Benevity’s commitment to Nonprofit Organizations

As a leading global provider of social impact software, Benevity has facilitated billions in donations and managed grants, and millions of hours of volunteering to nonprofit organizations around the world through workplace giving, volunteering and granting programs. 

Benevity’s mission is to act as a catalyst to infuse a culture of goodness into the world. If Benevity is the catalyst, nonprofits are the change engines of our mission. By including as many screened nonprofit organizations as possible in our platform, we ensure that our clients and users have a wide range of choices to run democratized programs globally. 

To deliver our mission, we have a commitment to engaging with nonprofit organizations from around the world and ensuring they are held to the same high standards. This provides clients and their employees with a trusted database of over 2 million nonprofit organizations they can confidently support, based on their concerns, values, and program priorities. When people are inspired by the impact they can make with nonprofits, that is when change happens!

Any nonprofit organization can apply to be included in Benevity’s global database of nonprofit organizations and be connected to our vast community of corporations, donors, volunteers and grant-makers. Individuals can also recommend a nonprofit organization be added to the portal by submitting a request through Benevity’s nomination process. More information about this can be found here.

Benevity values our relationships with nonprofit organizations. Without nonprofits, there would be no Benevity.

 

Vetting and validating nonprofits

Benevity has a responsibility to ensure that all organizations in our nonprofit portal are held to the same high standard, which requires strict adherence to varying jurisdictional rules and international regulations. Benevity’s portal of over 2 million nonprofits has been built directly from local governmental  and regulatory bodies overseeing charitable organizations to establish a trusted and vetted base. We also perform rigorous vetting and verification practices before and after a nonprofit organization is added to its database, inclusive of review against all major global watchlists, to ensure our users have confidence in supporting the nonprofit organizations on the portal.

In order to be eligible to receive donations on the Benevity platform nonprofit organizations must:

• Maintain valid charitable status, as per the laws and regulations of the relevant regulatory bodies where the organization operates;
• Adhere to the standards outlined in Benevity’s Causes Terms of Use  and Platform Guidelines;
• Declare that their use of funds is in accordance with UK law if they are receiving funds via our UK Foundation Partner, the UK Online Giving Foundation (UKOGF).

Benevity works in partnership with a third party, TechSoup Global, who are trusted experts in international vetting, validation and onboarding, in order to maintain a consistent standard and ensure compliance with local regulatory authorities. Benevity also partners with Moody’s for ongoing monitoring and advanced screening of nonprofit organizations after they are onboarded, ensuring all organizations are screened against sanctions and daily recognized watchlists, reducing risk for donation disbursement.

If an official regulatory body in the jurisdiction where a nonprofit is registered and operates notifies Benevity that the organization is no longer compliant, it will be moved to "inactive" status within the Benevity database.

Benevity’s Causes Terms of Use include rigorous guidelines for conduct that prohibit a range of activities including, but not limited to, hate speech, discrimination, military use of funds, sanctions and financial crime.

Benevity also relies on its clients and users for third-party moderation and any user can ask for a nonprofit to be reviewed if they have reason to believe they may be either ineligible or in breach of our Terms of Use. This can be done here.

Benevity takes all concerns regarding nonprofit organizations’ eligibility seriously. Any nonprofit organization identified or reported to be in breach of ourCauses Terms of Use is reviewed and if needed, contacted for further information. If found to be out of compliance, nonprofit organizations will have the opportunity to work through Benevity’s Appeals and Remediation process to prove their compliance. Additionally, nonprofits that are receiving grants from the UKOGF are required to declare that their use of funds is used for charitable purposes, in accordance with UK law. 

Any nonprofit organization that is found to not meet the requirements will be deactivated from the platform. All nonprofits are welcome to contact Benevity to be included on the platform once they are able to meet these requirements again.

 

Why is a specific nonprofit organization no longer found on the Benevity platform?

There are many reasons why a nonprofit organization might show up as inactive, or may not be listed on Benevity’s nonprofit portal. These could include:

• The nonprofit organization has fallen out of good standing with their governing body or it may no longer be operating;
• The nonprofit organization has requested to no longer participate or has a series of uncashed checks with outstanding donations;
• The nonprofit organization was found to have breached Benevity’s Causes Terms of Use and was unable to confirm through a formal attestation that they comply within the agreed upon timelines for compliance;
• The nonprofit was unable to declare that their use of funds donated via our foundation partner in the UK (UKOGF), is for charitable purposes, in accordance with UK law;
• There may be duplicate profiles, profile consolidations or mergers that could account for a deactivated status;
• The nonprofit organization may not be eligible for participation in a particular company’s program and therefore will not appear in their portal;

Benevity’s Appeals and Remediation process

Any nonprofit found out of compliance with Benevity’s Causes Terms of Use has the opportunity to appeal the determination or remediate any non-compliance through our Appeals and Remediation process.

During this process, disbursements to the nonprofit are paused while Benevity works directly with the nonprofit in question to gain additional information, declarations and attestations to their compliance with our Causes Terms of Use.

If it is determined that the nonprofit is in breach of our Causes Terms of Use and not able to attest to their compliance through our Appeals and Remediation process, they will be deactivated and our foundation partners will credit their given account.

For more information about Benevity’s policies and processes or any other questions, please visit our help center here.