Methodology

• What Kind of Charities Do We Evaluate?
• How Do We Classify Charities?
• How Do We Rate Charities?
• Our Ratings Tables
• What Do Our Ratings Mean?
• What Else Do We Consider in Our Evaluation Process?
• How Current are Our Ratings?
• Glossary of Terms

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What Else Do We Consider in Our Evaluation Process?

In addition to our financial ratings, Charity Navigator provides several other pieces of information in an effort to educate donors and provide a more detailed picture of each charity. None of these additional categories impacts a charity's overall score or rating.

Donor Privacy Policy

Taking the cue from our users, donors across America, who repeatedly tell us that they are fed up with charities selling their personal information to other charities, we review each charity's commitment to donor privacy. In order to meet our criteria, the charity must have a donor privacy policy in writing, guaranteeing that they will not sell or trade their donors' personal or contact information with anyone else, nor will they send mailings on behalf of other organizations. Furthermore, the policy must be prominently displayed on the charity's website or in its marketing and solicitation materials. We review each privacy policy annually when we update a charity's financial evaluation.

Please note, the existence of a privacy policy of any type does not prohibit the charity itself from contacting the donor for informational, educational, or solicitation purposes.

Each charity's rating page includes one of the following four assessments:

• Yes: We have confirmed that this charity has a written donor privacy policy in place, which states in no uncertain terms that it will not sell, trade or share your personal information with anyone else, nor send mailings on behalf of other organizations.
• Yes, Opt-out: We have determined that this charity has a privacy policy which allows you to tell the charity to remove your name and contact information from mailing lists it sells, trades or shares. Opt-out requirements vary from one charity to the next, but all require the donor to initiate the act.
• No: This charity does not have a written donor privacy policy in place to protect their contributors' personal information.
• Pending: This charity has been added to our site as of the first of this month. We give all new charities 30 days to respond to our request to review their donor privacy policy.

CEO Pay

We believe, as with successful organizations in any sector, effective charities must recruit, develop, and retain talented people. However, we know that our users are understandably interested in the salaries of the individuals who run charities. Therefore, we include the name and compensation of the organization's CEO, which is publicly available on the IRS Form 990. We define the CEO as the individual employed full-time to lead the organization on a day-to-day basis for the accounting period reflected by the charity's income statement. In the absence of a CEO, we substitute the full-time administrative employee receiving the highest pay. We believe that, in addition to providing a more in-depth look at the organization, this information will help our users better appreciate the professionalism required to run a nonprofit organization effectively.

Two things you should know: 1) If a charity has no recorded CEO salary, it does not necessarily mean that charity does not compensate their leadership. The charities we rate can rarely succeed with voluntary leadership. More likely, in violation of the IRS code, the charity has not provided the data in an appropriate manner. If you are considering a donation to a charity with no reported CEO salary, we encourage you to contact that charity directly to ascertain how that charity is able to thrive without having to compensate their CEO. 2) Some charities are able to pay their CEOs through multiple affiliated organizations -- allowing them to report a lower salary on any one 990, satisfying donors who want to keep the number low. Charity Navigator publishes the salary paid by the charity, as well as the portion paid by an affiliate entity (or entities), in separate columns; this lets donors know how much the CEO earns for running that organization, no matter how diverse the money trail.

Income Statement

Taken from the Forms 990 filed by charities with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the information on this particular statement shows the breakdown of a charity's revenue and expenses, its payments to affiliates, excess or deficit, and total net assets reported on the most recently filed Form 990.

Mission

This is a statement of an organization's purpose, programs, and services rendered. Charities often define their core purposes in a formal mission statement. "Mission" as it appears on a charity's evaluation page is not necessarily a charity's formal mission statement. This mission, however, does consist entirely of text taken from each organization's own web site, Form 990, annual report, and/or marketing materials. We research and confirm all mission information annually when we update a charity's financial evaluation.

Donating Online

At the end of the year in 2006, we added the convenience of online donating. A simple click of a mouse, powered by Network for Good’s giving system, enables donors to not only research, but also support the charities we rate. For more information about this service review Donating Online At Charity Navigator.