How we rate charities

Every rating is arithmetic on figures the charity filed with the IRS. This page is the whole method: nothing is hidden, and no charity can pay to change its rating. Method version 2026.2.

Four separate views

We show four things side by side and do not blend them into one number, because they answer different questions.

Legitimacy: Is it a real, registered charity in good standing? How we verify
Financial health: Can it keep going? Scored out of 100.
Governance: Is it set up to catch mistakes and misuse? Scored out of 100.
Impact evidence: How well evidenced are its results? Shown as a level, not a score.

Where the figures come from

We use each charity's most recent electronically filed Form 990 or 990-EZ. Returns reach the public a year or more after the year they cover, so a rating describes the charity as it was then. We rate 501(c)(3) organizations. Private foundations are not rated, because they give grants and do not ask the public for donations.

What the scores mean

Strong	90 to 100
Good	70 to 89
Fair	50 to 69
Weak	0 to 49

When a return lacks the figures for a measure, that measure is left out and the score is worked out from the rest. A score needs at least 3 measures. Finances are not scored when yearly spending is under $50,000, because the ratios stop meaning much at that size.

Financial health

Reserves

35 points

Net assets without donor restrictions, less land, buildings and equipment, divided by one month of spending. The short form reports only total net assets, so that is used instead.

12 months or more	35
6 months or more	28
3 months or more	20
1 months or more	10
0 months or more	4
Negative	0

Debt

20 points

Total liabilities divided by total assets.

15% or less	20
30% or less	16
50% or less	10
75% or less	5
100% or less	2
More than it owns	0

Living within its means

15 points

Income less spending, as a share of income.

Deficit of up to -2%	15
Break-even or surplus	12
Deficit of up to 5%	8
Deficit of up to 15%	4
Larger deficit	0

Income trend

15 points

Change in total income from the year before. Full form only.

Level or rising	15
Fall of up to 10%	10
Fall of up to 25%	5
Larger fall	0

Spending floor

15 points

Share of spending on programs, and the cost of raising each dollar of donations. Full form only. Above the floor, spending less on management or fundraising earns nothing extra.

At least 65% on programs and at most 35 cents to raise a dollar	15
At least 50% on programs and at most 50 cents to raise a dollar	8
Below either	0

Why we do not reward low overhead

A charity that spends little on management can look efficient while underpaying staff, skipping audits and running on old systems. So spending on programs and fundraising is checked against a floor only. Above the floor, spending less earns nothing more.

Governance

These come from questions on the full Form 990. The short form does not ask them, so charities that file it get no governance score. That is normal for a small charity and is not a mark against it.

Independent board

25 points

Voting board members and how many are independent.

Majority independent, five or more members	25
Majority independent, three or four members	18
Three or more members, no independent majority	5
Fewer than three members	0

Conflict of interest policy

15 points

Whether it has a written policy.

Independent check of accounts

15 points

Not scored below $250,000 of income. An audit is expected from $1,000,000.

Audited	15
Reviewed or compiled by an accountant, smaller organization	12
Reviewed or compiled by an accountant, larger organization	9
Neither, smaller organization	6
Neither, larger organization	0

Board sees the tax return

10 points

Whether the board was given the return before it was filed.

No reported misuse

10 points

No reported diversion of assets, excess benefit transaction or loan to an insider.

Whistleblower policy

8 points

Whether it has a written policy.

Record keeping policy

7 points

Whether it has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.

Board minutes

5 points

Whether minutes of board meetings are kept.

Pay set independently

5 points

Whether the chief executive's pay is set by independent review. Scored only when someone is paid.

Points to look into

We call these out on a charity's page whatever its scores:

A reported diversion of assets
A reported excess benefit transaction
Reported loans to or from insiders
Owing more than it owns
Under 50% of spending on programs, for budgets of $100,000 or more
More than 50 cents to raise a dollar, for budgets of $100,000 or more

Each comes from the charity's own return. There may be a good explanation, and we suggest asking.

Comparison with similar charities

Beside each score we show the share of similar charities that scored lower. Similar means the same cause and a similar income. Cause, from the IRS classification, combined with income: under $250K, $250K to $1M, $1M to $10M, $10M to $100M, over $100M. Groups of fewer than 20 are not ranked.

Impact evidence

Independently evaluated: An independent evaluator has assessed its work and recommends it.
Reports results: Its tax return states measurable results. These are its own figures and nobody has checked them.
Describes programs: Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
No information: We have no return from it that describes its programs.

Results are read from the program descriptions in a return by an AI model. We keep a result only when the exact wording it is based on is found in the return. Results are the charity's own claims and are labelled that way.

What ratings cannot tell you

They do not measure how much good a charity does per dollar. Very few charities have been evaluated for that.
They rely on what the charity reported. We do not audit returns.
They describe a past year.
A new or very small charity may be excellent and still have too little on record to rate.

Who we do not score

We do not score other charity evaluators, such as Charity Navigator, CharityWatch or GiveWell. We work in the same field, so a score from us would not be impartial, whether high or low. Their pages still show the legitimacy checks and what their tax returns say.