You want to put your money to good use, and you want to help people, but there are a lot of charities out there, and figuring out how, or who, to give your money can be daunting. Luckily, Charity Navigator is here to help.
Itself a non-profit, Charity Navigator researches and evaluates other charities along a variety of metrics. They seek to get as much information about charities into the hands of potential donors as possible. If you want to know whether a specific charity is deserving if your hard-earned cash, you can search them by name from the database. You can also browse for charities by categories or search based on keywords.
They also provide a wide range of lists of best and worst charities according to their research. The 10 Charities Overpaying their For-Profit Fundraisers, for example, lists charities that spend too much on fundraising, and as a result don’t donate nearly as much of their proceeds as they could. Or the 10 Charities Worth Watching list includes lesser known but highly effective charities. Lists like these can help you find new charities to support, and avoid poor decisions. After all, you want to help people with your money, not support some professional fundraiser.
They also host a number of articles to help donors make informed choices. They offer advice articles, informative pieces, and offer a number of guides for donating. A big point in their research is transparency, as the willingness of a charity to tell donors how their money is spent is important in choosing where to donate. One way to know that Charity Navigator is serious about their mission is that they offer a wealth of articles about their own processes. From a glossary of terms, to articles about how they rate charities and what those ratings mean, they offer visitors insight into how they help guide intelligent giving.
So the next time you’re considering a new charity, look them up first!