Greater Good Charities
Greater Good Charities
600 UNIVERSITY ST
Seattle WA 98101-1176
Seattle WA | IRS ruling year: 2007 | EIN: 20-4846675
GREATER GOOD CHARITIES IS DEVOTED TO ADDRESSING HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF PEOPLE, ANIMALS, AND THE PLANET.
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600 UNIVERSITY ST
Seattle WA 98101-1176
Seattle WA | IRS ruling year: 2007 | EIN: 20-4846675
GREATER GOOD CHARITIES IS DEVOTED TO ADDRESSING HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF PEOPLE, ANIMALS, AND THE PLANET.
Great
This charity's score is 100%, earning it a Four-Star rating. If this organization aligns with your passions and values, you can give with confidence.
This overall score is calculated from multiple beacon scores: 85% Accountability & Finance, 10% Leadership & Adaptability, 5% Culture & Community. Learn more about our criteria and methodology.
We recognize that not all metrics and beacons equally predict a charity’s success. The percentage each beacon contributes to the organization’s overall rating depends on the number of beacons an organization has earned.
Use the tool below to select different beacons to see how the weighting shifts when only one, two, or three beacons are earned.
Rating histories are available for a growing number of rated organizations. Check back later to see if this organization has a rating history!
The IRS is significantly delayed in processing nonprofits' annual tax filings (Forms 990). As a result, the Accountability & Finance score for Greater Good Charities is outdated and the overall rating may not be representative of its current operations. Please check with the charity directly for any questions you may have.
Greater Good Charities has earned a 100% for the Accountability & Finance beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of a charity's financial health (financial efficiency, sustainability, and trustworthiness) and its commitment to governance practices and policies.
This Accountability & Finance score represents IRS Form 990 data up until FY 2020, which is the most recent Form 990 currently available to us.
Learn more
Charity Navigator looks for at least 3 board members, with more than 50% of those members identified as independent (not salaried).
The presence of an independent governing body is strongly recommended by many industry professionals to allow for full deliberation and diversity of thinking on governance and other organizational matters.
Source: IRS Form 990
An Audit, Review, or Compilation provides important information about financial accountability and accuracy. Organizations are scored based on their Total Revenue Amount:
Total Revenue Amount | Expectation to Receive Credit |
---|---|
$1 million or higher | Expected to complete an audit |
$500,000 - $1 million | Expected to complete an audit, review, or compilation |
Less than $500,000 | No expectation (removed from scoring methodology) |
Source: IRS Form 990
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a conflict of interest policy on the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy protects the organization and by extension those it serves, when it is considering entering into a transaction that may benefit the private interest of an officer, director and/or key employee of the organization.
Source: IRS Form 990
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990 that the organization has this process in place as an accountability and transparency measure.
An official record of the events that take place during a board meeting ensures that a contemporaneous document exists for future reference.
Source: IRS Form 990
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a document retention and destruction policy per the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy establishes guidelines for the handling, backing up, archiving and destruction of documents. These guidelines foster good record keeping procedures that promote data integrity.
Source: IRS Form 990
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a whistleblower policy per the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy outlines procedures for handling employee complaints, as well as a confidential way for employees to report financial or other types of mismanagement.
Source: IRS Form 990
Charity Navigator looks for a website on the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency metric.
Nonprofits act in the public trust and reporting publicly on activities is an important component.
Source: IRS Form 990
The Liabilities to Assets Ratio is determined by Total Liabilities divided by Total Assets (most recent 990). This ratio is an indicator of an organization’s solvency and/or long-term sustainability.
Liabilities to Assets Ratio | Amount of Credit Received |
---|---|
Less than 50% | Full Credit |
50% - 59.9% | Partial Credit |
60% or more | No Credit |
Source: IRS Form 990
The Program Expense Ratio is determined by Program Expenses divided by Total Expense (average of most recent three 990s). This measure reflects the percent of its total expenses a charity spends on the programs and services it exists to deliver.
Program Expense Percentage | Amount of Credit Received |
---|---|
70% or higher | Full Credit |
60% - 69.9% | Partial Credit |
50% - 59.9% | Zero Points for Program Expense Score |
Below 50% | Zero Points for Both Program Expense AND Liabilities to Assets Scores |
Source: IRS Form 990
This chart displays the trend of revenue and expenses over the past several years for this organization, as reported on their IRS Form 990.
Presented here are up to five of this organization's highest compensated employees. This compensation data includes salary, cash bonuses, and expense accounts and is displayed exactly how it is reported to the IRS. The amounts do not include nontaxable benefits, deferred compensation, or other amounts not reported on Form W-2. In some cases, these amounts may include compensation from related organizations. Read the IRS policies for compensation reporting
Source: IRS Form 990 (page 7), filing year 2020
Below are some key data points from the Exempt Organization IRS Business Master File (BMF) for this organization. Learn more about the BMF on the IRS website
Activities:
Activity data not reported from the IRS
Foundation Status:
Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) (BMF foundation code: 15)
Affiliation:
Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations). (BMF affiliation code: 3)
The Form 990 is a document that nonprofit organizations file with the IRS annually. We leverage finance and accountability data from it to form Encompass ratings. Click here to search for this organization's Forms 990 on the IRS website (if any are available). Simply enter the organization's name (Greater Good Charities) or EIN (204846675) in the 'Search Term' field.
This organization was impacted by COVID-19 in a way that effected their financial health in 2020. This normally would have reduced their star rating. Due to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, we give charities such as this one the opportunity to share the story of COVID's impact on them, and doing this pauses our revision of their rating. Charities may submit their own pandemic responses through their nonprofit portal.
Greater Good Charities reported being impacted by COVID-19 in the following ways:
Program Delivery
Fundraising Capacity
Revenue
Grants Received
Balance Sheet
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's operations financially:
Greater Good Charities' Rescue Bank program (which works to deliver in-kind donations of food and other supplies to pet shelters across the country), typically generates handling fees to help cover the cost of the operation. Due to the financial impact of the pandemic on our recipient groups, we waived handling fees for shipments during COVID which impacted our revenue. The cost of freight for all of our shipments increased as well. We were fortunate to receive the PPP loan.
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's delivery of programs:
COVID-19 caused several of our programs to have to stop operations for most of the year, as Greater Good Charities prioritized the health and safety of our staff and program participants and recipients. Our Madrean Discovery Expedition program, which leads biodiversity expeditions in Mexico, had to shut down as the U.S./Mexico border was closed for much of the year. Our Rescue Rebuild program, which renovates pet and domestic violence shelters, typically relies on volunteers--we had to modify our protocol to use only staff, institute a sanitization and COVID testing protocol, and limit operations. On the other hand, we created new programs to respond to evolving need, as explained in the next question.
How this organization adapted to changing conditions caused by COVID-19:
We launched the national campaign #StayHomeAndFoster which generated over 92,000 foster volunteer registrations for over 1,400 animal shelters in a matter of months. Our Girls' Voices program moved entirely online as schools closed across the globe--hosting the curriculum on a learning management system. We provided emergency grants to wildlife sanctuaries caring for endangered species to keep them afloat as tourism impacted their businesses. We modified our shelter training programs to be fully online. Our Rescue Rebuild program begin doing remote consultations with shelters. We established new disaster distribution hubs for our in-kind donations. We launched an historic pet transport of over 600 pets from the Hawaiian islands to the Pacific NW. We provided meals to first responders and hospital staff from local restaurants to keep them in business, and launched Feed Thy Neighbor, a campaign with Chris Pratt that funded 5 million meals for food insecure families across the country.
Innovations the organization intends to continue permanently after the pandemic:
Our #StayHomeAndFoster campaign has turned into the ongoing program Good Home. Our Paws Across the Pacific flight from Hawaii led to us launching our new pet transport program Good Flights. Many of our virtual programs continue and while some programs like Rescue Rebuild have begin to operate at full capacity again, the remote aspects (in this case, shelter consultations) will continue. We have committed to continuing to reach a broader constituency with our online programmatic offerings on an ongoing basis.
Not Currently Scored
Greater Good Charities cannot currently be evaluated by our Impact & Results methodology because either (A) it is eligible, but we have not yet received data; (B) we have not yet developed an algorithm to estimate its programmatic impact; (C) its programs are not direct services; or (D) it is not heavily reliant on contributions from individual donors.
Note: The absence of a score does not indicate a positive or negative assessment, it only indicates that we have not yet evaluated the organization.
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Greater Good Charities reported its three largest programs on its FY 2020 Form 990 as:
Spent in most recent FY
Percent of program expenses
ANIMAL WELFARE (RESCUED ANIMALS):$62,430,042 WAS GRANTED TO ANIMAL WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS FOR ITEMS LIKE FOOD, VACCINATIONS, SHELTER RENOVATIONS, ENRICHMENT, SPAY/NEUTER, EDUCATION AND TRAINING, AND DI ... (More)
ANIMAL WELFARE (RESCUED ANIMALS):$62,430,042 WAS GRANTED TO ANIMAL WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS FOR ITEMS LIKE FOOD, VACCINATIONS, SHELTER RENOVATIONS, ENRICHMENT, SPAY/NEUTER, EDUCATION AND TRAINING, AND DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE. GREATER GOOD CHARITIES' RESCUE BANK PROGRAM IS OUR LOGISTICS SERVICES COMPONENT, RESPONSIBLE FOR SECURING, TRANSPORTING, STORING AND DISTRIBUTING IN-KIND DONATIONS TO APPROVED ANIMAL WELFARE NON-PROFIT RECIPIENTS. THE PROGRAM CONFORMS TO OUR INTERNAL GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATING AND RESPONDING TO GRANT APPLICATIONS, DELIVERING PRODUCTS SUCH AS PET FOOD, VACCINES, LITTER AND OTHER SUPPLIES INSTEAD OF FINANCIAL GRANTS. THE NATIONAL RESCUE BANK NETWORK SERVES BOTH ONGOING NEEDS OF ANIMAL WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS AS WELL AS MAKING PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FOR DISASTER RESPONSE, INCLUDING LARGE SCALE DISASTERS, LOCAL DISASTERS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT RAIDS. (Less)
Spent in most recent FY
Percent of program expenses
HUNGER & POVERTY:$824,290 WAS DISTRIBUTED TO CHARITIES ADDRESSING HUNGER AND POVERTY IN THE U.S. AND INTERNATIONALLY. FUNDS SUPPORTED PROGRAMS TO DISTRIBUTE FOOD, PROVIDE STOVES FOR DISPLACED PEOPLE I ... (More)
HUNGER & POVERTY:$824,290 WAS DISTRIBUTED TO CHARITIES ADDRESSING HUNGER AND POVERTY IN THE U.S. AND INTERNATIONALLY. FUNDS SUPPORTED PROGRAMS TO DISTRIBUTE FOOD, PROVIDE STOVES FOR DISPLACED PEOPLE IN DARFUR, PROVIDE HIGH YIELD SEEDS IN AGRICULTURAL AREAS (Less)
Spent in most recent FY
Percent of program expenses
LITERACY & CHILDREN'S EDUCATION AND HEALTH:$1,162,028 WAS GRANTED TO VARIOUS NON-PROFIT GROUPS PROVIDING PROGRAMS THAT SUPPORT CHILDREN'S LITERACY, EDUCATION AND BASIC HEALTH IN THE U.S. AND ABROAD. F ... (More)
LITERACY & CHILDREN'S EDUCATION AND HEALTH:$1,162,028 WAS GRANTED TO VARIOUS NON-PROFIT GROUPS PROVIDING PROGRAMS THAT SUPPORT CHILDREN'S LITERACY, EDUCATION AND BASIC HEALTH IN THE U.S. AND ABROAD. FUNDS WERE USED TO DISTRIBUTE BOOKS TO UNDERPRIVILEGED CH (Less)
Greater Good Charities has earned a 100% for the Culture & Community beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of the organization's culture and connectedness to the community it serves.
Learn more
100% of beacon score
This organization reported that it is collecting feedback from the constituents and/or communities it serves. Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations that engage in inclusive practices, such as collecting feedback from the people and communities they serve, may be more effective.
Who are the people you serve with your mission? Describe briefly.
Our grant recipients are non profit organizations throughout the U.S. and around the world.
How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Other means
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
With whom does your organization share the feedback you got from the people you serve?
Our staff
How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship with them or shifted power - over decisions, resources, rules or in other ways - to them?
Our grant-making software processes are directly tied to the end-user experience. We adjust our questions and frequency of reporting throughout the year based on feedback from recipients.
What challenges does your organization face in collecting feedback from the people you serve?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Briefly describe a recent change that your organization made in response to feedback from the people you serve.
We will adjust our grant application forms and processes based on recipient feedback and also the quality of responses we receive. We strive to make the grant-giving process equitable for all technological skill levels and "worth it" to recipients.
This organization has not provided information regarding the Equity Practices it is presently implementing. As such, the organization has not earned a score on this metric. Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations implementing effective equity policies and practices can enhance a nonprofit's decision-making, staff motivation, innovation, and effectiveness.
Greater Good Charities has earned a 100% for the Leadership & Adaptability beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of the organization's leadership capacity, strategic thinking and planning, and ability to innovate or respond to changes in constituent demand/need or other relevant social and economic conditions to achieve the organization's mission.
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The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization's mission
Greater Good Charities is devoted to protecting people, pets, and the planet by mobilizing in response to need and amplifying the good.
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s vision.
We Amplify The Good.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking and goal setting through sharing their most important strategic goals.
Goal One: Greater Good Charities is focused on a "communities" approach where we pursue opportunities to leverage multiple programmatic efforts across our people, pets, and planet verticals to maximize impact.
Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.
Goal Two: Greater Good Charities is offering new programs based on observed need, including Good Fix (targeted Spay/Neuter), Good Flights (pet transport), and Good Home (targeted pet foster recruitment).
Goal Type: New program(s) based on observed changes in needs among our constituencies/communities served.
Goal Three: Greater Good Charities is expanding the constituencies served by our Rescue Bank program beyond small rescue groups to include domestic violence victims, veterans, homeless, and food insecure people.
Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.
The nonprofit provides evidence of investment in leadership development
We invest in conferences, trainings, and technology to improve the effectiveness and capabilities of leaders within our organization.
The nonprofit provides evidence of leadership through focusing externally and mobilizing resources for the mission.
Strategic Partnerships
Networks of Collective Impact Efforts
Thought Leadership
Raising Awareness
Community Building
Greater Good Charities partners with many organizations, public and private, in service of our mission. This includes foundations, corporate sponsors, other nonprofits, and operational partners. We also regularly present at conferences, including marketing and animal welfare conferences. We train organizations we support with programs like Girls' Voices, Cat Pawsitive, Good Home, and Rescue Rebuild. We participate in coalitions aimed at achieving shared goals. We have a dedicated marketing team that works to raise awareness and communicate our mission and impact through multiple digital and traditional channels.
The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
At the beginning of the pandemic, we heard from many animal shelters in our network of 9,000+ shelters and rescues that they urgently needed fosters as they were forced to reduce staff and change normal operations. We launched the national campaign #StayHomeAndFoster which generated over 92,000 foster volunteer registrations for over 1,400 animal shelters in a matter of months. Our Girls' Voices program traditionally was implemented by educational facilitators in classrooms in several countries, and COVID-19 caused our partners schools to close. Most students had no access to internet other than through a cell phone. We moved entirely online to accommodate--hosting the curriculum on a learning management system. We provided emergency grants to wildlife sanctuaries caring for endangered species to keep them afloat as tourism impacted their businesses. We modified our shelter training programs such as Cat Pawsitive to be fully online, reduced reporting requirements, and created versions that could be used by the general public. Our Rescue Rebuild program begin doing remote consultations with shelters as their normal operations were reduced. This has been maintained even as normal operations have resumed. We established new disaster distribution hubs for our in-kind donations, delivering over $25 million in product to support pet shelters and human service organizations. We launched an historic pet transport of over 600 pets from the Hawaiian islands to the Pacific NW with Paws Across the Pacific, which grew later into Good Flights and now helps transport vulnerable pet populations including asymptomatic heartworm-positive pets, cats, large breed dogs, medical needs pets, disaster victims, and more. We provided meals to first responders and hospital staff from local restaurants to keep them in business, and launched Feed Thy Neighbor, a campaign with Chris Pratt that funded 5 million meals for food insecure families across the country.
Impact & Results
Accountability & Finance
Culture & Community
Leadership & Adaptability
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