The Sparo Mark is a third-party validation for a verified method of democratized philanthropy for retailers and other businesses.

Based on a detailed evaluation, The Sparo mark means that the authorized business empowers customers and other stakeholders to guide its giving practices.

Companies that integrate the Sparo CSR platform are automatically assessed to use the mark. Businesses using other democratized giving services may also obtain rights to display the Sparo Mark after a review of their internal processes and the services of their giving partners.

The Sparo Standards

The requirements to obtain the Sparo Mark are as follows: 

• Corporate donation – The business must adopt a process whereby it donates a cash contribution and customers or other stakeholders are enabled to select the cause or charity it goes to.  
• Customer options – In addition, shoppers must also be allowed to give directly to the cause or charity beyond the company’s contribution.    
• Vetted charities – The business will donate only to causes and charities vetted by third parties. These charitable organizations must exclude all known hate-groups (including behavior such as vilifying others because of their race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity) and those that support terrorism.  
• Charity and brand alignment – The cause and charity selections should match the company philosophy and style and not be incongruous with the business operations.
• Charity optimization for real-time events – The business should play an active role in adjusting the charity selection to help in major crises unfolding in the news.  
• Third-party charity payment processing – Charity payments are to be processed and made via a third-party to ensure that the donations go to the charity selected by the customer or stakeholder.
• Charity feedback – The business should obtain and distribute to the stakeholders reports from the related charities regarding the use of the donated funds.
• Tax reporting – The business must complete the tax forms and reports to satisfy all requirements and file them to the state, local and national authorities.

The Sparo Mark Enhances Brand Reputation

Sparo actively promotes the Sparo Mark as a sign of a company with high standards of giving practices that empower the customer. 

• Industry and consumer awareness – Sparo works with traditional consumer and trade media as well as social media influencers to demonstrate the value of democratized philanthropy validated via the Sparo Mark. 
• Thought leadership – Sparo continually delivers webinars, keynotes, white papers, media interviews, and participation at conferences and events to popularize democratized philanthropy as a critical element of brand reputation.
• Charity partnerships – Sparo partners with charities and causes of all sizes for the support of the democratized philanthropy movement represented by the Sparo Mark.
• Sparo partner programs – Sparo actively invites technology, retail, and other businesses across the B2B and B2C ecosystem to partner in the growth of the stakeholder-guided giving represented by the Sparo Mark. 

NGO and Businesses Support

A growing range of businesses, charities, governmental organizations, and others support the mission and use of the Sparo Mark.

Businesses

• Leylie
• Microsoft
• Allpeople.co

Non-Profits/NGOs

• The Hague Agency
• World Central Kitchen
• Save a Child’s Heart

Governments

• Holland (via the Hague Agency and WorldStartups)

Using the Sparo Mark

The easiest way to obtain Sparo Mark is by integrating the Sparo CSR giving platform. Other businesses can apply for the mark and pay a certification fee. In either case, you are ensuring that your company follows the best giving practices to attract new customers, build loyalty and increase sales.