You may remember that last fall a prominent online giving platform created pages for thousands of nonprofits across the country, including us at Together SC, and began their own campaign(s) to raise funds for those organizations, while collecting a fee and/or tip and without the organization’s consent, and more.
Here in South Carolina, current law actually requires nonprofit consent (and registration with the Secretary of State) in most instances when soliciting donations.
The platform altered its course after nonprofits raised deep concerns with the campaign, but it opened the door for the sector to take a minute and think about what the relationship between nonprofits and online giving platforms should aim to look like in the US.
Over the last number of months, alongside our peers from other states and under the leadership of the National Council of Nonprofits, the Together SC team worked to craft and, as of last week, publish the Principles for Ethical Online Giving Platforms.
The document aims to provide a roadmap for the types of practices online platforms should strive to implement to deepen the trust between donors and nonprofits, nonprofits and platforms, and platforms and donors.
Endorsed by over fifty state and regional associations as well as the online platform Every.org before publication, individual nonprofits are now invited and encouraged to endorse these Principles.
You can read more about this issue here, and feel free to reach out to me (GP) if you have any questions!
