Making CSO Transparency Friendlier, Easier and Integrated
In this era of rapid technological advancement and digital connectivity, the importance of online transparency for CSOs has never been greater. Nonprofits must prioritize transparency to build trust, accountability, and to show their impact. Not only do stakeholders and social change audiences rely on online platforms to assess organizations they may potentially support, but cases of nonprofit mismanagement have increased donor scrutiny.
Transparency is also crucial for organizations’ internal accountability. When CSOs embrace openness and accountability, they also promote responsible decision-making and best practices among staff and board. This includes cultivating leaders and a culture in which transparency is valued and practiced at all levels, including through modeling behavior.
Yet our eyes tend to glaze over when we think of online transparency compliance. In some instances, compliance can be especially complicated. Tracking, interpretating and meeting the many requirements for Brazil, for example, takes time and resources away from CSOs’ missions. Navigating the complex web of regulatory requirements can be overwhelming, particularly for smaller nonprofits without specialized legal and financial expertise, and there is often no budget or personnel for financial reporting and impact assessments. In addition, organizing the information so that audiences can undertake due diligence is a challenge.
We created the CiSoRise platform to fundamentally transform this experience. Our aim is to change transparency compliance from a burden into a convenience. By integrating our transparency module into websites, a CSO’s transparency becomes part of their online identity. We made the user interface for transparency friendly, with an interactive dashboard that is visually engaging, and offer websites specifically designed for nonprofit causes, so that orgnizational branding can be easily launched and/or maintained.
All of this gives organizations an incentive to update their online content regularly, including sharing their stories and impact, and raising awareness of their activities among new supporters, as well as showing existing donors how their contributions are being applied. Leveraging digital tools also helps nonprofits solicit feedback and conduct surveys.
When CSOs provide clear and accessible information about their mission, activities, finances, and governance, they build credibility not only for themselves but for the independent sector. Together, we can strengthen this critical sector and, more generally, civil society.
