Washington, DC - June 22, 2004 -- "The donor is our primary constituent," BBB Wise Giving Alliance president and CEO, H. Art Taylor, advised the Senate Finance Committee at its hearing on Charity Oversight and Reform. He noted that a major survey of the American public commissioned by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance (the Alliance) in 2001 showed that 70 percent of Americans find it difficult to know whether a charity is legitimate.

"More and more donors are looking to the Alliance for help with their giving decisions. In 2003, over 2 million people came to the www.give.org Web site to review the freely available national charity reports," Taylor said.

As a charity monitoring organization, the Alliance shares with government agencies the objective of fostering ethical conduct. The Alliance, however, encourages charities to abide by good practices that go beyond what the government can regulate," Taylor added.

The Alliance charity evaluations are based on a highly respected set of 20 voluntary Standards for Charity Accountability that address charity governance, effectiveness, use of funds, and fund raising practices. The Alliance reports on charities that meet its standards, as well as those that do not. Most (68 percent) of the national charities reviewed by the Alliance do meet its standards; about one-third (32 percent) don't meet one or more of the standards.

"Our newest challenge is to meet donors' needs in the face of a rapidly expanding number of charitable organizations," Taylor said. Towards that end, the BBB Wise Giving Alliance announced an important development in its charity reporting program - an online database system - that it expects to dramatically expand the volume of its charity reports. "With this innovative technology, using the Alliance charity standards, the new online charity reporting and evaluation system will help move us toward this goal. It will also assist local Better Business Bureaus nationwide in reporting on local and regional charitable organizations," he said.

The Alliance will hold a press briefing on Tuesday, July 13 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC to demonstrate the system to media representatives. Shortly afterwards, national charities will view the system through a webcast to learn how the new tool can assist in verifying their adherence to Alliance charity standards.

In addition to its own plans, the Alliance is supportive of a number of possible government actions to help address concerns about charities, such as efforts to increase the accuracy and completeness of the IRS Form 990 and the availability of additional funds for government agencies to regulate charities. "Whatever steps government decides to take, however," Taylor concluded, "the Alliance will continue to expand its work at the front line of accountability to address donor concerns."

Note to Editors: A full copy of Mr. Taylor's testimony is available online at the BBB Wise Giving Alliance Web site at www.give.org/news/testimonywga.pdf (Adobe Reader Required). The site also provides Alliance national charity reports on over 450 nationally soliciting organizations, donor giving advice, information on the new charity seal program, as well the text of the 20 Standards for Charity Accountability.