Charity Ratings: Donate to a Good Charity, Not Just to a Good Cause

Charity ratings from Charity Watchdog groups can help you tell the difference between good charities and bad charities. For every dollar you donate, very good charities will use 80 cents or more towards their charitable purpose, while the rest of your donation pays for fundraising costs, administrative expenses, and management salaries. On the other hand, for every dollar donated to a bad charity, as little as 40 cents (or worse) will go towards the philanthropic purpose.

(PRWEB) May 21, 2006 -- Not all charities are managed well. Charity ratings from Charity Watchdog groups can help determine the difference between good charities and bad charities.

You can check charity ratings at http://charityguide.org/volunteer/charityratings.htm

For every dollar you donate, very good charities will use 80 cents or more towards their charitable purpose, while the rest of your donation pays for fundraising costs, administrative expenses, and management salaries.

On the other hand, for every dollar donated to a bad charity, as little as 40 cents (or worse) will go towards the charitable purpose. The rest of your donation will pay for a poorly managed or inefficient bureaucracy, perhaps with the involvement of too many for-profit middlemen in the fundraising efforts.

To get the biggest bang for your charitable buck, be careful to donate to a good charity, not just to a good cause.

The American Institute of Philanthropy provides a watchdog service to help donors understand how well their money is being spent. This watchdog service uses ratings criteria to evaluate nationally prominent charities.

Generally, top-rated charities openly share audited financial statements and income tax forms, spend less than $25 to raise $100, and allocate at least 75% of money raised towards charitable programs (not fundraising and general administration)

Second Opinion

The Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance provides ratings of over 600 charities, based on evaluation criteria that differ from those used by The American Institute of Philanthropy.

Do-It-Yourself Research

For information on charities not tracked by a watchdog service, consult GuideStar's directory of more than 640,000 nonprofit organizations. Data for each American charity is derived from IRS Form 990 or IRS Form 990EZ, an annual report filed by nonprofit organizations. Coverage of each organization includes: mission and programs, financials, and leaders.

For more information, check CharityGuide.org for charity ratings at http://charityguide.org/volunteer/charityratings.htm

Charity Guide is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting volunteer vacations and flexible volunteerism. CharityGuide.org inspires and facilitates acts of kindness that are entirely flexible and immediately actionable.

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