Good Housekeeping Introduces First-Ever Humanitarian Seal

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - August 04, 2017) - Good Housekeeping magazine and the Good Housekeeping Institute today introduced the first-ever Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal. Since 1909, the Good Housekeeping Seal has served as a symbol of trust and reliability, and this new emblem was developed to give consumers that same confidence when choosing to support a charitable organization. WE Charity, founded in 1995, is the first non-profit to earn the GH Humanitarian Seal.

With this new emblem, Good Housekeeping is committed to building and amplifying the brand's "Kind Cycle" initiative, launched in 2016 to encourage the magazine's audience of 30+ million to get more involved in giving back locally, nationally and globally-though acts of kindness large and small.

"The GH Humanitarian Seal allows us to raise awareness about the importance of being kind to others, and honor organizations, like WE Charity, that are working tirelessly and selflessly to make a meaningful impact," said Jane Francisco, Good Housekeeping's editor-in-chief. "We also want to give our readers peace of mind that their valuable time, energy and donations are supporting legitimate efforts. GH has vetted these charities so you can trust them."

Engineers and senior-level members of the Good Housekeeping Institute worked with financial and legal experts as well as seasoned consultants in the fields of nonprofit governance, social responsibility and charitable giving to establish criteria for the Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal.

The Good Housekeeping Institute vets the financial health, accountability and transparency of eligible, well-aligned charitable organizations. The experts at the GH Institute will look at not only the administrative and logistical elements, but also the value proposition and mandate of the organization through testimonials and case studies. Their evaluation includes detailed reference checks and assessments of the integrity of the charity's organizational structure and administrative elements.

WE Charity is part of WE, a unique family of organizations that make doing good doable around the world by providing young people and families with the tools and resources to create change through everyday actions. WE Charity empowers domestic and international change with resources that create a sustainable impact. Through a movement of more than 3.4 million people supporting 2,500+ local and global causes, WE has raised $79 million, volunteered 27.6 million hours and collected over 9.8 million pounds of food. Since 1995, WE has provided more than 1 million people with clean water and built 1,000 schools and schoolrooms overseas, giving more than 200,000 children access to education.

"After a rigorous 10-step evaluation process carried out over several months-which included in-depth analysis of WE's financial filings, tax audits, operational structure, programs and global expenses, as well as interviews with key stakeholders-WE met and even surpassed our intense criteria," says Laurie Jennings, director of the Good Housekeeping Institute. "Like other GH Seal stars, we support WE Charity, and feel confident anyone who contributes their time or dollars can trust it will be used in the most meaningful and responsible way. Congrats to founders Marc and Craig Kielburger and CEO Scott Baker and the entire WE Charity team on this outstanding achievement."

"I was impressed by the social entrepreneurism of the charity's leaders, and its dedication to empowering students and communities to be more engaged and seize self-agency," added Rachel Rothman, Good Housekeeping's chief technologist, who oversaw the vetting process.

"It is incredibly humbling to be awarded the Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal and truly an honor to be its first ever recipient," said Craig Kielburger, co-founder of WE. "My brother and I co-founded WE when I was 12 years old and 20 years later, we are proud to have grown into a movement of over 3.4 million young leaders coming together to change the world. On this momentous occasion, we would like to thank all our supporters and extend our sincere gratitude to Good Housekeeping."

As part of WE's yearlong activities, the third-annual WE Day Special will air on August 4, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on CBS. Good Housekeeping is a WE Day Special amplification partner, and the Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal will make its debut in front of millions of Americans. Hosted by Selena Gomez, alongside international activists and WE co-founders, Craig and Marc Kielburger, the special will feature a star-studded lineup of speakers and performers including Alessia Cara with STOMP, Josh Gad, Tyrese Gibson, Alicia Keys, DJ Khaled, Demi Lovato, Mpumi Nobiva, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Statler & Waldorf, Lilly Singh and more. With special appearances by Evan Goldberg, Hannah Simone and Seth Rogen and a special appearance by Oprah Winfrey, the all-star cast will come together to celebrate the WE movement.

All charities that have the Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal will be available for charitable donations and fundraising efforts on the online platform CrowdRise at https://www.crowdrise.com/wecharityus.

For more information on the Good Housekeeping Humanitarian Seal, visit http://www.goodhousekeeping.com.

About Good Housekeeping:

Celebrating 132 years, Good Housekeeping (goodhousekeeping.com) is a leading lifestyle media brand inspiring a monthly audience of 30+ million readers to discover genius innovations, delicious ideas, style-savvy trends, compelling news and best-in-class products for their homes, families and themselves. The Good Housekeeping Institute's state-of-the-art labs combined with Good Housekeeping's seasoned editorial talent is unparalleled. Staffed by top engineers, scientists and technology experts, the GH Institute tests and evaluates thousands of products each year for the magazine, website and for the Good Housekeeping Seal and the Green Good Housekeeping Seal, which are among the most recognized and trusted consumer icons in the world today. Good Housekeeping, which also has five international editions, is published by Hearst Magazines, a unit of Hearst, one of the nation's largest diversified media, information and services companies. With 21 titles in the U.S., Hearst is the leading publisher of monthly magazines in terms of total paid circulation, and reaches 79.5 million readers and 68 million unique site visitors each month (comScore). Follow Good Housekeeping on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and on the Inside the Institute blog.

About WE

WE is a family of organizations making doing good, doable. WE is made up of WE Charity, empowering domestic and international change, ME to WE, a social enterprise that creates socially conscious products and experiences to help support the charity, and WE Day, filling stadiums around the world with the greatest celebration of social good. WE enables youth and families to better the world -- supporting 2,500+ local and global causes by volunteering millions of hours of service, shopping daily with an impact, and raising millions of dollars that directly benefit their local communities and the world. Globally, our teams in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have provided more than 1 million people with clean water, built 1,000 schools and schoolrooms overseas, and empowered more than 200,000 children with access to education. WE was founded more than 20 years ago by social entrepreneurs, brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger. Join the movement today at WE.org.