CHARITY NAVIGATOR: America's Leading Charity Evaluator

Charity Navigator (http://www.charitynavigator.com) evaluates the financial health of more than 5,000 non-profit organizations and publishes their results on their helpful Web site.

Charity Navigator currently tracks non-profits addressing the needs of the following communities: animal welfare, arts, education, environment, health, human services, overseas humanitarian efforts and religious groups.

Charity Navigator was founded in 2001. It is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization under the Internal Revenue Service Code. It does not accept any contributions from any of the non-profits that it evaluates. It evaluates non-profits based on the financial information provided by the non-profits on their annual Form 990 tax returns.

Charity Navigator rates non-profits by analyzing two areas of financial health - organizational efficiency and organizational capacity.

Organizational efficiency refers to the non-profit's ability to limit its administrative, advertising, and fundraising costs and deliver the majority of its spending to its programs.

Charities are rated from 1 to 4 stars, with 4 stars being the highest rating. Charities with 4-star ratings are the most effective at getting the maximum dollar amount to their target communities.

Organizational capacity refers to the non-profit's ability to sustain its programs over the long term. In examining organizational capacity, Charity Navigator rates the non-profit's average annual growth of primary revenue and program expenses over three to five years.

Non-profits that generate annual growth of primary revenue and program expenses will be able to outpace inflation and sustain their programs from year to year. Charities are rated from 1 to 4 stars, with 4 stars being the highest rating.

By accessing Charity Navigator, donors may determine if their gifts will directly benefit the intended recipients or causes.