7 Key Requirements for Best Practice

We believe in collaborating with charitable organizations (including non-profits and grassroots) that meet a minimum of current industry related requirements in accordance to today’s best practices.

It is equally important for individuals and businesses wanting to support these organizations to have trust and confidence in the charitable organizations featured on our site. This is a way for us to attest to their authenticity, trustworthiness and genuineness of their mission to elevate the African and Caribbean community.

We have developed our own “7 Key Requirements for Best Practice” based on our experience, our expertise in the industry as well as information from various well respected resources such as Philanthropy University and Association of Fundraising Professionals. We consider these to be the basic minimum requirements for any organization to have success in fulfilling their mission in the charitable industry.

The Support Black Charities team personally vets each organization to evaluate their eligibility in accordance with our 7 Key Requirements for Best Practice (see detailed list below).  Our conditions are as follows:

  • Must have at least 3 of 7 to be added to our online directory
  • Must have at least 4 of 7 to be featured on the website and on Social Media.

In a case where an organization doesn’t meet these conditions, we are offering our assistance and guidance to ensure their success. This is another way for us to support black charitable organizations! Please Contact Us.

With this vetting process, we hope to instill confidence in our selection process and build trust with our community.

 

Organization serving the people of African and Caribbean descent – B3
  • Must be a Black–led, Black serving or Black focus organization (B3) working towards a cause benefiting, serving and improving the lives of people of African and Caribbean descent or their community locally or internationally.
  • The Black community must represent at least 50 % of the intended beneficiaries
  • Board members, Executive officers and staff must be at least 50% BIPoC (Black Indigenous People of Color).

***We want to add that in our experience, we find that organizations led by a majority Black leadership team have a clearer understanding and can better identify specific issues or challenges pertinent to the Black community. If you are an organization with a majority non-Black leadership and are serving the Black Community, we are inviting you to consider including more Black qualified individuals to your team. Please contact us for resources.

Active within the past 2 years

Must have offered programs, activities, workshops, organized events, projects, or clear examples of charitable work within the past ~12-18 months.

Up-to-date online presence with clear Mission & Vision statement on Website and/or Social Media account
  • Must have an online presence: Website and at least 1 Social Media account
  • No website, must have at least 2 social media accounts with either Facebook (where “About” and “Additional info” sections include their Mission & Vision) or LinkedIn (where “Description” section includes the Mission and Vision)
  • Must have basic information about the organization online. Example: mission and vision statement, leadership team (name, bio or picture), programs offered, events, how to get involved and contact information
  • Information must be updated and preferably consistent across platforms
Display evidence of impact on the community for transparency
  • Must be able to demonstrate a track record of community impact with description of past projects and fundraising initiatives
  • Must show details of events, description, dated pictures, dated videos and/or results of past and current charitable work towards a cause

Examples: 2015 hosted a fundraising gala, 2016 provided Christmas meals for 100 kids

Regular communication with supporters on organization updates and activities
  • Must have regular communication through online presence and/or social media platforms about new programs, projects or fundraising events.
    Examples: blogs, newsletters, emails, regular posts
  • Must display a method for supporters to contact organization through Contact Us page or organization email
  • Preferred use of branded organization email – info@organization_name.org
Clear Call-To-Action for specific current needs
  • Must have visible detailed information on ways support is specifically needed for transparency
    Examples: volunteer, food drive, clothing drive, fundraising, raising awareness on Social Media, etc
  • Must have detailed breakdown of how support will help their mission, how funds received will be used, what volunteers will be needed for preferably on the appropriate pages – Volunteer, Donation or Get Involved pages
    Examples: 10 volunteers for fundraising events, food drive for baby food, donating school supplies to elementary school, fundraising – XX$ to building shelters, bring attention to a cause by sharing a post on Social Media
Integrated Online Fundraising Platform and/or Donation & Donor Management Plan
  • Must have a secure method of collecting donations preferably with an online Fundraising Platform. The whole donation process should preferably be automated and integrated on your website or Social Media accounts.
  • Must have a system or internal plan to document basic information on previous donation amounts and donors, a “follow-up” communication strategy for past donors which includes thank you emails, progress updates emails, fundraising objectives update email, target reached emails, etc.