20(a) Provide the name and full description of the community that the applicant is committing to serve

Prototypical answer:

RESPONSE to (a)
I. Community Name and Description
A .bbb TLD will signify a trusted marketplace on the Internet for consumers, businesses, donors and charities. The name of the community is the “Better Business Bureau” (BBB) and it is comprised of the following affiliated members who are part of a federated Better Business Bureau system of entities that are dedicated to creating marketplace trust through adherence to specified BBB and⁄or BBB Wise Giving Alliance (WGA) promulgated standards and codes. These affiliated BBB entities include the Council of Better Business Bureaus, local Better Business Bureaus, BBB Accredited Businesses, the BBB Wise Giving Alliance and BBB Accredited Charities. A description of each member of the BBB community follows.
Council of Better Business Bureaus

The Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) is the umbrella, nonprofit organization based in Arlington, Virginia, established in 1970, that coordinates the standards and policies for all BBBs and ensures compliance therewith. CBBB is a nonprofit organization as defined under section 501(c)(6) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. CBBB holds the trademarks for the BBB system (which includes the BBB Wise Giving Alliance), promotes the BBB brand and protects the trademarks and copyright materials on behalf of BBBs. CBBB also operates many self-regulatory and dispute resolution programs that serve the mission of promoting trust in the marketplace.
Local Better Business Bureaus
The first Better Business Bureau (BBB) was established in 1912 - 100 years ago. Currently there are 116 Better Business Bureaus throughout North America (U.S. and Canada). They operate independently and are all nonprofit corporations as defined under section 501(c)(6) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. All BBBs promote the same overarching mission of marketplace trust.
The BBBs each have membership and licensing agreements with the CBBB and all are bound to follow detailed operating standards. They evaluate businesses and charities in their service areas against BBB and BBB Wise Giving Alliance standards which are designed to ensure marketplace accountability.
Accredited Businesses
There are approximately 400,000 businesses accredited by the BBBs throughout North America. These accredited businesses (ABs) have successfully completed a robust accreditation process administered by each local BBB and have contractual agreements which require that they abide by the BBB’s Code of Business Practices, which consists of eight primary principles that are designed to create and maintain trust in the marketplace. Accredited businesses license the BBB Accredited Business seal pursuant to an accreditation agreement.
BBB Wise Giving Alliance
The BBB Wise Giving Alliance (BBB WGA) is a U.S. tax-exempt nonprofit charitable organization, as defined under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, which helps donors make informed giving decisions and advances high standards of conduct among global charitable organizations.
The BBB WGA was formed in 2001 through the merger of the National Charities Information Bureau with the Council of Better Business Bureaus’ Foundation. The organization offers over a century of combined experience in charity evaluation. The BBB WGA produces in-depth evaluative reports on national charities based on comprehensive Standards for Charity Accountability and publishes a quarterly magazine, the Wise Giving Guide. National charities that meet the standards can apply to participate in the National Charity Seal program.
The BBB WGA is internationally recognized for its charity accountability standards and is a member of the International Committee on Fund Raising Organizations (ICFO). The ICFO is a trade association of charity monitors from around the world including: France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and Taiwan. The charity monitoring organization in Spain (Fundacion Lealtad) based its charity standards and reporting model on the methods used by the BBB WGA. In addition, representatives from various nations such as China, Japan, Turkey, and Russia have visited the BBB WGA at its Arlington, Virginia offices to learn about its charity standards and reporting activities.
Accredited Charities
Accredited Charities (ACs) are those charitable organizations that have been evaluated by the BBB WGA or their local BBB and found to meet the organization’s twenty (20) Standards for Charity Accountability. Examples of ACs include: American Red Cross, American Cancer Society, AmeriCares, Catholic Relief Services, ChildFund International, Habitat for Humanity International, International Rescue Committee, Lutheran World Relief, National Audubon Society, Nature Conservancy, Ocean Conservancy, Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, The Salvation Army, Save the Children Federation, Surgical Eye Expeditions International, TechnoServe, United States Fund for UNICEF, USO, World Vision, and World Wildlife Fund.
II. Community Structure
The BBB system is an inter-related, complex, federated system with many checks and balances. Each BBB and the CBBB are independently-operated and separately-incorporated nonprofit organizations which together promote the overall mission of marketplace trust.

The BBB WGA is also an independent nonprofit, separately incorporated, which pursues the overall BBB trust mission by reviewing which charitable organizations meet accountability standards. The BBB WGA is a single membership corporation in which CBBB is the sole member. As such, CBBB has authority over the BBB WGA board of directors.
CBBB’s board is elected by a National Assembly consisting of representatives of each BBB and National Partners. National Partners are national and international corporations, like Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Visa, and Verizon that support CBBB’s mission of building trust in the marketplace. The BBBs participate on the CBBB board and have a decisive voice in the various committees of the CBBB board. The BBBs set the policies for the BBB system (along with the CBBB board members which are National Partners). CBBB is charged with ensuring compliance with such policies.

Pursuant to CBBB Bylaws, member BBBs are granted licenses to the CBBB trademarks and seals. They have to adhere to comprehensive operating standards and policies. They are subject to audit and compliance oversight and can lose their membership and ability to operate as a BBB if they fail to meet the system wide rules and policies.
The BBBs and the BBB WGA, in turn, accredit businesses and charities which can license the BBB trademarks and seals so long as they adhere to the BBB and BBB WGA standards.
III. Community Size

There are 116 BBBs which cover all of the U.S. and Canada with the exception of Quebec. There are also approximately 400,000 accredited businesses throughout North America accredited by the BBB system and 1,300 nationally-soliciting charities accredited by the BBB WGA.

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