Main ce:Queens House 55-56 Lincoln’s Inn Fields London, WC2A 3LJ

Tel: +44 (0)20 7269 6549 Fax: +44 (0)870 112 3846

e-mail: info@guidestarinterna onal.org www.guidestarinterna onal.org

Charity number 1114615 Company number 5594889

GuideStar Interna onal has its roots in the United States

where its Chief Execu ve, Buzz Schmidt, founded the

rst GuideStar service in 1994. By 2000 GuideStar (www.

guidestar.org) had established itself as an essen al resource

for American philanthropy and nonpro t prac ce and the

leading source of informa on about American nonpro ts.

GuideStar UK (www.guidestar.org.uk) was launched in 2005.

It is the rst place to look for comprehensive informa on

about every charity in England and Wales. In response to

growing global interest in the GuideStar model, GuideStar

Interna onal was established in 2004 and today supports the

development of GuideStar services in countries worldwide.

Making connec ons, Building successSuppo ng Community on and Philanthropy across the

World

CSOs provide individuals and communi es the

means to meet challenges, express their aspira ons

and make posi ve and las ng changes to the

quality of their own and other peoples’ lives. These

organisa ons enable immeasurable improvement

in the daily lives of people, have a major impact

upon public knowledge and policy and, arguably,

underpin healthy socie es throughout the world.

Civil society, already a huge and dynamic sector, is

growing with unprecedented speed.

What CSOs operate in each community,

country and region of the world?

What work do they do and how?

Which CSOs do the best job of repor ng their

goals, accomplishments, needs?

How can socie es’ resources be allocated

most e ec vely?

How can informa on on civil society be used

to inform be er policy?

What kind of work is being done by CSOs in

di erent regions?

What ac vi es are underrepresented or

overrepresented in each community or

country?

These are just a few of the ques ons that GuideStar

services are designed to answer.

GuideStar Interna onal seeks to revolu onise philanthropy and nonpro t prac ce through

informa on.

GuideStar Interna onal (GSI) works with leaders of civil

society throughout the world to build a network of na onal

online “GuideStar” services that report the aims, ac vi es,

accomplishments and nances of each country’s civil society

organisa ons (CSOs)1.

GuideStar Interna onal’s work is premised upon the belief

that every na onal society gains from a diverse popula on of

innova ve, energe c, well-resourced and responsive CSOs.

We further believe that transparency achieved through the

provision of clear and thorough reports about each CSO at a free

public website is vital for a strong and successful civil society.

These convic ons form the basis for, and heart of, the GuideStar

proposi on. GuideStar services are used extensively by grant-

makers, individual donors, researchers, trustees, policy makers,

the media, general public, and the CSOs themselves to make

decisions, allocate resources and otherwise pursue their work on

behalf of society more con dently and e ec vely.

“We believe that every national society gains from

a diverse population of innovative, energetic, well-resourced and responsive

CSOs.”

1 Through these private organisa ons, variously known as NGOs, CBOs, chari es, nonpro ts, etc., ci zens combine to pursue and promote a broad range of ini a ves for the public good.

Providing e en a in or a on a o civi ocie organi a onGuideStar Interna onal operates six principal programmes:

Emerging G ide ars Ini ates and supports the development of GuideStar services throughout the world. Working with na onal and regional partners, GSI helps to assemble the opera ng data, nancial, human and governance resources and rela onships necessary to support sustainable na onal GuideStars.

G ide ar ianceIs the associa on of na onal GuideStar services. GSI facilitates communica on among na onal GuideStars; promotes best opera ng prac ces, enables collabora ve interna onal or interregional opera ng ac vity, and protects the value and integrity of the GuideStar brand interna onally for the bene t of all alliance partners.

G ide ar UKOperates the free public website that serves England and Wales. With comprehensive, up-to-date, self-generated reports on the ac vi es, nances and ins tu onal a ributes of 170,000 chari es, GuideStar UK o ers a valuable model to help support development of new na onal services.

G ide ar Common Tec no og P a orm (CTP)Provides the exible, state-of-the-art, technology pla orm needed to develop and operate na onal GuideStar services. The CTP eliminates development expenditure and risk for new GuideStar services, provides na onal services with a low-cost, high-quality ongoing opera ng system, enables the e cient sharing of new ideas and solu ons from around the world by all partners, and will support the development of GuideStar Global.

G ide ar G o aWill combine access to informa on about CSOs from each na onal GuideStar service in one common web portal. The GuideStar Global site will allow users to view search results from every na onal service, and then navigate to the relevant na onal website to view the full report about an organisa on of interest.

G ide ar Da a ServicesIs a UK-registered Community Interest Company that builds innova ve web applica ons and services making GuideStar UK data increasingly vital and valuable for professionals and ins tu ons that work with and for civil society.

We believe that the public provision of clear and

thorough information about CSOs is vital for a strong,

successful civil society.

“GuideStar International is producing the essential raw material for serious research on the nonprofit

or voluntary sector. If successful, the data it

generates will revolutionise the third sector research enterprise in addition

to bringing greater transparency to the world

of philanthropy and voluntary sector activity.”

Lester M. Salamon, Director, Centre for Civil Society Studies, Ins tute

for Policy Studies, Johns Hopkins University