2014 GuideStar Annual Report

Transcription

1 2014 GuideStar Annual Report Our mission: to revolutionize philanthropy and nonprofit practice by providing information that advances transparency, enables users to make better decisions, and encourages charitable giving. GuideStar by the Numbers 2.5 billion pieces of data 2.4 million organizations listed in GuideStar database 7.2 million unique users (99.94 percent access GuideStar s data for free) 87,000+ social media followers 120 Data Distribution Network partners 17th-most popular nonprofit blog, according to Top Nonprofits 24 virtual events presented in 2014 with nearly 7,000 attendees 37,500 conversations with nonprofits Highlights of 2014 In 2014, GuideStar continued to progress toward our vision of building a new information infrastructure for the nonprofit sector. As outlined in our strategic plan, GuideStar 2020, our goal is to leverage our work in data collection, data distribution, and data innovation to strengthen the factors that lead to social impact. That is, more and smarter giving, coupled with more efficient and effective nonprofits, leading to greater impact across society. Data Collection Nonprofit information is at the core of our mission. In 2014, more than 1 million pieces of data were added, bringing the total to 2.5 billion. Overall, GuideStar has information on 2.4 million organizations, confirming our position as the world s largest source of information on nonprofit organizations. In 2014, GuideStar focused on increasing the depth and breadth of the nonprofit information we collect. By expanding the information presented in our nonprofit profiles, we make it possible for nonprofits and funders to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities across a set of similar organizations more easily, and to understand nonprofits impacts on and interactions with their beneficiaries. Through concerted marketing efforts and one-on-one engagement with nonprofits, we increased the number of nonprofits directly updating their profiles on our site and thereby committing to transparency to 107,000, a 14 percent increase over the prior year. Partnerships with BoardSource and the D5 Coalition helped us further augment the types of information we collect. Through our work with BoardSource, nonprofits can now add governance information to their nonprofit profiles, thereby shedding light on a crucial indicator of organizational strength, accountability, and stability. More than 7,000 nonprofits shared this information in 2014.

2 Partnering with D5, we created sector-wide standards for the collection of demographic data, specifically information about the composition of board members, staff, and volunteers based on gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, and ability/disability. The work also resulted in recommended standards for organizations to share voluntarily the data and methods for integrating the new standards into their own collection and reporting systems. By the end of 2014, more than 1,200 nonprofits had self-reported demographic data. Data Distribution GuideStar continued our progress developing and refining our application programming interfaces (APIs). APIs provide efficient alternatives for accessing the comprehensive, high-quality information we gather. In addition, our Data Distribution Network continued to grow in As an increasing proportion of everyday experience is mediated through technology platforms, GuideStar s uniform nonprofit information provides a useful tool to standardize, streamline, and align the way millions are able to view, research, and understand nonprofits and their work. With more than 120 websites and platforms, including AmazonSmile and Intuit, using GuideStar data, information drawn from our database is quickly becoming ubiquitous. The number of nonprofit profiles available through the GuideStar DonorEdge platform increased 20 percent in Community foundations use this platform to collect information directly from local nonprofits to increase charitable giving to and awareness of local needs and issues while also sharing resources and knowledge with other foundations. Data Innovation GuideStar is at the forefront of the sector advancing transparency and effectiveness. In 2014, efforts included both enhancing existing tools and developing new ones. Our website, received a facelift. We introduced newly designed pages as part of a larger effort to streamline and enhance the user experience and incorporate data visualization into our nonprofit profiles. In 2014, we continued our work with the Technology Affinity Group (TAG) to produce a new information-sharing process between funders and grantees. Our efforts led to collaborations with 10 of the major grants management systems. The data-sharing, standards-setting process allows for a common database of grantee information to be integrated into the software systems, eliminating repetitive elements of the grant-application process and making grantmaking management more efficient. Nonprofit Sector Leadership and Collaboration GuideStar has strong partnerships with several leading organizations to advance the sector; we believe that together we can accelerate the trajectory of change. In addition to the partnerships forged with BoardSource and D5 in 2014, our partnership with the Foundation Center progressed to include the consolidation of data digitization and co-marketing and the development of shared products (now in the pipeline). The Foundation Center was also a key partner, along with TechSoup Global and GlobalGiving, on the BRIDGE project. This initiative focused on developing a unique, numerical identifier for nonprofits across the world, resulting in enhanced transparency and effectiveness across the global nonprofit sector. In 2014, we once again collaborated with the BBB Wise Giving Alliance and Charity Navigator to issue a second call to action against the Overhead Myth, this time asking nonprofits to help move the sector toward an Overhead Solution by demonstrating ethical practices and being open with performance data, managing toward results, and educating donors about how they accomplish their successes rather than highlighting financial ratios.

3 In an effort to educate our own donors and supporters, we instituted quarterly Impact Calls, modeled on for-profit quarterly earnings releases. We provided results to constituents quickly and proactively and began a systematic dialogue that encouraged data-driven decision making across the nonprofit sector. In each call, we shared highlights of efforts completed or commenced in the previous quarter, lessons learned, and a review of our financial health. In total more than 1,100 people participated in these two-way conversations in Further recognition of our leadership occurred in August, when our president and CEO, Jacob Harold, was named to the Nonprofit Times (NPT) 2014 Power and Influence Top 50 list. The list highlighted 50 of the sector s leaders for their innovation, influence on the broader sector, and for developing organizational models that can be replicated. Financials GuideStar is a nonprofit that provides access to its growing set of nonprofit data and analytical tools for free to percent of our users. Our operations are only possible through a combination of contributions, grants, membership, and product sales. The projects in our vision of the future, GuideStar 2020, are anticipated to require an additional investment of $10 million over the next several years. In 2014, GuideStar largely self-funded the initial stages of the strategic plan, but we cannot succeed with internal resources alone. In November of 2014, GuideStar and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation jointly announced a $3 million general operating grant in support of our mission and new strategic vision. The Gates Foundation s grant was a significant investment in GuideStar s future and marked the first milestone of our campaign to raise transformational capital between 2014 and The gift was GuideStar s largest grant since 2002 and sets the stage for increased investments in 2015 and beyond.

4 GuideStar Income Statement

5 GuideStar Statements of Financial Position 2015 GuideStar Board Members Glen Galaich Alix Guerrier Jacob Harold Feather Houstoun Mari Kuraishi, chair Art Howe Sunand Menon Katherina Rosqueta Dalila Wilson-Scott