Program Expenses Growth: We compute the average annual growth of program expenses using the following formula: [(Yn/Y0)(1/n)]-1, where Y0 is a charity's program expenses in the first year of the interval analyzed, Yn is the charity's program expenses in the most recent year, and n is the interval of years passed between Y0 and Yn.
| Cause Area | Converted Score (out of 10 points) |
| Treatment and Prevention Services | Converted Raw Score |
Rationale behind score adjustments:
Normalizing program expense growth scores:
In response to the recession, many charities have trimmed expenses either because they were forced to as actual revenues declined or in anticipation of such a decline. Among all the types of charities we evaluate, these causes have reported the biggest changes in their spending on programs since the recession took hold. Adjustments for the program expense growth scores for each of these categories began with the fiscal year ending 2009. Each cause was adjusted individually based on the actual reported data. Each charity's rating page shows its actual program expense growth rate, not the normalized figure which we use in evaluating the organization.