Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How did Pionero Philanthropy start?

Pionero Philanthropy was the idea of its Founder Harriette Rothwell who after more than 15 years of working and studying nonprofits, realized that there was a need for small nonprofits to be championed amongst the noisy and crowded nonprofit sector.

This coupled with a general lack of transparency and visibility of such organizations, inspired Pionero Philanthropy.

Watch About Harriette Here.

Is Pionero Philanthropy a business?

Pionero Philanthropy is a registered 501c3 in the US and a registered Asociación in Guatemala.
Please see here to see our legal documents

How is Pionero Philanthropy funded?

Pionero Philanthropy is funded by a mix of donors and those who pay for its data and consultancy services. We believe that a hybrid funding model helps to make the organization more sustainable.

To read more about our financials please click here

I want to donate to a nonprofit organization, can you help with that?

We sure can. Feel free to book a quick call with us or contact us with more information so we can narrow down what specific services you need from us.

What are your services?

We have 3 broad services:

1. Data Sales

You can purchase data on our website according to search criteria on the Guatemalan nonprofit sector. We can also make bespoke data reports according to more specific requirements if needed.

2. Fiscal Sponsorship

You can make a tax-deductible donation and support a member Guatemalan registered nonprofit through donating through Pionero Philanthropy’s 501c3 entity.

3. Consultancy 

Being on the ground experts, Pionero can act as advisers, go betweens, connectors, and partnership builders on behalf of donors who are seeking meaningful collaborations with local nonprofit organizations.

How do you collect your Information?

Pionero Philanthropy collects its data in a variety of ways from various official sources.

The demographic data is collected from official Government and globally recognized sources and collated and organized in a clean, accessible manner.

The Nonprofit information is collected from official government sources in addition to the nonprofit itself inserting key information which is then verified by Pionero Philanthropy staff using field site visits and background research.

We use a mixture of staff and volunteers in Guatemala and Internationally to collect and verify our information.

How often do you update and collect information?

The Data we collect is updated all year round by a combination of volunteers, Data staff and University assistance.

Nonprofit member organizations can also update their information at any time but in order to maintain membership they have to update their information every 6 – 12 months.

I would like to speak to someone about a specific data need that I have, what can I do?

Feel free to contact us about any specific requests and we will gladly see if we can assist.

Nonprofit Nonmember Reports

Most of the organizations in our database are what we classify as Non-members. This means that they haven’t completed our evaluation process. This could be for a variety of reasons such as; ineligibility, they are going through the evaluation process, or they haven’t heard of Pionero yet! All these organizations, regardless of their status, have been researched by our data team.

Once purchased, you will receive to your email ONE excel (xls) file with each row containing the information for each nonmember nonprofit. 

Please Note: Although we make every effort to collect all the information below, due to the low online visibility of many organizations we cannot guarantee that each report will be 100% complete. Therefore, the degree of  information detail for each organization will vary.

Please see a sample report here for nonmember nonprofit organizations

The data fields in a non-member report are the following:

Nonprofit Member Reports

Nonprofits that have passed through our evaluation process are considered member nonprofits. This means that they have completed our evaluation process which includes a site visit by our team to verify certain information.

Pionero Philanthropy only recommends member organizations given the comprehensive process that each organization has gone through to become certified.

The information in these reports is a lot more extensive compared to the non-member organization reports.

Once purchased, you will receive to your email a PDF report for each member nonprofit. 

Please see a sample report here for a member nonprofit

Please Note:  Due to nonprofits directly editing many of the sections, the degree of  information detail and the language for each report will vary.

The data fields in a non-member report are the following:

Demographic Indicator Report for all Regions

You can purchase demographic information per indicator for each of the 22 regions of Guatemala. Information Sources are also provided.

This information is collected by volunteers and Data Assistants from official Government Sources.

Once purchased, you will receive an XLS report to your given email

Please see a sample report here for 6 demographic indicators

Regional Demographic Report of all indicators

You can purchase over 100 demographic indicators for your region of choice. Information Sources are also provided.

This information is collected by volunteers and Data Assistants from official Government Sources.

Once purchased, you will receive an XLS report to your given email

Please see a sample report here for 2 regions

Demographic Indicators are:

I want my nonprofit to become a member, is it eligible?

If your organization is deemed eligible according to our criteria you will be able to see that it is eligible on the interactive map by searching the name of the organization and checking it’s status.

If it is eligible, it will be visible on the drop down name menu on the Preliminary Form. From here you can start the membership process with Pionero Philanthropy.

What is Pionero Philanthropy’s Vetting Method?

At Pionero Philanthropy, we incorporate diverse methods of data collection and analysis to provide a more in-depth and culturally competent look at each potential member nonprofit.

Assuming the organization fits our definition of a nonprofit, the vetting and assessment is as follows:

1. Background Eligibility Research

   Pionero Philanthropy’s performs an in-depth online review of each organization including:

   • Website & social media: We review the organization’s website and social media to identify the organizational documents made publicly available by the nonprofit such as Annual Reports, Financial Statements and Board Member information.
   • News: We perform an online search for the nonprofit to review recent updates on the organization, look particularly for any news concerning unethical behavior.
   • Guatecompras: Guatecompras is the Guatemalan government’s online State Contracting and Procurement Information System. We review this database to identify whether or not the nonprofit has contracts with or received money from the Guatemalan Government.
   • Local community data & statistics: We compare the organization’s programming with local indicators of the community where it is located. This information helps us better understand the work each nonprofit is doing and how it relates to the communities they serve.

2. Eligibility

   Eligibility parameters allow us to determine if a nonprofit is Eligible for Membership or Non-Eligible for Membership,  a Member, or a Discontinued Member.

   To be eligible for Membership a nonprofit must:

   • Be registered in Guatemala and/or the United States
   • Have a constitution or bylaws providing legal statutes for operation
   • Meet Pionero Philanthropy’s definition of a nonprofit
   • Meet the nano-large size categorization
   • Have a public presence online with recent activity within a 2-year period
   • Have no proven evidence of illegal, fraudulent, corrupt or unethical activity

3. Preliminary Form

   This form collects basic data on a potential member and is used to determine further eligibility. Information collected include proof of nonprofit status, legal documentation and collection of contact details.

4. Online Evaluation

   Once we are satisfied with the preliminary information collected, we direct the nonprofit to our Evaluation Portal. Here, the nonprofit will complete 50 questions according to our 5 Pillar Evaluation Criteria. We will identify areas that need verification for the site visit.

5. Site Visit

   This in-person observation allows us to verify the data collected online. During this visit, Pionero Philanthropy also performs interviews to review the submitted data and fill in any information gaps.

6. Points Awarded & Continuous Reevaluation

   After the site visit, points, points, seals and awards are granted to the nonprofit. Pionero Philanthropy will re-evaluate members on a continual basis. Upon receiving their first evaluation and familiarizing themselves with the definitions of the pillars, we expect nonprofits to adopt practices which will result in the improvement of future evaluation scores. This encourages nonprofits to improve through the performance of academically supported best practices.

How Does Pionero Philanthropy Define “Nonprofit Organization”?

Each government has different requirements to determine eligibility and legal registration of nonprofit organizations. In the United States, organizations receive 501(c)3 nonprofit status based on a definition provided by the IRS. In Guatemala, organizations receive either Guatemalan Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status or Guatemalan Association status based on definitions provided by the Guatemalan Congress.
In order to create a standard across these contexts, Pionero Philanthropy uses the following definition.

“non-profit organizations are established with the aim of providing public services to communities where they operate, making them as an intermediary between citizens and authorities” Ciucescu, 2009

And that:

• The primary function is the elimination of social problems or the suffering caused by social problems.
• The purpose is to meet public needs, for the common good.
• There is limited political involvement and no advancement of private political interests.
• Faith-based organizations work for social good not for the advancement of their religion.
• The mission must be for public benefit, not organized or operated for the benefit of any private interest.
• Profits must be used for charitable activities, net earnings may not benefit any private shareholder or an individual.

Pionero Philanthropy’s Philosophy Of Nonprofit Evaluation

There are certain things that Pionero Philanthropy wants our member nonprofits to be absolutely sure of. In order to follow the nonprofit value of doing no harm, we have created a philosophy surrounding our 5 Pillar Evaluation system and scores.

No Comparisons

Pionero Philanthropy does not use the 5 Pillar Evaluation score to compare member nonprofit organizations to one another. Pionero Philanthropy understands that nonprofit organizations exist at many different levels of nonprofit management capability and that this is very dependent on a number of circumstances.
We do not expect members to have an immediate score of 100, in fact we expect very few nonprofits to receive a Seal of Excellence at the beginning of our evaluation. Pionero Philanthropy itself does not have a perfect score at this point in time. This is not a tool to compare organizations to one another but to assist in nonprofit management improvements. Organizations with higher ranks will not be treated differently than those without a Seal of Excellence.

No Judgment

Pionero Philanthropy does not judge member organizations based on their 5 Pillar Evaluation score. Pionero Philanthropy is proud of every member nonprofit and feels they are truly noteworthy organizations, as represented by their Partner Seals.

This evaluation system is not created to condone those who do not receive a Seal of Excellence, nor to only recommend donor relationships with nonprofits with a Seal of Excellence. We believe the ranking of Seals will allow donors to see the nonprofit management capabilities that exist in Guatemala and allow donors to assist in capacity building of nonprofits which we promote.

Continuous Re-evaluation

Pionero Philanthropy will re-evaluate members on a continual basis. Upon receiving their first evaluation and familiarizing themselves with the definitions of the pillars, we expect nonprofits to adopt or adapt practices which will result in the improvement of future evaluation scores. This encourages nonprofits to improve through the performance of academically supported best practices.

Public Comment From Member Nonprofits

Pionero Philanthropy wants to provide the opportunity for each member nonprofit to comment on their 5 Pillar Evaluation score. This comment will be left unedited allowing members to provide opinions on the scoring system, insights into their individual scores, hopes for the future improvement of their scores, etc.

I can’t find the organization I work with on your map, help!

In this unlikely situation, please contact us at info@pionerophilanthropy.org with as many legal documents as possible so we can verify your eligibility status.

Membership Parameters

To help us sort through nonprofits and to identify membership status, Pionero Philanthropy has created a system of parameters. These parameters allow us to determine if a nonprofit is either:

• Eligible for Membership
• Non-Eligible for Membership
• A Member
• A Discontinued Member.

These are defined as follows:

Eligible

To be eligible for Membership a nonprofit must:

• Be registered in Guatemala and/or the United States
• Have a constitution or bylaws providing legal statutes for operation
• Meet Pionero Philanthropy’s definition of a nonprofit
• Meet the nano-large size categorization
• Have a public presence online with recent activity within a 2 year period 
• Have no proven evidence of illegal, fraudulent, corrupt or unethical activity

Non-Eligible

• A nonprofit that does not meet the requirements for eligibility is immediately categorized as ineligible. 

• In nonmember reports there will be a reason given for the Ineligibility of the organization. They may be for the following reasons:
  • Insufficient public information – ie no online presence to indicate the organization is operational.
  • Recent activity exceeds parameters (2 years) – ie no online activity for the last 2 years – presumed inactive.
  • Exceeds annual budget limit ($2 million) – nonprofit is deemed too large in budget to be considered for membership
  • Lack of communication (Discontinued Member only)
  • Closed
  • Non-eligible (corruption or other issues)

• Non-eligibility status may be reconsidered in the future. If any nonprofit has doubts about their non-eligibility status, please contact Pionero Philanthropy.

A Member

To form and maintain a membership an eligible nonprofit must:

• Maintain all eligibility requirements
• Complete all preliminary forms, evaluations, and site visits
• Provide all requested documents
• Annually update all information with Pionero Philanthropy
• Have values that align with Pionero Philanthropy
• Maintain good communication with Pionero Philanthropy (ie. timely, honest and respectful)
• Maintain a positive status and reputation within the community

Discontinued Membership

A member may be discontinued if they cannot maintain the membership parameters. Discontinued status may be reconsidered in the future. If any nonprofit has doubts about their discontinued membership status, please contact Pionero Philanthropy.

Can’t find your organization on our eligibility list?

If you can’t find your organization on our eligibility list drop down and you are certain that your fulfill all the eligibility criteria outlined above, please contact us at info@pionerophilanthropy.org and send as many legal registration documents as possible so we can verify your eligibility status.

If satisfied, we will be in touch with further details so you can start the membership process.

I can’t find the organization I work with on your map, help!

In this unlikely situation, please contact us at info@pionerophilanthropy.org with as many legal documents as possible so we can verify your eligibility status.

Our Theme Areas

Pionero Philanthropy categorizes Guatemalan nonprofits into 9 crucial theme areas, based on their missions and work. Pionero allocates up to 3 theme areas per nonprofit organization.

1. EDUCATION – Guatemalans receive an average of 4.28 years of education.
2. HEALTH – Guatemala’s chronic child malnutrition rate is 46.5% for children under 5 years of age, the highest rate in the region, and the 5th highest worldwide.
3. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT – Guatemala’s poverty rate increased from 45.6%  to 47% in 2020
4. YOUTH & CHILDREN – 6.3% of children aged 7-14 years old reported having to work in Guatemala. 3.5% reported combining work with school.
5. WOMEN & GIRLS – 30% of Guatemalan girls are married by the time they are 18, and 6% are married by the age of 15.
6. ANIMAL WELFARE – In 2017, Guatemalan approved the first-ever animal welfare law with the support of the Humane Society International. However, the country continues to experience a lack of enforcement.
7. HUMAN RIGHTS – More than 80% of the indigenous population lives under conditions of multidimensional poverty, meaning they suffer various deprivations associated with poverty such as lack of education, poor health, violence and dangerous living conditions.
8. SECURITY – Guatemala has the 3rd highest rate of femicide worldwide. Historically, Guatemala has been considered one of the most dangerous countries in Central America and the world. This can be attributed to gang-related violence, narco-trafficking activity, and a failing police/ judicial system.
9. ENVIRONMENT – Guatemala is one of the most ecologically diverse countries in the world and is one of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Size Targets of Member Nonprofits

I can’t find the organization I work with on your map, help!

In this unlikely situation, please contact us at info@pionerophilanthropy.org with as many legal documents as possible so we can verify your eligibility status.

How long does the preliminary form take?

This is a relatively simple form and should take between 5 to 10 minutes presuming you have all your legal documents to upload. Click here to access it.

I can’t find the nonprofit I work with on the preliminary form, Help!

What happens once I submit the Preliminary Form?

Once you submit your preliminary application, you will receive an email (those given in the form) saying that we have received it. We will be in touch with you confirming whether we have accepted or rejected it based on your answers.

If accepted, you will receive an additional email with a log in to complete your evaluation online.

If rejected, you will receive an email explaining why we rejected the application and what you can do to rectify the situation.

What is the Evaluation Methodology based on?

Once we’ve collected all necessary data on a potential member nonprofit from our online research, preliminary form, site visit , we perform our 5 Pillar Evaluation.

The 5 Pillar Evaluation is based on 50 academically supported best practices in the five key pillars of nonprofit management: Sustainability, Transparency, Impact, Relevance, and Efficiency. This evaluation process is required for a nonprofit to receive and maintain membership status with Pionero Philanthropy. The 5 Pillar Evaluation utilizes a scoring system to evaluate how our nonprofit members are performing.

Each pillar includes 10 best practices within the field of nonprofit management. Each practice is worth two points, resulting in an individual pillar score out of 20 and a total evaluation score out of 100.

The Evaluation is performed through an online evaluation portal where the nonprofit will need to provide information and evidence for each indicator in each pillar.

Once the evaluation is submitted online, Pionero will then perform a prescoring and allocate preliminary scores and then highlight areas that need verification during the site visit.

The findings and results from the evaluation are used to assist our member nonprofits in improving their management practices, not for comparison purposes or shaming an organization.

How long does it take to complete the Evaluation?

It depends! If your organization is familiar with other evaluation or certification processes you might already have everything you need and it could take you as little as a couple of hours. However, if your organization is fairly new, the tricky part will be to gather all the documents and information you need. That could take a couple of days. But no worries!

What documents do we need?

As you complete the evaluation, you will want to have another tab open with your organization’s website or social media pages, from where you will gather information, and evidence such as pictures and official statements. We will also ask for:

• your organization’s constitution; 
• official registration documents with the IRS (if registered in the U.S.) or the Guatemalan government; 
• financial statements; 
• proof of your programs, 
• strategic plans; 
• as well as other indicators of impact.

It may sound like a lot, but we understand each organization it’s at a different stage of development, you do not have to have every one of these documents to complete the evaluation. Every practice provides a text box where you can state if you are currently in the process of producing said documents.

What if we don’t have a particular document?

At Pionero Philanthropy we understand each organization it’s at a different stage of development, you do not have to have every single document to complete the evaluation. Each practice provides a text box in which you can state if you are currently in the process of producing said documents.

Our organization does not have any of the documents for one of the sections, what can we do?

Try to complete as much as you can by answering all the questions or providing explanations as to why you are missing some documents. We will evaluate your application and contact you to let you know if we can move forward with the in-person visit, or if you should try to gather more information or wait until your organization grows to member up with Pionero.

Is there a minimum score an organization should receive to become members with Pionero Philanthropy?

That’s the beauty of it, absolutely not. As long as your organization fits the eligibility criteria, and finishes the evaluation process, you can member up with Pionero.
You can retake the evaluation to get a better score or aim for the Gold Seal, or earn more Pionero Awards. Click here to learn more about our seals and awards.

We are a very small nonprofit, is it worth doing the evaluation?

Absolutely! Even if you are a small nonprofit but you fit the eligibility criteria, membering with Pionero has great benefits. And as your organization gets bigger, we will update that information in our map and our database.

Is there a time limit for an organization to complete the evaluation?

No time limit, take your time. However, we are unable to call your organization a nonprofit member until you have finished the evaluation process and had the visit.

How many times can we do the evaluation?

After the first evaluation and finalizing our membership, each organization can update their information as often as they like however we ask nonprofit organizations to update their information at least once a year in order to maintain your membership status with Pionero Philanthropy.

Member Seals of Excellence

Once Pionero Philanthropy has completed our 5 Pillar Evaluation and determined a final score for our member nonprofit, we award Seals of Excellence and Awards based on our findings. These are not used for comparison, but rather to motivate the member nonprofit to improve and reward them as they reach their goals.

Member Awards

Awards are Pionero Philanthropy’s way of recognizing nonprofits that have distinguished themselves in important aspects of their organization.

To receive these awards, your organization must score 2 out of 2 in several practices:

What should we expect from the in-person visit?

The purpose of the in-person visit is to get to know all of our member organizations and their personnel. During the visit we will try to verify that all the information you provided during the evaluation is accurate and up-to-date. While we won’t go through the entire evaluation again, we will choose a few practices at random to verify during the visit. The visit won’t be a surprise. Once you complete the evaluation, we will contact you and try to schedule the visit, and give you more information so that you are prepared.

Our organization does not have offices, how can we do the in-person visit?

No problem! We can do the in-person visit in one of the locations where you conduct your programs.

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I want to volunteer for a nonprofit, can you help me?

We don’t assist, link or place volunteers with nonprofits other than Pionero Philanthropy itself however if you are interested in volunteering, we recommend that you connect with Buena Onda.

Buena Onda will guide you through the entire volunteering process and place you with some outstanding nonprofits in Guatemala.

I forgot my username and password, how do I recover my application?

On the sign in page click on Forgot my password, and we will send you an email with new login credentials.