Music and mental health nonprofit HeartSupport earns accreditation with the Better Business Bureau

HeartSupport, the music and mental health nonprofit founded by August Burns Red frontman Jake Luhrs, has just received formal accreditation with the Better Business Bureau — signifying an organization that operates within the highest caliber of ethics.

The formal recognition marks a milestone for the organization, which had its most successful year yet in 2024 following a major restructuring.

“When we restarted our whole organization in 2023 and returned to our initial mission, part of that was taking an earnest look in the mirror and asking, ‘Where are our holes? Where are we weak? How can we improve?’” shares Executive Director Nate Hilpert. “Donor critiques were actually a huge guidepost for us, and the board brought up the need to address our credibility.”

Hilpert had already examined the list of requirements for BBB Charity accreditation as far back as 2019. The 2023 restructuring was the perfect moment to revisit those standards. 

“It was a huge overhaul,” Hilpert admits. “I took meetings with multiple board members who poked holes in our HR procedures, our terms of service and data privacy, our cause marketing, our conflicts of interest, our bylaws, our labor classification and our payroll systems. We rebuilt our entire organization under the hood, all according to best practices. We were guided by the goal of becoming one of the most trustworthy charities for donors to invest in the mental health of the music scene. This mile marker is a significant, full board, full organization commitment to excellence.”

That excellence took the form of meeting a list of 20 exacting standards. HeartSupport now fully meets those standards, positioning itself as one of the most trustworthy nonprofit organizations in the country. The standards cover everything from board structure to donor privacy to program reporting. HeartSupport can now be found on BBB’s give.org directory.

The accreditation comes as HeartSupport continues another growth year, meeting 44.8% of their annual goals to date. The organization is currently raising funds for successful on-the-ground deployment at 12 major music festivals this summer. You can learn more about their community-led work to heal the scene at heartsupport.com.