There are myriad reasons you should consider joining the GuideStar Exchange program, the only program of its kind that encourages nonprofit transparency on a national scale and allows nonprofits to supplement the public information that is available from the IRS, but I’ll only touch on five here:
1. New! Charting Impact is now part of the GuideStar Exchange. There has been a clamor for nonprofit performance information for some time – and the issue recently came to a head when we launched a campaign to debunk the Overhead Myth alongside BBB Wise Giving Alliance and Charity Navigator. You can start thinking through your nonprofit’s impact information today by completing a Charting Impact report, which is really the first and only program that provides a standardized report for collecting self-reported nonprofit impact information. For more details, check out our press release here.
2. The GuideStar Exchange gives you a chance to give us the information funders want, for free. Based on the findings of the Money for Good II research, we overhauled the GuideStar Exchange this summer to align with the information individual donors, institutional funders, and financial advisors were most interested in: basic information, financial information, and impact or effectiveness information. More here.
3. You get rewarded for participating. In addition to increased exposure to donors, funders, and GuideStar’s vast online audience, benefits of becoming a GuideStar Exchange participant include the ability to share the gold, silver, or bronze level logo with supporters. Depending on the level of participation, nonprofits also have access to a variety of discounts on fundraising support, exclusive access to free technology tools and webinars, and, for those reaching the highest gold level, one free annual subscription to GuideStar Premium, GuideStar’s flagship nonprofit research and analysis tool. More here.
New and improved GuideStar Exchange form
4. It’s easier than ever to participate. The improved GuideStar Exchange program is more fluid and less time-consuming to update. The information-collection process is now streamlined into 8 key areas, down from 18, reflecting the information most important to donors and funders. The new, easy-to-navigate interface includes clear explanations of what information is required and what is optional, and gives nonprofits the ability to skip between sections easily, save progress, and update later. More here.
5. Input your information once and get in front of millions. At the end of the day, you can go to one website, www.guidestar.org, to get your nonprofit’s story in front of GuideStar’s anticipated 15 million annual website visitors this year, not to mention the additional 10 million people who visit our client and partner platforms. More here.
Erinn Andrews
What are you waiting for? Get started today: http://www.guidestar.org/rxg/update-nonprofit-report/how-to-update-your-nonprofit-report.aspx. For those of you who are already participants, I’d love to hear how the program has helped you. Please leave a comment below.
Filed under: Nonprofit Programs 
