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Garbage In, Garbage Out: 4 Reasons Why A...

Garbage In, Garbage Out: 4 Reasons Why Automated Charity Ratings Are Unreliable

February 16, 2023

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How to Research Charities 101

March 15, 2023

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F-Rated Charities Receive Top Ratings & ...

F-Rated Charities Receive Top Ratings & Seals From Nonprofit Trade Associations

June 22, 2023

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Top-Rated Charities Providing Relief for...

Top-Rated Charities Providing Relief for the Maui Wildfires

August 23, 2023

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Article

September Is National Suicide Prevention...

September Is National Suicide Prevention Month

September 08, 2023

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Article

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a...

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a donation to a Top-Rated Hispanic & Latin American charity!

September 15, 2023

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Article

Top-Rated Charities Providing Aid and As...

Top-Rated Charities Providing Aid and Assistance for the Victims of the Moroccan Earthquake

September 12, 2023

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Article

September Is Hunger Action Month

September 15, 2023

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Article

Updated List of Top-Rated Libya Flood Di...

Updated List of Top-Rated Libya Flood Disaster Charities

September 15, 2023

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Article

Crisis in Sudan: CharityWatch Top-Rated ...

Crisis in Sudan: CharityWatch Top-Rated Charities Providing Aid & Assistance in Sudan

September 22, 2023

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Article

Is This Charity 'Legit'?

November 29, 2022

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Article

10 Tips For Giving in a Crisis

May 09, 2021

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CharityWatch, founded in 1992 as the American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP), is America's most independent, assertive charity watchdog. CharityWatch does not merely repeat what a charity reports using simplistic or automated formulas. We dive deep to let you know how efficiently a charity will use your donation to fund the programs you want to support. CharityWatch exposes nonprofit abuses and advocates for your interests as a donor.

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Featured News

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Crisis in Sudan: CharityWatch Top-Rated Charities Providing ...

Sep 22, 2023

The people of Sudan need immediate aid and relief....

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Updated List of Top-Rated Libya Flood Disaster Charities

Sep 15, 2023

Don't get scammed! Donate to legitimate and efficient charities aiding victims of the unprecedented flooding in Libya....

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September Is Hunger Action Month

Sep 15, 2023

September is Hunger Action month. Consider donating to a Top-Rated charity today. ...

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Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a donation to a Top-R...

Sep 15, 2023

This year Hispanic Heritage Month is from Friday, September 15th through Sunday, October 15th. ...

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Unprecedented Flooding in Libya: See Our List of The Best Ch...

Sep 13, 2023

Thousands are feared dead after Storm Daniel brought severe rain to northeastern Libya over the past weekend. ...

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Top-Rated Charities Providing Aid and Assistance for the Vic...

Sep 12, 2023

The earthquake is the strongest and deadliest to strike Morocco in more than 60 years. ...

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September Is National Suicide Prevention Month

Sep 08, 2023

September is National Suicide Prevention Month. ...

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CharityWatch Flags American Constitutional Rights Union as "...

Sep 07, 2023

CharityWatch has assigned American Constitutional Rights Union (ACRU) a rating of "Not Ratable" at this time based on the charity's fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 IRS Form 990 financial reporting. ...

CharityWatch has assigned American Constitutional Rights Union (ACRU) a rating of "Not Ratable" at this time based on th...

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Charity Annual Reports Rebranded as "Impact" Reports

Aug 25, 2023

A message from CharityWatch Executive Director, Laurie Styron...Because no independent charity rater has the unimaginable resources that would be required to independently investigate, verify, measure, and standardize the “impac...

A message from CharityWatch Executive Director, Laurie Styron...Because no independent charity rater has the unimaginable resource...

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Free Speech Concerns Limit Charity Regulation

Aug 18, 2023

Just because a charity is registered and in good standing with the IRS and state regulatory agencies does not guarantee that it will use your donations efficiently or effectively. It is possible for a charity to spend as little as...

Just because a charity is registered and in good standing with the IRS and state regulatory agencies does not guarantee that it wi...

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CharityWatch Fundraising Reduction Notice

Jul 31, 2023

The number one reason why Americans give is because they are asked. Therefore, charities do a lot of asking. If donors stop contributing to organizations that send them paper solicitations too often, charities will have strong eco...

The number one reason why Americans give is because they are asked. Therefore, charities do a lot of asking. If donors stop contri...

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F-Rated Charities Receive Top Ratings & Seals From Nonprofit...

Jun 22, 2023

Millions of donors regularly search online for ratings of charities before making their giving decisions. This makes sense. Most of us have heard horror stories about charity frauds and scams and do not want to fall victim to ...

Millions of donors regularly search online for ratings of charities before making their giving decisions. This makes sense. Most...

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Garbage In, Garbage Out: 4 Reasons Why Automated Charity Rat...

Feb 16, 2023

The reliability of the automated charity ratings is only as good as the accuracy, consistency, comparability, and completeness of the reporting. In other words, garbage in, garbage out.....

The reliability of the automated charity ratings is only as good as the accuracy, consistency, comparability, and completeness of ...

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Charity Checkout Donations 101

Dec 27, 2022

"If everything's above board, that store is really just acting like an agent...they're really just taking your money and then at some point in the future passing it on to the charity," CharityWatch executive director, Laurie Styro...

"If everything's above board, that store is really just acting like an agent...they're really just taking your money and then at s...

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Store Checkout Charity Donations

Dec 10, 2022

There are significant downsides to donating to charity in a store checkout line. Any time a donor puts a third party in between their donation and a charity, it increases the chances that their money could get diverted for some ot...

There are significant downsides to donating to charity in a store checkout line. Any time a donor puts a third party in between th...

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Joint Costs: Avoid This Popular Charity Accounting Trick!

Dec 09, 2022

In nonprofit financial reporting, the funds spent on telemarketing, direct mail, or other solicitation activities that also include an "action step" or "call to action" are referred to as "Joint Costs." Many charities report such ...

In nonprofit financial reporting, the funds spent on telemarketing, direct mail, or other solicitation activities that also includ...

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Is This Charity 'Legit'?

Nov 29, 2022

Is this charity "legit"? Or, more correctly, is this charity "legitimate"? This is one of the most common questions asked by donors. And yet, what a donor defines as a "legit charity" may be vastly different from what is required ...

Is this charity "legit"? Or, more correctly, is this charity "legitimate"? This is one of the most common questions asked by donor...

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Crowdfunding: The Wild West of Charitable Giving

Nov 24, 2022

"...[C]rowdfunding campaigns [are] the 'Wild West of charity fundraising... Good intentions mixed with hubris is a dangerous combination,' Styron said." Crowdfunding: Don't Rely on the Wisdom of the Crowd. ...

"...[C]rowdfunding campaigns [are] the 'Wild West of charity fundraising... Good intentions mixed with hubris is a dangerous combi...

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The New Republic Joins CharityWatch in Warning Donors That N...

Nov 01, 2022

Attempts to computer-automate charity ratings have largely treated automation as an end unto itself, ignoring the complexity and incomparability of the underlying, unaudited financial data, often producing misleading and illogical...

Attempts to computer-automate charity ratings have largely treated automation as an end unto itself, ignoring the complexity and i...

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Sign Up for CharityWatch's Newsletter

Jun 08, 2022

Receive CharityWatch's bi-weekly email newsletter and sign up for a free account where you can save your favorite charities to a list and monitor their CharityWatch ratings, executive salaries, governance benchmarks, and other dat...

Receive CharityWatch's bi-weekly email newsletter and sign up for a free account where you can save your favorite charities to a l...

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Taxpayer Subsidized PPP Funds Went to Charities with Failing...

May 25, 2022

Many highly inefficient charities with histories of very low program spending and "F" ratings from CharityWatch received taxpayer subsidized PPP funds that could have been better utilized by other, much more efficient nonprofits....

Many highly inefficient charities with histories of very low program spending and "F" ratings from CharityWatch received taxpayer ...

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Charities Helping In The Ukraine Crisis

Feb 25, 2022

Don't waste your charity donations on scams! Donate to these legitimate and efficient charities aiding those affected by the violence in Ukraine.

Don't waste your charity donations on scams! Donate to these legitimate and efficient charities aiding those affected by the viole...

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Busting the Myths of "The Overhead Myth"

Oct 21, 2021

Before donating to charity, many donors want to know what portion of their donation the nonprofit will spend on programs versus overhead. And this makes sense. Charities and nonprofit fundraisers often reference two industry-...

Before donating to charity, many donors want to know what portion of their donation the nonprofit will spend on programs versus ov...

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10 Tips For Giving in a Crisis

May 09, 2021

You will accomplish more with your donation by giving $100 to a legitimate and highly efficient charity than you will by giving $1,000 to a fraudulent or highly inefficient one. But you must educate yourself on how to do it. Use t...

You will accomplish more with your donation by giving $100 to a legitimate and highly efficient charity than you will by giving $1...

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5 Tips for Avoiding Charity Frauds & Scams

Apr 22, 2021

Your $10 donation to an efficient, effective, and legitimate charity will make a bigger impact in forwarding the cause you want to support than your $1,000 donation to a scammer or highly inefficient nonprofit...

Your $10 donation to an efficient, effective, and legitimate charity will make a bigger impact in forwarding the cause you want to...

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Featured Press

"It's the toughest of the bunch, rating more than 600 charities on a scale of A+ down to F. Because it disregards certain, potentially suspect, expenses and donations, it fails some nonprofits that the other raters approve."

CharityWatch "is the pit bull of watchdogs. Its staff members dig deeper than most other overseers, going to state and federal records to get information that charities do not volunteer, honing in on program efficiency and exposing abuses."

"These guys dive deep to let you know how efficiently a charity will use your donation to fund the programs you want to support. CharityWatch exposes nonprofit abuses and advocates for your interests as a donor."

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