On Thursday, 28 May, Harmienke Kloeze, executive director of CBF Toezicht op Goeddoen, was appointed Chair of Charity Monitoring Worldwide (CWM). She succeeds Ana Benavides, who led the board of the international network of charity watchdogs for the past six years. Kloeze: “Now is the time to deepen our collaboration and make even better use of our collective strength.”
Every year, the members of Charity Monitoring Worldwide gather for the annual board meeting and to exchange knowledge. This year, CBF hosted the event and organized an interesting programme in Amsterdam. Professor of Philanthropy René Bekkers (VU University Amsterdam) spoke about trust in charities in the digital age, while Dr. Lau Schulpen (Radboud University) shared his views on government cuts to subsidies and the consequences this has for charity watchdogs.
Working together
On Thursday, the board convened and elected a new chair. Harmienke Kloeze, executive director of CBF, took over the chairmanship from Ana Benavides, who also serves as director of the Spanish organization Fundación Lealtad, which accredits NGOs and provides training in management, governance and transparency.
Kloeze has served on the board of CWM since 2021. How does she see the coming four years as chair?
“As a network, CWM is on solid footing,” says Kloeze. “Now is the time to deepen our collaboration and make even better use of our collective strength. In a time of polarization, disinformation and distrust, our data and oversight can help distinguish fact from fiction when it comes to charities. I am convinced that the sector benefits when policymakers — both nationally and internationally — as well as donors, gain a clearer understanding of the sector. As chair of CWM, I hope to play a constructive role in this.”
Laying the groundwork
Ana Benavides served on the board for eight years, six of them as chair. She is grateful for the trust the members placed in her.
“But also for the work that has been done within the board,” she says. “CWM has no staff. As board members, we do most of the work ourselves. I am proud that over the past years we have laid a solid foundation for the organization. Structures have been put in place and we formulated criteria for CWM membership. This internal work is not visible from the outside, but that does not make it any less important. It enables the organization to now take the next steps.”
“A great deal of preparatory work was carried out under Ana,” Kloeze says of her predecessor. “A new name was introduced that better reflects what the organization stands for, and the doors were cautiously opened to ‘friends’. These are members who do not yet follow all the principles required of full members. But they can still join and participate in a number of activities. Ana also launched e-learning programmes for members. It is now up to me to continue the process she started. I am very much looking forward to it.”
Strengthening public trust
Charity Monitoring Worldwide was founded in 1958 — then still under the name International Committee of Fundraising Organizations (ICFO) — and has fourteen full members and five supporting members across nineteen countries. Together, these organizations oversee nearly seven thousand nonprofit organizations and a total of €99 billion in charitable donations. CWM is committed to a transparent sector, global cooperation among charity regulators, and the further professionalization of oversight in the charitable sector. All of this is aimed at strengthening public trust in charitable giving.
