Centraal Bureau Fondsenwerving

What Centraal Bureau Fondsenwerving does

Centraal Bureau Fondsenwerving (CBF) is the independent Dutch supervisor of charitable organizations, founded in 1925 and headquartered at Anthony Fokkerweg 1 in Amsterdam. The organization assesses charities against quality norms set by the external Commissie Normstelling and awards the CBF-Erkenning (CBF-keurmerk), a certification mark that signals to donors, municipalities, and institutional funders that a charity meets standards in governance, finances, transparency, fundraising, and accountability. As of mid-2024, CBF supervised 700+ certified charities collectively representing €5.8 billion in revenues. CBF itself is accredited by the Raad voor Accreditatie (RvA, registration C-130) and is a member of Charity Monitoring Worldwide (CMW).

The product portfolio is built around the certification regime. Core technology assets include the CBF-Register (a searchable online database of certified charities), the CBF-paspoort (a standardized, validated profile for each certified organization), the CBF-Doneerwijzer (a public web application launched September 2024 that guides donors through 3–5 questions to find matching charities across 8 sectors), the CBF-kennisbank (a data platform serving professional funders such as wealth foundations, lotteries, and philanthropy advisors), and the annual State of the Sector publication. R&D is underway to introduce automated machine reading of charity annual reports to shorten publication cycles. CBF is also piloting supervision of donation platforms, extending its oversight beyond traditional charities into digital fundraising infrastructure.

Revenue is generated primarily through tiered CBF-Erkenning certification fees scaled across categories A through E based on a charity's annual revenues (from under €50K to €7.5M+), with the full schedule published on cbf.nl. A secondary revenue stream comes from CBF-kennisbank data services sold to professional funders via direct relationships managed by senior auditors. The go-to-market combines a self-service digital surface for public-facing tools with a direct, advisory-led sales motion for certifications and knowledge-bank engagements. Key customer segments are charitable organizations across eight verticals (international aid, health, welfare, environment, animal welfare, arts, education, religion), individual donors, Dutch municipalities, and institutional funders.

Name

Centraal Bureau Fondsenwerving

Legal name

Centraal Bureau Fondsenwerving

Website

https://cbf.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1925

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Centraal Bureau Fondsenwerving (CBF) is the independent Dutch charity supervisor founded in 1925, accredited by the Raad voor Accreditatie, that certifies charitable organizations through the CBF-Erkenning (CBF-keurmerk) and operates the public CBF-Register of 700+ certified charities, serving donors, municipalities, and institutional funders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charity Supervision and Certification

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

akta.pro primary industry

Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning (MEL) & Reporting for Donor Programs (BPADAOAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Financial Risk, Controls & Audit (Public Sector) (BPAIAEAH), Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Sponsors (BPAGAKAF)

Keywords

• Charity supervision
• Nonprofit certification
• Charitable giving
• Donor confidence
• Quality assurance

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. CBF-Erkenning certification fees: CBF charges organizations fees for the CBF-Erkenning (certification) process. Organizations applying for or holding the CBF-keurmerk pay a fee covering the cost of assessment, auditing, and ongoing supervision. The exact fee structure (tarieven) is published on cbf.nl under 'Tarieven CBF-Erkenning'. This is the primary revenue stream supporting CBF's operations as an independent supervisory body.
2. Knowledge bank and data services: CBF offers data products and services to professional audiences (wealth foundations, impact investors, grantmakers, charities) through its knowledge bank (CBF-kennisbank). These include customized datasets on certifications, governance, revenues, and expenditures of certified charities. The data supports informed giving decisions by institutional funders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CBF is the independent Dutch charity regulator that assesses charitable organizations against norms set by the independent Commissie Normstelling and awards the CBF-Erkenning (CBF-keurmerk) quality certification. Its core output is a portfolio of public-facing transparency tools — the CBF-Register (searchable database of 700+ certified charities), per-organization CBF-paspoort profiles, the CBF-Doneerwijzer donor-matching wizard, the CBF-kennisbank data resource, and the Geef Gerust donor-verification checklist — that together create a closed-loop trust ecosystem for individual donors, institutional funders, municipalities, and certified charities in the Netherlands.

Product overview

Centraal Bureau Fondsenwerving (CBF) is the independent Dutch supervisor for charities, operating as a single unified offering centered on the CBF-Erkenning (CBF Certification Mark). The core products include the public CBF-Register — an online searchable database of 700+ certified charities — and individual CBF-paspoorten (certification passports) providing validated financial, governance, and mission data for each organization. Supporting products include the CBF-Doneerwijzer, an interactive web wizard for matching donors to suitable charities; the Geef Gerust Checklist for verifying door-to-door collectors; the CBF-kennisbank (Knowledge Bank) for sector professionals; and the annual State of the Sector publication. Together these products form a closed-loop transparency ecosystem: charities seek certification, are independently assessed, and present their results in standardized public passports that donors can compare via the register and guided doneerwijzer.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CBF-keurmerk: The quality certification mark for recognized charitable organizations in the Netherlands
• CBF-Erkenning
• CBF-paspoort
• CBF-Register
• CBF-Doneerwijzer
• Geef Gerust Checklist
• CBF-Zelfcheck
• CBF-kennisbank

Products and services

• CBF-Erkenning (CBF-keurmerk) The 'CBF Erkend Goed Doel' certification mark for Dutch charities — awarded by CBF after independent assessment against norms set by the Commissie Normstelling — signaling to donors that the charity is operationally sound, transparent, and accountable. Charged as a tiered annual fee by revenue category.
• CBF-Register Public online register showing all charities holding, applying for, or previously holding the CBF-Erkenning, searchable and filterable by sector, target group, and geographic area, with links to each charity's CBF-paspoort.
• CBF-Doneerwijzer Interactive public web wizard that helps individuals identify certified charities matching their values across 8 sectors (Arts & Culture, Nature & Environment, Education & Science, Religion & Worldview, Health, International Aid & Human Rights, Animal Welfare, Social Welfare).
• Geef Gerust Checklist Downloadable practical guide for donors to verify whether a door-to-door collection or fundraising activity is legitimate, covering collector identification, permit checks, behavioural codes, and escalation steps for suspected fraud.
• CBF-kennisbank (Knowledge Bank) Independent data resource for wealth funds, lotteries, and philanthropy professionals, containing validated data on 700+ certified charities — providing the analytical foundation for responsible and efficient institutional giving decisions. Access handled via direct contact with senior auditor Cees Toor.
• State of the Sector Annual analytical publication providing sector-wide insights into Dutch charitable organizations, based on validated data from CBF-certified charities (including the 712-charity CBF universe representing €5.8B in combined revenues).

Quantifiable outcome

• 700 certified charities under supervision as of 2024, a doubling since 2016
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Raad voor Accreditatie (RvA)coreOthersCBF is formally accredited by the Raad voor Accreditatie (RvA) under registration number C-130. The RvA is the Dutch national accreditation body that verifies assessing organizations work competently, impartially, and independently. This accreditation represents the highest formal quality assurance for CBF's supervisory activities and is described as 'a control of the control' — a meta-level validation of CBF's assessment methodology, process monitoring, and improvement culture. Without this accreditation, CBF's certifications would carry significantly less weight.
• Charity Monitoring Worldwide (CMW)minorOthersCBF is a member of Charity Monitoring Worldwide (CMW), an international network of charity monitoring organizations. CMW connects national charity regulators across countries, facilitating knowledge sharing and cross-border credibility for charity quality marks. This membership provides CBF with international visibility and alignment with global charity monitoring standards.
• Dutch municipalities (gemeenten)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCBF maintains formal coordination with all Dutch municipalities for charitable collection scheduling. Municipalities collectively agree to CBF's national collection framework (wervingsrooster/collecterooster), allowing certified charities to fundraise door-to-door across municipalities. This partnership began in 1925 when CBF was founded and remains the organizational foundation. Municipalities also benefit from the CBF-Erkenning as a pre-verified quality signal for subsidy decisions, reducing their administrative burden and risk.
• Commissie Normstelling (Standards Committee)coreOthersThe Commissie Normstelling is an independent committee that sets the quality norms (erkenningsnormen) against which CBF assesses charities. CBF does not set its own standards — the standards are externally determined by this independent body, ensuring that the CBF-Erkenning reflects sector-agreed quality criteria rather than CBF's own preferences. This independence is a key source of legitimacy for the CBF quality mark.
• Vermogensfondsen, Impact investors, Subsidiegevers, LoterijencoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCBF maintains direct relationships with vermogensfondsen (wealth foundations), impact investors, subsidy-granting bodies, and Dutch lotteries through its knowledge bank and senior auditor advisory function. These institutional funders use CBF-certified charity data as a basis for their funding decisions, effectively amplifying the reach of the CBF quality mark and creating a ecosystem where the CBF-Erkenning is a prerequisite or strong preference for institutional funding.
• ABN AMRO MeesPiersonminorOthersABN AMRO MeesPierson conducted research showing that people are less likely to give when they doubt whether their donation money is well spent. This research validates the value proposition of the CBF-Erkenning — that independent quality certification increases donor confidence and giving behavior.
• Radboud Universiteit (Knowledge partner)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Lau Schulpen of Radboud Universiteit is cited as a user and supporter of the CBF knowledge bank, stating 'Het CBF zit op een schat aan informatie – het is doodzonde als je daar niets mee doet' (CBF has a treasure of information — it's a sin if you don't use it). Radboud Universiteit also collaborated with CBF during the COVID-19 pandemic to develop guidance for individuals starting charitable initiatives.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• GreatNonprofits: Peer-review platform for nonprofits, collecting donor and beneficiary reviews to complement traditional ratings. Represents the digital-native, community-driven evaluation model that could disrupt traditional charity assessors like CBF.
• ImpactMatters: Nonprofit effectiveness evaluator focused on impact measurement rather than financial accountability. An emerging competitor whose analytical approach could complement or substitute for traditional charity ratings.

Direct peers

• Charity Navigator: Largest US charity rating organization, evaluating nonprofits on financial health, accountability, and transparency. Most directly comparable to CBF in mission and product — providing donors with independent assessments of charity quality.
• BBB Wise Giving Alliance (Give.org): US charity accreditation body that evaluates charities against 20 standards of accountability. Operates a parallel model to CBF's Erkenningsregeling — independent assessment-based certification rather than simple ratings.
• CharityWatch: US charity watchdog providing independent ratings and analyst reports on nonprofit financial efficiency. Comparable to CBF's quality assessment and public-facing reporting function.
• Candid (formerly GuideStar + Foundation Center): US-based nonprofit information service formed from the merger of GuideStar and the Foundation Center. Provides comprehensive nonprofit data, transparency tools, and research for the philanthropic sector — directly analogous to CBF's register, paspoort, and knowledge bank offerings.

Regional players

• Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC): Australian national charity regulator handling registration, reporting standards, and compliance oversight. A peer regulator in a different geography with overlapping mission and tools to CBF.
• Stifterverband: German association for philanthropy that supports foundations and donators through data, research, and advisory. Comparable to CBF's institutional funder and knowledge bank services, with regional focus on Germany.
• Deutsches Zentralinstitut für soziale Fragen (DZI): German central institute for social issues that issues the DZI Spenden-Siegel (donation seal) — a quality mark for charitable organizations in Germany. The closest geographic peer to CBF in continental Europe with a comparable certification model.

Broad incumbents

• Charity Commission for England and Wales: Statutory UK regulator of charities, performing registration, compliance oversight, and public inquiry. A broader public-sector incumbent in the same regulatory space as CBF, though operating under government authority rather than as an independent body.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cbf_nl
• Facebookfacebook.com/ToezichthouderCBF
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cbftoezichtopgoeddoen

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Centraal Bureau Fondsenwerving