Anyone spending money wants to ensure it is well invested. This applies particularly to donations. However, this is precisely where uncertainty is often high, as the state exercises only minimal control. It is therefore left to the aid organisations themselves to demonstrate their integrity and trustworthiness.
The donor advisory service of the Deutsches Zentralinstitut für soziale Fragen DZI bridges this gap in trust as a recognised auditing body that independently and competently evaluates the business practices of aid organisations. Any organisation awarded the donation seal by the DZI has proven in a detailed audit that "all is well": independence from external influence and the use of donations in accordance with the statutes for the designated cause.
ElasmOcean has undergone this audit - and has now been awarded the DZI-Spendensiegel.
We have taken precautions within the association to ensure we always act objectively and in compliance with our statutes, resisting external personal or institutional influences so that we always proceed according to our chosen constitution, spreading marine protection through knowledge. In doing so, we allocate the largest share of donations and sponsor contributions to our programme work, and do not waste funds on aggressive marketing or blanket mailing campaigns, practices we are familiar with and reject in other organisations. Indeed, we are exceptionally consistent in this regard: we do not even provide salaries or expense allowances to our board members, advisory board members, and speakers; at our organisation, everyone works purely on a voluntary basis, at their own expense, donating their time.
The DZI has certified these criteria through its audit and the award of the seal. We will undergo an annual audit in future to verify and confirm that this remains the case.
Because: we are the only organization dedicated exclusively to marine conservation that holds the DZI-Spendensiegel. And we are, quite unassumingly, a little proud of that.
Marine protection through knowledge. ElasmOcean.
