The Importance of Transparency

The blog post from Cause Capitalism titled, How Transparency Can Benefit Your Company (There’s More To Be Gained Than Consumer Trust), by Olivia Khalili, expands upon a quote from Jeffrey Hollender of Seventh Generation, “If you’re not scared by what you’re revealing, than you’re not being transparent enough.”

Practicing transparency applies not only to for-profit businesses, but to the nonprofit sector as well. The suggestion that you should be scared when exposing your organization’s practices, flaws and all isn’t entirely true. Transparency doesn’t have to be scary. In other words, honesty should lead to profitability. A professional journalist, investor, and friend of mine recently told me with incredible conviction that she would not donate to an organization if she couldn’t easily read about where her money was going. The following suggestions are proven steps in creating transparency for your donors, grantors, supporters, and constituents:

1. Establish a well-written and informative website;
2. Post your Annual Report or 990 on the site (as a PDF); and/or
3. Register and maintain a presence on sites such as GuideStar and Charity Navigator.

If your small business or nonprofit and would like guidance on establishing transparency, contact an AE Consultant to discuss your options.