As we have written recently (here and here), the CFC is officially underway, and the new portal for online pledging is open. When we log into the portal and look around, we see evidence that donors are using it. Specifically, pledges are being made. That’s very good news.
The portal includes an essential function that allows donors to find charities to which they may wish to pledge. In theory, they can search by organization name, keyword, EIN, or the five-digit code assigned by the CFC to each participating organization. Donors may also center searches around a specified geographic location, and they’ll find a few other ways of focusing searches. In practice, we have found serious problems with the search function, some of which could prevent donors from finding certain charities and thereby being able to pledge to them.
In 2013, we published a report on the online search tools used in the CFC at that time. CFC administration had yet to be consolidated, and the many local administrators maintained an equal number of individual websites with an array of search tools. The vast majority were ineffective. We had hoped that consolidation of CFC back-office functions under a central administrator would bring greatly improved search functionality. At the moment, however, that is not the case.
OPM and the GiveBack Foundation (the new central administrator) are scrambling to fix as many of the problems as they can. We certainly wish them well. A flawed search tool is likely to frustrate donors and anger charities. We will be monitoring progress and will keep you posted.
In 2013, we published a report on the online search tools used in the CFC at that time. CFC administration had yet to be consolidated, and the many local administrators maintained an equal number of individual websites with an array of search tools. The vast majority were ineffective. We had hoped that consolidation of CFC back-office functions under a central administrator would bring greatly improved search functionality. At the moment, however, that is not the case.
OPM and the GiveBack Foundation (the new central administrator) are scrambling to fix as many of the problems as they can. We certainly wish them well. A flawed search tool is likely to frustrate donors and anger charities. We will be monitoring progress and will keep you posted.
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