How we check every charity

Which charities we list

We list well-known, US-registered charities that donors actively look up, across 16 cause areas. To be listed, a charity has to be matched to its IRS employer identification number (EIN) — the national organization, not a local chapter — and, with a few stated exceptions, hold a current rating we can link to. When a charity is part of an international family, such as Oxfam or CARE, we use its US affiliate, because that is the organization American donors give to and the one that files with the IRS. Each charity page names the legal entity behind its figures.

We don't sell listings, and charities can't pay to be included or to rank higher.

Where ratings come from

We don't create our own ratings. We report three independent evaluators and link to each rating so you can read it in full:

• Charity Navigator scores charities out of 100% and awards up to four stars, looking at accountability and finance, impact and measurement, leadership and adaptability, and culture and community. We show the overall score and star rating from each charity's Charity Navigator profile.
• GiveWell publishes a short list of Top Charities it judges to save or improve lives the most per dollar. Charities on its current list are labeled "GiveWell Top Charity".
• Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) publishes Recommended Charities for animal welfare. Charities on its current list are labeled "ACE Recommended Charity".

On cause pages, GiveWell and ACE picks are listed first, then charities in order of their Charity Navigator score. That order is computed from the ratings; we don't adjust it by hand.

Where financial figures come from

Revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities and pay to officers and key employees come from each charity's annual IRS Form 990, as published by ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer. We show up to five recent years and link to the filings themselves. Form 990s are filed months after a charity's fiscal year ends, so the latest figures are usually one to two years old; when a newer filing has been published but not yet summarized, the charity's page links to it directly.

How often we check

On the first day of every month we automatically re-check every charity's Charity Navigator rating and its IRS filings, and each charity page shows the date it was last checked. GiveWell's and ACE's lists change less often; we check those by hand. If a source can't be read on a given day, we keep the last confirmed figures rather than guess, and that charity's page keeps its earlier "checked" date.

Renamed charities

Charities sometimes change their names — for example, Mercy Corps is now Prosper Global and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is now Blood Cancer United. We list them under the new name and show the former one, so you can find them either way. A rename doesn't change a charity's EIN, ratings or filings.

What the numbers can't tell you

A high rating means a charity is well governed and transparent; it doesn't prove that its programs work. Revenue includes one-off events such as large bequests, disaster appeals and investment gains, and donated goods are counted at their value. Before a large gift, read the charity's own annual report alongside the figures here — and remember that every donation link goes straight to the charity's own website. We never handle your money.

Corrections

If something on a charity's page looks wrong, email thegivingdirectory@gmail.com with the charity's name and what you think is incorrect. We'll check it against the original source and update the page if it needs fixing. Charities can contact us the same way.

Browse charities by cause → Read our analysis of 217 charities' tax filings →