What Can Individual Donors Learn From Corporate Philanthropy?

In an age of complex conflicts-of-interest and various scandals, studying charities before committing donor dollars is a top priority, says Gold, the Western Union CEO. “We do a lot of vetting,” she says. Western Union’s Foundation gives money to nonprofits in Mexico to spur job-creation and also gives money to disaster-relief efforts worldwide. The company’s corporate compliance staff examines nonprofits using similar criteria applied on the business side for deals and other partnerships. Gold says nonprofits her company partners with must be “perfect” — that is, free of major inefficiencies or other questionable practices.