Content Selection and Nonprofit Vetting

Our editorial mission is to help donors see the intersections between complex social issues and advocate for and fund solutions accordingly. Giving Compass’ curated and original content aims to educate donors on addressing the root causes of inequitable systems, elevate nonprofit stories, and generate long-term funding in social impact.

We welcome all content for consideration as long as it does not promote hate or discrimination. We prioritize voices that have historically been left out of the conversation (BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities).

Our content curation, original resources, and nonprofit/fund selections are guided by Impact-Driven Philanthropy (IDP) practices and principles.

IDP priorities

Editorial Content Selection

Curated Content

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)?

Original Submissions

Giving Compass publishes original content in various forms:

  • Nonprofit profiles that 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 Partners

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.

Events and Volunteering Aggregation

Event Listings

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

Volunteering Opportunities

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

Nonprofit and Issue Fund Vetting

Nonprofits and Issue Funds

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.

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.
  • 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.

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.
  • Vetted nonprofits are fiscally sound, assessed by reviewing the most recently available 990 reports.
  • Vetted nonprofits are accepting individual donations.
Transparency & Impact
  • A nonprofit shares information about its impact through annual reports, financial statements, and/or other reports about how a nonprofit serves its mission.
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.

Disaster Relief and Resilience Funds

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 our standard due diligence criteria.

Giving Compass cares deeply about equity and is working to elevate funds that prioritize social justice and populations least well-served by systems.

Contact Us

Interested in being a part of our content and resource directories? Want to use our services and technology to bring our curated resources to your donors and clients? Then click here to discover ways to partner with us.