All About the Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal
What is the Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal?
Since 1909, the Good Housekeeping Seal has served as a symbol of trust and reliability for consumer product goods and services. The Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal was developed to give consumers that same confidence when choosing to support a charitable organization. With this new emblem, Good Housekeeping is committed to building and amplifying the brand's "Kind Cycle" initiative, launched in 2016, to encourage GH's audience of 30+ million to get more involved in giving back locally, nationally and globally — through acts of kindness large and small.
Why now — what makes the Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal valuable to consumers?
The GH Humanitarian Seal allows Good Housekeeping to raise awareness about the importance of being kind to others and honor organizations that are working tirelessly and selflessly to make a meaningful impact. We also want to give our readers peace of mind that their valuable time, energy and donations are supporting legitimate efforts. Good Housekeeping has vetted these charities, so our readers can trust them.
How did you develop the requirements for the Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal?
Engineers and senior-level members of the Good Housekeeping Institute worked with financial and legal experts as well as seasoned consultants in the fields of nonprofit governance, social responsibility and charitable giving to establish criteria for the Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal.
The Good Housekeeping Institute vets the financial health, accountability and transparency of eligible, well-aligned charitable organizations. The experts at the GH Institute will look at not only the administrative and logistical elements, but also the value proposition and mandate of the organization through testimonials and case studies. Our evaluation includes detailed reference checks and assessments of the integrity of the charity's organizational structure and administrative elements.
How is the Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal different than the primary Good Housekeeping Seal?
The GH Humanitarian Seal is mission and social responsibility focused, not product or service as with the traditional Good Housekeeping Seal. There is also no two-year limited warranty with the Humanitarian Seal, as an individual would not be purchasing a product with this emblem, but rather donating money to a charity.
Will the criteria for charities that have earned the Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal be transparent?
All the information and criteria on how to earn the GH Humanitarian Seal will be on Goodhousekeeping.com (see below for more details).
Tell me more about the organization that has earned the first Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal.
The first organization to earn the GH Humanitarian Seal is WE Charity, a division of WE Movement. WE Movement is a ground breaking global organization that believes when we come together we can create an even better world. It is made up of WE Charity and ME to WE, the social enterprise arm of the corporation. WE Charity empowers domestic and international change through three main components — WE Day, WE Villages and WE Schools. WE Day fills stadiums around the world with the greatest celebration of social good. ME to WE is a social enterprise that creates socially conscious products and experiences that help support the charity.
WE enables youth and families to better the world — supporting 2,500+ local and global causes by volunteering millions of hours of service, shopping daily with an impact and raising millions of dollars that directly benefit their local communities and the world. Globally, their teams in Asia, Africa and Latin America have provided more than 1 million people with clean water, built 1,000 schools and schoolrooms overseas and empowered more than 200,000 children with access to education.
Is there a time limit on the Seal?
Every GH Humanitarian Seal is a one year team, with the ability to be reevaluated and renewed annually.
Where can readers go to support charities that have earned the GH Humanitarian Seal?
All charities that have the GH Humanitarian Seal will be available for charitable donations and fundraising efforts on the online platform CrowdRise.
What is the criteria for the Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal? And are there any exclusions?
While there are a handful of sites that look at the bones of charities — the experts at the GH Institute take a more comprehensive look and deep dive into not just the financial and administrative elements of a charity, but also the value proposition and mandate of the organization through testimonials and case studies.
Eligibility Requirements:
Be registered as a 501(c)(3) public charitable organization with a current IRS tax ID number
Be based in the U.S. (the scope of a nonprofit's work can be international)
File and disclose IRS Form 990 annually. Copy of most recent IRS registration and 990 form are required.
Be registered with Guidestar providing base-level transparency
Receive at least a 3 out of 4 star rating by Charity Navigator for applicable charities (7+ years old, $1M+ in annual revenue, etc.)
Have no flags on the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance (WGA) review system
Pass an initial media scan
Be clear of exclusions listed below
Disclosure of any past, current or pending legal actions
Detailed reference checks with key stakeholders
Detailed overview of organizational structure, what the program does and evidence of outcomes including resource allocation
Ongoing Requirements:
Verification that required state and federal filings have been made
Commitment to provide information on results and impact stories
Substantive updates to organizational structure, including board member changes, senior management staffing changes, growth, etc.
Immediate updates on any pending legal action
Exclusions:
Groups that discriminate on the basis of race, gender, disability, religion, nationality or sexual orientation
501(c)(4) social welfare organizations, such as membership and community associations, civic leagues and homeowner associations
527 political organizations such as political parties, political advocacy groups and PACs
Religious organizations raising money for religious purposes. However, support for religiously-associated secular social service-related activities open to those of all faiths, such as operating a shelter or a group program may be considered
Support of specific individuals or individual pursuits
Nonprofits perceived to be associated with the promotion of tobacco consumption, firearms, alcohol or gambling
How can I get the Good Housekeeping Seal for my product?
If you are interested in getting the Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal, send us an email.
You Might Also Like
