As a leading global provider of social impact software, Benevity has facilitated over $15 billion in donations, 79 million hours of volunteering and $16 billion in grants 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 nonprofit organizations as possible in our ecosystem, we ensure that our clients and users have a wide range of democratic choices, globally. Without nonprofits, there would be no Benevity.
To deliver our mission, we have a commitment to equitably 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 that they can support as meets their concerns, values and 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 corporate 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.
Vetting and validating nonprofits
Benevity has a responsibility to ensure that all organizations in its portal are equitably held to the same high standard, which requires strict adherence to varying jurisdictional rules and international regulations. This standard includes validation of the nonprofit organization’s charity status with local regulations, a review against all major global watchlists, all the most critical use of funds restrictions needed to protect our client’s program, and special attention dedicated for high risk countries. Benevity also performs rigorous vetting and verification practices before and after a nonprofit organization is added to its database 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 UKOGF.
Benevity works in partnership with a third party, TechSoup Global, 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.
Should Benevity be notified by an official regulatory body, in the jurisdiction the nonprofit resides and is registered in, deems an organization no longer compliant, they will be moved to "inactive" status within the Benevity database.
Benevity’s 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 feel like 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 the 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 the Benevity platform. 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 or outstanding donations
- The nonprofit organization was found to have breached Benevity’s 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 charitable 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 employer's program and therefore will not appear for their employees only.
- The nonprofit organization may not have responded to ongoing outreach from Benevity
Benevity’s Appeals and Remediation Process
For any nonprofit found out of compliance with Benevity’s TOU, they have the opportunity to work through our Appeals and Remediation process to insure adherence.
Benevity works directly with the nonprofit in question to gain additional information, declarations and attestations to their compliance with our TOU.
When a cause is in appeals and remediation, disbursements are paused until such time when found in compliance and able to attest to our Terms of Use. If the nonprofit is found to be in breach of TOU and not able to attest to their compliance through our appeals and remediation process they will be deactivated and any funds donated from the time disbursements were paused are returned to clients and users.
Benevity values our relationships with nonprofit organizations and is committed to supporting all nonprofit organizations in connecting with the corporations we work with.
For more information about Benevity’s policies and processes or any other questions please visit our help center here.