participants to help them make changes where needed to comply with the standards. When a charity meets all 27 Accountability Standards, the results of these reviews are posted online and provided to the public at no cost, helping donors identify the most trustworthy charities before giving. These charities are also granted the use of the Council’s “Meets Standards” seal. The seal provides a public, concise, and accessible indicator of a charity’s commitment to accountable and ethical practices. To date, more than 400 charities have demonstrated their commitment to accountability by earning the Meets Standards seal.

Charitable organizations exist to serve the public good. Charities depend on the financial support of donors like you to pursue their public missions. You have the right to expect that the charities you support are transparent and accountable. By working together and expecting transparency and accountability from the nonprofit sector, we can help charities advance their important work of serving the community and foster greater confidence in giving.