We began our Charity Review program in 1986.
This program was created to increase public accountability on the part of Northeast Indiana charities and encourage wise giving on the part of Indiana residents. In 2006-2007, the BBB of Northeast Indiana became the BBB of Northern Indiana and acquired these six counties: Kosciusko, Lake, LaPorte, Marshall, Porter, and St. Joseph. Our charity reporting efforts have been expanded in these counties as well.
We produce and distribute reliable easy-to-read BBB Wise Giving Reports on Northern Indiana charities, informing the public about wise giving practices and encouraging charities to meet and maintain high ethical standards. We promote the 20 national Standards for Charity Accountability of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB), which were developed with professional advice from representatives of the nonprofit community. Overall, the Standards encourage each charity to provide information voluntarily about the organization’s purposes, programs, finances and governance. The report will tell if the organization meets our 20 Voluntary BBB Charity Standards.
Only accredited charities that meet all 20 BBB Standards can be invited to participate in the BBB Charity Seal Program