Without arguing for or against the merit of quality control standards in our society (and how they are everywhere), let us say that Hands On Twin Cities is an official nonprofit and that we submit to the official judgement of the recognized authorities so the volunteer (and potential donor) may be assured that we are legit, that we actually do what we say we do (i.e. promote and facilitate volunteerism and volunteer activities), and that we don't have a secret account in the Cayman Islands where we are hiding embezzled funds.

So, we announce with great pride that we at Hands On Twin Cities have earned the Charities Review Council "Meets All Standards" Seal.

The Charities Review Council of Minnesota is a 60-year-old watchdog organization that exists to educate the citizenry and hold charities and nonprofits accountable for the money they recieve from sponsors and donors. There are tons of scam artists out there, and many of them masquerade as charitable organizations to pull your heartstrings and get access to your wallet. The Charities Review Council recognizes Minnesotans' desire to help people in need, and provides a user-friendly website to help donors make informed desicions.

The CRC website also has tons of other cool features, including a listing of organizations that accept donated goods. You can search by the kind of goods you have to donate (there must be someone who could use that old car), by which organizations will come and pick up your donations (because that old car is totally dead), or by what the organizations will do with your donation (but the parts could fetch some cash).

In fact, just by using this old dead car example (we're picturing a '74 Buick), the CRC website helped us locate 24 Minnesota Charities that sell donated cars to raise funds, 14 of which will come and pick it up! This website is awesome.

Kinda makes us wish we had a '74 Buick to donate for charitable sale. Do you?