Criteria for Listed Organizations

I. Objective and Mission of DOD Community and Public Outreach

• To connect communities to their military to preserve the all-volunteer force, supporting our military throughout all phases of service and building public awareness/support of the military and its mission.
• To foster public awareness and understanding of Department of Defense missions, personnel, facilities, equipment and programs through community outreach opportunities and activities.
• To educate external stakeholders on the state of our military and our military families.

II. Policy

• No product endorsements or preferential treatment is given to any organization, agency or program that is listed on the Community Resource website.
• No payment of any kind is accepted in exchange for inclusion on the Community Resource website.
• DOD Community and Public Outreach has standardized criteria for organizations. agencies and programs to be listed as Community Resources These criteria reinforce the intent to connect communities to their military.
• Criteria for organizations to be listed as Community Resources include:
  • Tax exempt status as recognized by the IRS;
  • Non-partisanship;
  • Favorable vetting by at least two charity evaluators such as the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator, Guidestar, or a similar independent charity evaluator, or being be part of the Combined Federal Campaign and also have been vetted by at least one other independent evaluator;
  • No representations as being part of or endorsed by the DOD;
  • No improper use or abuse of personally identifiable information;
  • No publicity inconsistent with the mission of DOD or the DOD Office of Community and Public Outreach;
  • Does not exhibit hate, bias, or discrimination on the basis of age, gender, race, or disability, and
  • Are not on the State Department's list of Foreign Terror Organizations
• The DOD Office of Community and Public Outreach reserves the right to deny or remove an organization from Community Resource for any reason, including when organizations:
  • Provide misleading information or unsubstantiated claims;
  • Conflict with the DOD Office of Community and Public Outreach mission and objectives, or violate any of its policies; or
  • Do not conform to the criteria used to list organizations on the Community Resource page, including the above criteria.

A Few Independent Evaluators

Combined Federal Campaign is managed by the Office of Personnel Management. With established regulations. this organization provides a means for nonprofit organizations that meet the criteria to be included in the CFC list that federal civilian, postal and military donors use to support eligible nonprofit organizations providing health and human service benefits throughout the world. CFC charities are reviewed annually for evidence that they are providing services on a local, state, national or international level. They also review for public and financial accountability. CFC charitable organizations are required to disclose to federal donors the percentage of funds spent on administrative and fundraising expenses.

The Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance has a century of experience in reporting on charities. Its charge is to help people make informed decisions about charities and to advance high standards of conduct among organizations that solicit contributions from the public. The BBB Wise Giving Alliance provides information on national charities based on comprehensive Standards for Charity Accountability that address charity governance, finances, fundraising, donor privacy, and other issues. The Alliance produces reports that specify whether or not a charity meets its 20 BBB charity standards. The Alliance does not rank charities.

Charity Navigator is a nonprofit organization that has evaluated the financial health of over 5,400 of America's largest charities. Specifically, Charity Navigator's rating system examines (1) how responsibly a group functions day to day, and (2) how well positioned it is to sustain its programs over time. Each charity is awarded an overall rating, ranging from zero to four stars. The website also offers free tools and features to help people make informed choices about the charities they choose.

GUIDESTAR gathers and publicizes information about nonprofit organizations across the globe. The GuideStar Web site provides information on programs and finances of more than 1.8 million Internal Revenue Service-recognized nonprofits.