Why This Is Important
Since its inception in 2009, Global Citizen has leveraged the power of artists, governments, corporations, NGO partners, philanthropists, and civil society to achieve one common goal: ending extreme poverty. In the last decade, Global Citizen's efforts have led to over $35.4 billion being distributed to our partners around the world, impacting 1.09 billion lives in the fight to end extreme poverty.
We are dedicated to tracking the delivery and impact of each commitment pledged on our stage and platform. By holding commitment makers accountable, we create trust in our activism and advocacy model, as well as legitimacy for our mission, calls to action, and campaigning.
This process underpins the organization’s core campaigning and is fundamental to building and sustaining support for structural impact at the policy level by calling out world leaders and holding them accountable to adhere to their policy and financial commitments.
Each commitment meets strict criteria backed by strong campaign evidence on the role that Global Citizen played with its partners to mobilize the commitment. Additionally, the financial value or policy commitment can be externally verified (outside of Global Citizen platforms) and Global Citizen has received third-party validation from the commitment maker and/or its partners, saying that Global Citizens' actions made a difference in the commitment being made.
Our Due Diligence Process and Why It Matters
Global Citizen conducts due diligence on all policy and financial commitments made on our stage and/or platform by governments, corporates, philanthropists, and foundations.
By conducting due diligence, we can ensure all commitments primarily contribute to ending extreme poverty and meet the Sustainable Development Goals and beyond to address the most pressing global issues, and generate meaningful and lasting impact for beneficiaries.
Our Due Diligence Requirements
For a commitment to be featured on Global Citizen’s stage and/or platform, it needs to meet the following criteria:
Financial Commitments
- Commitment needs to be publicly announced for the first time on the Global Citizen stage and/or as part of a partner supported campaign.
Note: Confirmation of the pledge via domestic legislative/budgetary approval procedures is exempted from this so long as the amount has not already been counted as part of any other public pledging moment and/or campaign.
Financial commitments need to be specifically allocated to address the campaign purposes with a clear timetable for delivery.
Commitment makers need to answer a set of due diligence questions, provided by Global Citizen, ahead of the commitment’s announcement to demonstrate feasibility.
Commitment makers need to provide external verification of the commitment within 15 days of the commitment’s announcement.
For corporate partner commitments, our partners need to provide acknowledgement and confirmation of Global Citizen’s accountability process to the Global Citizen Impact team. Commitment makers need to provide a confirmation of Global Citizen’s role in mobilizing the commitment (a video or in person statement thanking Global Citizen, a formal letter, or email exchange).
With respect to government commitments, a third party, commitment maker, beneficiary or partner organization must provide a confirmation of Global Citizen’s role in helping to mobilize the commitment (a video or in person statement thanking Global Citizen, a formal letter, or email exchange, quote etc)
Policy Commitments
Commitment need to be announced for the first time on the Global Citizen stage and/or platform.
Note: Confirmation of the pledge via domestic legislative/budgetary approval procedures is exempted from this so long as the pledge has not already been counted as part of any other public pledging moment and/or campaign.
Policy commitments need to be quantifiable. For further details, please see the “Tracking Impact” portion of the “Accountability” section below.
Commitment makers need to answer a set of due diligence questions, provided by Global Citizen, ahead of the commitment’s announcement to demonstrate feasibility.
Commitment makers need to provide external verification of the commitment within 15 days of the commitment’s announcement.
Commitment makers need to confirm the acknowledgement of Global Citizen’s accountability process. For further details, please see the “Accountability” section below.
Commitment makers need to provide a confirmation of Global Citizen’s role in mobilizing the commitment (a video or in person statement thanking Global Citizen, a formal letter or email exchange).
With respect to government commitments, a third party, commitment maker, beneficiary or partner organization must provide a confirmation of Global Citizen’s role in helping to mobilize the commitment (a video or in person statement thanking Global Citizen, a formal letter, or email exchange, quote etc)
Our Accountability Process and Why It Matters
Global Citizen tracks the delivery of all policy and financial commitments made on our stage and/or platform by governments, corporates, philanthropists, and foundations.
By holding commitment makers accountable, we create trust in our activism and advocacy model, and legitimacy for our mission, calls-to-action, and campaigning.
Our Accountability Requirements
For a commitment to be featured on Global Citizen’s stage and/or platform, commitment makers need to agree to the following accountability process:
Commitment Delivery and Disbursement
Commitment makers will provide Global Citizen with a schedule for (i) when the funds will be disbursed for financial commitments, or (ii) when a policy will be enacted for policy commitments. Commitment makers need to additionally note whether the commitment will be fulfilled all at once or in tranches. This will be part of the due diligence questions sent over by Global Citizen (referenced above), which need to be answered ahead of the commitment’s announcement.
Global Citizen will follow up with the commitment maker, according to the provided schedule, to ensure the commitment has been fulfilled.
If applicable, Global Citizen will then follow up with the beneficiary organization(s), according to the provided schedule, to ensure the commitment has been fulfilled.
If the commitment will be fulfilled in tranches, Global Citizen will follow up with both the commitment maker and the beneficiary organization until the commitment has been delivered in full.
How We Celebrate Our Partners
Global Citizen recognizes the convening power our large scale events have in and of themselves. They can serve as useful platforms for our partners to leverage and amplify new commitments brought about through their own existing, surrounding efforts that GC is happy to applaud and welcome on our stage. Such partner-led commitments represent important work by partners that align with the policy goals of the event. For inclusion in the impact tally of a particular event, it must be the first time a partner commitment has been announced on a public platform. As is true of all commitments announced on our stage, these commitments are subject to our impact and accountability processes.
Tracking Impact
For commitments, Global Citizen requires commitment makers to track their impact. Commitment makers should have (i) quantifiable impact metrics (e.g., number of community health care workers trained), (ii) a sound methodology for calculating these metrics (i.e., the underlying calculations and assumptions behind each metric), and (iii) the benchmarks they hope to achieve by a certain date (e.g., 100,000 community health care workers trained by January 2021). Global Citizen will work with commitment makers to develop impact metrics and methodologies if none are in place.
For financial commitments to beneficiary organizations, Global Citizen will reach out to beneficiary organizations to collect impact metrics (e.g., number of vaccines delivered). Global Citizen will work with beneficiary organizations to develop impact metrics and methodologies if none are in place.
To learn more about Global Citizen’s impact, please visit our Impact page.