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The National Council of Nonprofits (NCN) has issued a set of guidelines for online fundraising platforms. The guidelines stress consent from, and control by, nonprofits regarding how they are represented by the platforms. The guidelines have been endorsed by more than 50 state and regional associations.
The suggestions come in the wake of instances of platforms promoting, representing or soliciting funds on behalf of nonprofits, allegedly without the nonprofits’ consent or awareness. In some cases, these representations featured the nonprofits’ logos or other intellectual property, also allegedly without the nonprofits’ consent. (https://thenonprofittimes.com/npt_articles/breaking-alaska-sues-6-crowdsourcing-fundraising-platforms/)
Some online fundraising platforms have maintained they were merely providing dummy listings, in hopes the nonprofits would agree to work with them.
The NCN issued its guidelines at a time when donors are increasingly seeking greater transparency from giving platforms (https://thenonprofittimes.com/npt_articles/donors-want-giving-platforms-to-be-accurate-transparent-charities-consent/). Under the NCN’s guidelines, online fundraising platforms would provide:
* Consent, under which each nonprofit would be able to decide whether, how and when to engage with the platforms before the platforms solicit or collect donations;
* Transparency, which would provide donors with the agency and information they would need before making a donation through an online fundraising platform;
* Partnership, through which online fundraising platforms would recognize nonprofits as equal partners; and
* Accountability, under which the platforms would be accountable to the nonprofits, donors the public and appropriate regulators.
The NCN’s guidelines offered additional details regarding their expectations for each guideline. In the instance of nonprofit consent, the NCN recommends online fundraising platforms:
- Obtain the written consent from an authorized representative of the nonprofit before soliciting or collecting donations on their behalf.
- Secure written consent from an authorized representative of the nonprofit before using a nonprofit’s logo, branding, images, or messaging, including in any promotional materials or fundraising efforts.
- Only use logos, branding, images, or messaging affirmatively provided by the nonprofit.
Under Transparency, the NCN calls for the platforms to:
- Provide key information to donors in a manner that is clear and easy to see and understand, in a minimum font size, and not hidden or buried in small text or terms and conditions.
- Ensure donors know at the point of donation whether their donation is tax-deductible and the name of the organization that will receive their donation.
- Inform the donor when the donation is received by the nonprofit.
- Provide donors the opportunity to designate alternative nonprofits if the platform cannot reach the original choice or allow donors to get a full refund including fees.
- Disclose all fees, charges, and suggested “tips” even if applied by a separate entity – in a font size equal to or greater than any other type on the page – at the donation point so that the donor can clearly see the net amount that the nonprofit actually receives.
- Make it clear to donors whether tips are provided to the online fundraising platform or the nonprofit, separate out the options for donors to cover processing fees from a suggested tip rather than combining both into one option, and never make suggested tips the default.
- Ensure the public can readily find and understand the online fundraising platform’s business model, including how it generates revenue through fees and tips.
- Disclose whether the online fundraising platform is a nonprofit or for-profit entity, and whether the platform uses a donor-advised fund (DAF) rather than sending the donation directly to the charity. Platforms should inform donors what a DAF is, any fees associated with the DAF, the length of time it may take for a gift to be received by the charitable nonprofit, and whether the DAF has the ability to redirect gifts to other charitable recipients if it chooses to.
- Give donors an easy way to opt-out of future marketing communications.
The NCN’s partnership guidelines recommend online fundraising platforms:
- Inform the nonprofit within seven days of any new campaign that seeks to raise funds for the organization.
- Provide donors with a link to the nonprofit’s website, if available.
- Transfer all donations electronically, or post physical checks by mail, to the nonprofit within 30 days (receipt of physical checks may take longer).
- Not use paid search engine optimization unless the nonprofit consents.
- Enable long-term nonprofit stewardship of donors. The default should be to provide nonprofits with donor information to allow nonprofits to build long-term relationships with donors. Provide nonprofits that choose to engage online fundraising platforms the ability to accept anonymous donations.
- Maintain on the platform’s website key information about fundraising campaigns for at least one year, including the status of the donation. Checks issued to designated nonprofits should include a unique campaign ID number that can be used to locate the campaign online.
- Ensure implementation is safe and user-friendly. Platforms must redress serious implementation issues, such as unauthorized individuals claiming donations and the inability to remove pages without first agreeing to the platform’s terms and conditions or sharing sensitive banking information.
- Provide nonprofits that voluntarily register with the platform the ability to add/edit/delete their logo, profile information, etc.
- Ensure nonprofits that consent to engaging with online fundraising platforms can still opt-out of specific campaigns led by the platform, or to opt-out of individual donations.
- Not require nonprofits to register or agree to terms and conditions in order to remove their organization from the platform. Registration should be free of charge.
- Clearly post all policies and procedures on the website, and do not require nonprofits to waive these rights as a condition of registering with the platform.
- Create an easy process for nonprofits to report campaigns that they believe are fraudulent or misleading. Such a reporting process must ensure timely review by the platform, a determination after review, and notification to the organization.
Under these partnership guidelines, any reported campaign would be frozen until the issue is resolved.
The NCN’s Accountability guidelines call for the platforms to:
- Comply with all applicable state laws.
- Support reasonable accountability measures under state and federal law for violations by online fundraising platforms in order to hold bad actors accountable.
- Publicly report on at least an annual basis to donors, recipients, and government regulators on the number of donations received by nonprofits, the total number of donations redirected or refunded, net dollars given to each nonprofit, all fees collected by the platform, and other relevant information.
- Engage regularly with the nonprofit community and appropriate state officials to improve the partnership between nonprofits and online fundraising platforms.
The NCN’s issued its guidelines two months after another set of suggestions, from the Association of Fundraising Professionals, addressed fee transparency; discoverability and public data; responsible data use; responsible fund management; and resolution and accountability. (https://thenonprofittimes.com/npt_articles/afp-developing-guidelines-for-fundraising-platforms-after-high-profile-problems/)
The state and regional associations endorsing the initiative include:
Alabama Association of Nonprofits
UAFS Center for Economic Development (Arkansas)
The Foraker Group (Alaska)
California Association of Nonprofits (CalNonprofits)
Colorado Nonprofit Association
CT Community Nonprofit Alliance
Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement
Center for Nonprofit Advancement (District of Columbia)
Florida Nonprofit Alliance
Gwinnett Coalition (Georgia)
Hawaiʻi Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations
Idaho Nonprofit Center
Forefront (Illinois)
Prosperity Indiana
Iowa Nonprofit Alliance
Kentucky Nonprofit Network
Louisiana Alliance for Nonprofits
Maine Association of Nonprofits
Maryland Nonprofits
Massachusetts Council of Nonprofits
Providers’ Council (Massachusetts)
Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
Mississippi Alliance of Nonprofits and Philanthropy
Network for Strong Communities (Missouri)
Nonprofit Connect (Missouri)
Montana Nonprofit Association
Nonprofit Association of the Midlands (Nebraska)
The Center for Nonprofit Business (Nevada)
New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits
New Jersey Center for Nonprofits
New Mexico Thrives
New York Council of Nonprofits, Inc.
Nonprofit New York
North Carolina Center for Nonprofits
Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations
Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits
Ontario Nonprofit Network
Nonprofit Association of Oregon
Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations
Alliance for Nonprofit Impact (Rhode Island)
Together SC
South Dakota Nonprofit Network
Center for Nonprofit Excellence of Middle Tennessee
Tennessee Nonprofit Network
Nonprofit Austin (Texas)
The Nonprofit Council (Texas)
Utah Nonprofits Association
Common Good Vermont
Center for Nonprofit Excellence (Virginia)
Nonprofit Association of Washington
West Virginia Nonprofit Association
Wyoming Nonprofit Network
