CMW International Conference
CMW International Conference

A global association of charity monitors

Upholding our members to the highest regulatory standards.

Our Mission​

Our mission at Charity Monitoring Worldwide is to advance transparency and accountability in the charitable sector, promoting trust within society towards charities making a positive impact.

We are dedicated to ensuring satisfactory organization and execution of fundraising for charitable purposes, while upholding the highest standards of governance and maintaining adequate administration of collected funds.

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Members

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NGOs Monitored​

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Our Objectives

Supporting Transparency

To support its members in promoting charities’ transparency and integrity

Monitoring Effectively

To contribute to the expertise and professionalism of organizations monitoring charities in countries around the world

Encouraging Accountability

To formulate common standards for charities and for organizations monitoring charities

Collaborating Globally

To gather information, knowledge and experience from members and other sources so that it can be exchanged among members

Maintaining Transparency

To provide donors, companies, foundations, governments, media, etc. information about charity monitoring systems

United Voice

To represent the interests of the Association within cross-border bodies, such as the European Union, among others

Expanding Worldwide

To promote the creation of charity monitoring in countries where such an activity is not yet occurring.

Our History

Charity Monitoring Worldwide (CMW), formally known as the International Committee of Fundraising Organizations (ICFO), has stood as a beacon of integrity within global philanthropy since its inception in 1958. Founded on the principles of accountability and transparency, CMW arose from the collective vision of national charity monitoring bodies that recognized the acute need for an international standard in the assessment of charitable operations.

Registered in The Netherlands, the association began as a collaborative effort to ensure that donations reached their intended purposes and that charitable organizations operated with the highest levels of accountability.

Over the decades, CMW has grown into a worldwide network with presence in four continents, with members who share the vision of instilling public trust in charitable entities.
The association’s history is marked by its pursuit of excellence in monitoring and its evolution in line with the expanding dynamics of charity work.

CMW contributes to the strengthening of each of its members through the exchange of experiences, facilitating the incorporation of trends and new developments in the third sector into the analysis and evaluation processes of each of the members. Working together, CMW members contribute to the excellence of nonprofit organizations worldwide.

Ensuring Accountability and Impact

Our members are standards-based charity evaluators. Each of them is an independent organization that monitors charities within its country, according to their own set of standards. These standards vary from country to country according to the development and characteristics of the non for profit sector, taking into account the legal requirements in place.

Each member analyzes how charities function, how they manage their finances, and how effectively they achieve their stated missions. Through in-depth reviews, and reports, each member provides donors with crucial information, ensuring their contributions reach genuine causes and make real impacts. This vital oversight builds public trust, encourages ethical practices within the charitable sector, and plays a pivotal role in fostering a culture of giving that is both wise and informed.

We are dedicated to promoting transparency and integrity in the charitable sector. By doing so, we enhance the donor´s trust in the charitable organizations. We provide donors (individuals, foundations, companies, public institutions, government agencies, etc.) with objective, updated and rigorous information.

Looking for trustworthy charities?

Check out our members’ websites to find the charities that have gone through a rigorous assessment and comply with international standards.

Our Guiding Principles

 The CMW Principles for Charity Assessment serve as a comprehensive framework to guide CMW members in their assessment and monitoring of charitable organizations.

The Principles cover a range of crucial topics aimed at promoting transparency and reliability within charities. By exercising these principles, we ensure that trustworthiness is determined in a fair and credible manner within the charitable sector. The principles also include guidance to ensure that the charity assessment is carried out consistently across all members.

To maintain donor assurance in the ethical use of their contributions, and to certify a charity’s credibility, the following standards are instituted for charities to address critical sectors:

  1. Public Benefit: Charities must focus their efforts to realize a mission that consistently serves the public good.
  2. Governance: Charities are expected to have a proactive governance team, along with robust oversight mechanisms that independently and diligently carry out their duties.
  3. Finances: Charities are mandated to reliably report financial data that is both comprehensive and precise, presenting an accurate reflection of their financial health and operational outcomes.
  4. Efficiency: Transparency regarding the allocation of funds towards fundraising and administrative expenses is essential for charities.
  5. Effectiveness: Charities are encouraged to routinely evaluate the impact of their work to ensure performance and effectiveness, while monitoring organizations drive the appraisal of such evaluations.
  6. Integrity: High ethical standards are mandatory for charities, asserting that their fundraising, practices, and communications remain honest, forthright, and respectful, avoiding any deceptive or high-pressure tactics.
  7. Transparency: A commitment to full disclosure requires charities to provide easily accessible and significant details about their history, finances, endeavors, and achievements to the public.

To guarantee these standards gain widespread approval, are attainable for charities, and enable enforcement by monitoring bodies, certain foundational principles are advocated:

  1. Multi-Stakeholder Involvement: Standards development shall involve multi-stakeholder perspectives to ensure relevance and comprehensiveness.
  2. Documented Standards: Established standards must be clearly documented for consistent application and understanding.
  3. Publication of Standards: Monitoring organizations must formally endorse and publish their specific criteria for charity evaluations.
  4. Regular Revision: Based on practical experience, these benchmarks should be subject to periodic review and modification through collaborative multi-stakeholder deliberations. 

To ensure an equitable evaluation process for charities under review, charity monitoring organizations are advised to adhere to the following guidelines during assessments:

  1. Evaluations are conducted against a defined set of criteria that are reflective of reputable charities.
  2. The evaluation process is systematized and consistent across charities of the same nature.
  3. Evaluations utilize up-to-date and relevant information pertaining to the charity.
  4. The evaluation is performed by qualified evaluators who maintain no affiliation with the charity in question.
  5. Evaluators operate as representatives of the monitoring organization—be it as staff, volunteers, or direct agents—and are accountable to it.
  6. Evaluators uniformly apply transparent and understandable evaluation criteria in equivalent circumstances.
  7. Detailed records are kept of the evaluation process and its outcomes.
  8. The monitoring organization conducts quality assurance checks on the evaluation and its findings.
  9. If a charity only partially meets a standard, it is granted the chance to submit further details and respond to the evaluation’s preliminary results.
  10. The final determination of compliance with standards is derived from the evaluation findings and issued by the monitoring organization, or a dedicated entity within it. Only individuals with no ties to the charity are permitted to vote. A clearly communicated appeals process must be accessible to the evaluated charities.
  11. Charities’ adherence to the standards is re-evaluated on a scheduled basis dictated by the monitoring group’s resources, with a suggested interval of every two years for re-evaluation.
  12. While the monitoring organization may charge a fee for the evaluation, it must take ample care to avoid any conflicts of interest that could compromise an impartial appraisal.
  13. The monitoring organization holds authority over the reconsideration of its conclusive decisions.
  14. The evaluation procedures and guidelines of the monitoring organization undergo regular scrutiny and updates.

To ensure the public remains well-informed about charity evaluations, monitoring organizations are encouraged to abide by the following principles when disclosing assessment outcomes:

  1. Monitoring organizations must publicly share their charity standards, providing donors with a clear understanding of the expectations for a trustworthy charity.
  2. The evaluation procedures and any associated fees must be transparent, ensuring donors have a full grasp of the monitoring process and the nature of the relationship between the monitoring entity and the charity.
  3. Assessment results should be communicated in a manner that allows donors to easily recognize charities that have successfully met the established criteria (for instance, through the use of certification seals, detailed reports, or a list of compliant organizations).
  4. Should a charity undergo a comprehensive evaluation and fall short in meeting one or more standards, it must be permitted to offer remarks on the report’s conclusions before publication.
  5. Charities are to be informed in advance about the manner in which the results of their assessment will be disseminated.
  6. Rankings or comparative ratings of charities are not to be published by monitoring organizations, to prevent the implications of competitive standings.

Members of the Board

Ana Benavides - CMW - President

Ana Benavides

PRESIDENT

Fundación Lealtad Madrid, Spain

Harmienke Kloeze

Vice-President

Centraal Bureau Fondsenwerving CBF Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Javier García

Secretary General

Confío Chihuahua, Mexico

Curtis Towns

Treasurer

CCCC Elmira, Canada

Elvia Castro

Board Member

BBB / Wise Giving Alliance Arlington, USA

Constitution Act & by-laws

Constitution Act (2011)

Annual Reports & Financial statements

Financial Statement 2023 - soon to be published

Financial Statement (2022)

Annual Accounts

Financial Statement (2021)

Annual Report & Financial Statement (2020)