Charity Navigator only covers 5,300 organizations and while that may sound like a lot it is only a fraction of the not-for-profits in the U.S.
Did you ever wonder why that is the case?
At the National Alliance for Hispanic Health we are of course proud of our exceptional work in terms of health but we also consider ourselves to be a role model for our stewardship of our finances. We were concerned that somehow we had missed being listed by Charity Navigator. So we went through the process of submitting all the information that they required.
We waited and waited and received no response. Our most recent communication from them provided insight into their process.
“Thank you for contacting Charity Navigator. Due to the volume received, we are unable to give status reports regarding charities suggested for evaluation. Please know we have in excess of 1,800 eligible charities awaiting review. Given our limited resources, we dedicate most of our efforts to updating the financial information of those charities already in our database. We add new charity evaluations, but not as frequently as we have in the past. We will contact an organization prior to publication of a rating.”
It seems that that being listed in Charity Navigator is not as informative as some think. Better to do your own due diligence when you want to make a donation.
Meanwhile, we are still hoping that our $100 million donation will come with the next visitor we receive.
