Content Selection and Nonprofit Vetting

Content is sourced by reputable publishers, influencers, experts, and vetted nonprofits. Giving Compass follows fair curation standards (less than 1/3 of original piece is published, link to original source, and adds value). Each piece is vetted by Giving Compass’ content team, using a range of criteria including:

• Is it aligned with the core principles of Impact-Driven Philanthropy?
• Does it outline an ongoing issue and provides solution?
• Does it addresses a major/trending story with an exploration of the overall issue or ways to help/donate?
• Is it inclusive and accessible?
• Is it data-driven (when necessary)?

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Giving Compass publishes original content in various forms:

• Nonprofit profilesthat elevate voices that have historically been unheard.
• Donor stories and content from donor-serving organizations to help connect donors to peers, learning opportunities, and resources.
• Topic guides that are rigorously researched and help donors gain a deeper understanding of various causes and the root causes of inequitable outcomes.
• Special coverage pages that include articles, nonprofits, and funds addressing an urgent or topical issue.

Original content follows these published editorial guidelines.

Content collections feature curated and original content from IDP values-aligned organizations and often focus on pressing issues such as climate action, racial equity, and democracy. View Partner Collections

We aggregate this data using the same principles described in the Curated Content section. View Events

We aggregate U.S.-based volunteering opportunities and match them in real time with the topic explored by our users. This data comes from our partnership with Volunteermatch.org View Volunteering

We developed our vetting criteria with and for the philanthropy sector. In addition to partnering with leading philanthropy professionals and experts,  we drew upon other’s research, including Stanford PACS and the Bridgespan Group’s “Four Pathways to Greater Giving” report. We also conducted polls among our networks and current partners, leading nonprofit organizations, funders, and philanthropic consultants. Our goal was to listen and learn about other funds that are making a positive impact in a variety of fields and that are transparent about their efforts.

Sourcing

 The Giving Compass team conducts research and landscape scans to identify high performing and values aligned organizations to include in our directory. We source our vetted nonprofits from a variety of sources, including:

• Partnerships: We partner with grantmakers (“sponsors”) who meet at least three of the five criteria listed below. We use publicly available grant data to aggregate their grantees in our dataset. The nonprofits sourced by our partners have undergone diligence from their sponsoring organizations and the Giving Compass team, ensuring that they are amongst the best in the sector. There are two types of Sponsoring organizations:
  • Sponsors – (c)(3) organizations: A donor, family or community foundation, or philanthropic intermediary that provides grants to nonprofit organizations.
  • Sponsors – (c)(4) organizations: A nonprofit organization or philanthropic intermediary that provides grants to nonprofit organizations and/or partners with and advocates for organizations working on related issues
• Submission Forms: We invite any interested nonprofit to submit itself for vetting using this form. All nonprofits who meet the criteria will be added to the directory.  
• Giving Funds (Issue Funds):  The funds featured on Giving Compass allow donors to give to many organizations with a single contribution and provide peace of mind that someone else is selecting the right organizations. Giving Funds are a great opportunity to bundle giving for a specific cause area or disaster relief effort that can respond flexibly to an issue as it evolves. The host of these Giving Funds is vetted using the same criteria used to vet sponsors and nonprofits. 
• Exceptions: Because of the number of users and the potential volume of donations, and because of the mission and target audience for our platform, we are not including funds hosted at crowdfunding platforms such as GoFundMe. 

Nonprofit and Issue Fund Vetting

We’re working to connect impact driven donors with nonprofits you can trust. All of our vetted nonprofits have undergone an extensive vetting process and are approved with the following criteria:

Financial Compliance

• All nonprofits featured in Guide to Good have registered with the IRS and actively comply with the requirements to maintain their 501c3 nonprofit status. As such, all nonprofits are based in the United States and have a corresponding tax ID (EIN).
• Vetted nonprofits are fiscally sound, assessed by reviewing the most recently available 990 reports. Standard reports include two years of financials; if there appeared to be a noticeable trend over those two years, we sought out additional past 990s.
• Vetted nonprofits are accepting individual donations.
• Giving Compass does not vet or include antigovernment or hate groups listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Transparency & Impact

After conducting financial diligence on each organization, we additionally review all data available on a nonprofit’s website, including impact and annual reports, leadership information, etc. To receive a Giving Compass seal of approval, a nonprofit must demonstrate at least three of the five criteria listed.

• Tracking & Reporting: A nonprofit shares information about its impact through annual reports, financial statements, and/or other reports about how a nonprofit serves its mission. 
• Clear Outcomes & Goals: A nonprofit is explicit about the issue it is working to address and shares clear goals and intended outcomes for the work it is doing.
• Evaluation & Evidence: A nonprofit takes an evidence based approach to tackling its work. The nonprofit is rooted in industry best practices, science, or evidence-based practices. 
• Grantee Selection Process: For issue funds and foundations that distribute resources, we look for information about how an issue fund or foundation selects its grantees and recipients. 
• Leadership: A nonprofit shares information about its leadership and board, including their organizational roles. Importantly, the nonprofit shares information about how it makes decisions and how they are informed.

Giving Compass Mission Alignment 

In alignment with Giving Compass’ mission and values, we prioritize nonprofits and sponsors who share our commitment to Impact Driven Philanthropy. As such, we ensure that all our vetted nonprofits are in alignment with at least one of our core tenets:

• Equity: Ensuring resources and power are fairly distributed so all humans experience dignity and opportunity. Organizations are data driven and focused on explicit disparities (ex: race, gender, sexuality, rural populations, etc.), and staff and board are reflective of intended beneficiaries.
• Effectiveness: Drawing on evidence, collecting feedback, and evaluating progress using quantitative and qualitative data. Impact data and metrics around the overall number served are shared. 
• Systems Change: Addresses the institutional, systemic, and structural problems to tackle the root causes of an issue area. Organizations are creating public/private partnerships engaged in civic engagement, education, and mobilization.
• Transparency: Centering beneficiary in co-creating solutions, ensuring integrity and accountability in processes and relationships. Organizations share information about how decisions are made and who makes decisions as well as what information is guiding their decisions.

View Social Justice Nonprofits

During a crisis, Giving Compass moves quickly to aggregate and elevate rapid response and relief funds that are emerging for donors. Our goal is to build a directory of funds that:

• Represent the full breadth and depth of work happening in the sector, from grassroots organizing for systems change to efforts to scale proven models
• Include geographic diversity and breadth

Because of the urgency of these situations, we relax some of ourstandard due diligence criteria. The disaster funds featured on Giving Compass are:

• Open to contributions from individual donors
• Hosted at an organization that serves as an intermediary and regrants to other organizations
• Hosted at organizations in good financial standing with at least two years’ track record. If younger than two years old, additional diligence has been done on leadership and board.

Giving Compass cares deeply about equity and is working to elevate funds that prioritize social justice and populations least well-served by systems. Because of the number of users and the potential volume of donations, and because of the mission and target audience for our platform, we are not including funds hosted at crowdfunding platforms such as GoFundMe. We also are directing donors who want to support funds launched by individual nonprofits (to support their own work) to Charity Navigator, which has recommended organizations. The funds featured on Giving Compass allow donors to give to many organizations with a single contribution and provide peace of mind that someone else is selecting the right organizations. View Disaster Funds