Strengthen Your Governance to Elevate Your Ratings

Are you a church or nonprofit for whom public charity ratings don't apply?  The principles in this series still apply.  Your contributors and stakeholders are interested in your sustainability and stewardship of resources and actually have limited ways to access relevant information if you don't supply it.

Nonprofits often struggle with governance issues, leading to inefficiencies and a lack of trust from donors and stakeholders. Yet, strong governance is the backbone of any successful charity. It ensures accountability, fosters trust, and maximizes resource utilization. And, it carries another reward: rating agencies like Candid (GuideStar) and Charity Navigator recognize the importance of good governance, and provide a transparent means to communicate your organization’s strength in this area to donors, funders, and volunteers. There are questions in various parts of Form 990 dealing with governance and transparency. (See our article Does Your Form 990 Inspire Donor Confidence?) Your Form 990 answers are utilized by Charity Navigator to determine a public charity rating or by Candid (GuideStar) to issue transparency seals. Stronger ratings and seals build trust for donor engagement and other stakeholder engagement.  

Demonstrating trustworthiness and efficiency with donor dollars leads to increased giving. 

Here are some areas to focus on for good governance: 

1. Corporate Policy Development (conflict of interest, whistleblower, document retention and destruction, gift acceptance, and more) 

2. Board/CEO Relationship (compensation, succession, CEO evaluations, new board member orientation) 

3. Board Self-Evaluations 

4. Board Structure (independence, terms, committees, charters) 

5. Board Policies (board manuals, guiding principles) 

6. Strategy and Identity (mission and vision, goals and strategies) 

Would improvements in one or more of these areas boost your board’s functioning? At Missionwell, we are committed to helping you strengthen your governance practices. Our Corporate and Board Services bring nonprofit best practices to your board of directors. These services can be added on to a Stars for Stars assessment or can be provided as standalone services.  

If you feel your governance practices are strong but your charity ratings do not reflect your organization’s strength, there could be other issues at work! Missionwell’s Stars for Stars assessment will yield robust recommendations and a road map to improved charity ratings for your organization across multiple areas. 

Get Started Today 

1. If you missed our latest articles on how your financial ratios can improve donor trust, and how your Form 990 can inspire donor confidence, check them out here and here. 

2. Try Missionwell’s free charity transparency self-assessment for further ideas for improving your public charity ratings. 

3. Request a quote for your Stars for Stars assessment and start improving your ratings. 

You are on your way to better governance and the Charity Navigator stars and Candid seals you deserve! 

This is article 5 of 6 in our series on improving public charity ratings to increase fundraising.