Effectively

Leverage Charity
Assessment and
Evaluation Systems
#Tools2Grow
Charity Navigator. GuideStar. Great Nonprofits.

These are only some of the various online organizational

assessment platforms that you'll need to utilize in order to
gain recognition and prestige.

This process can feel overwhelming and out of your

control, as they often take into account personal reviews.

We're here today to help you take ownership over this

process and leverage evaluation systems so you can get
that five star rating.
Let's begin with Charity Navigator, the world's largest and
most-utilized independent nonprofit evaluator.

Charity Navigator bases their ratings on two broad areas of

performance: 1) Financial Health (based on financial information
found in IRS Form 990) and 2) Accountability & Transparency.

This is where your website and informational architecture

becomes crucial. Charity Navigator
scours your website as a primary
source in evaluating 5 of the 17
metrics in their accountability
and transparency category.
To quickly improve your transparency rating, try these fast
and easy tips:

#1: Share basic information about and contact information

for your board members and senior staff

#2: Make it easy to access audited financial

statements and your recent Form 990

#3: Clarify your privacy policy and

donor protection efforts

For more information on Charity

Navigator's metrics, visit here.
Unlike transparency and accountability, financial health is
more difficult to improve quickly. However, it is good to keep
in mind the financial metrics that Charity Navigator
considers:

Program expenses as a
percentage of total expenses
Management expenses as a
percentage of total expenses
Fundraising expenses as a
percentage of total expenses
Fundraising efficiency
Primary revenue growth
Program expenses growth
Working capital ratio
GuidStar, another leading NGO and charity evaluation site,
takes into account board leadership. These questions
include:

Board orientation and education: Does the board conduct

a formal orientation for new board members and require all
board members to sign a written agreement regarding
their roles, responsibilities, and expectations?
CEO oversight: Has the board conducted a formal, written
assessment of the chief executive within the past year?
Ethics and transparency: Have the board and senior staff
reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and
signed disclosure statements in the past year?
Board composition: Does the board ensure an inclusive
board member recruitment process that results in diversity
of thought and leadership?
Board performance: Has the board conducted a formal,
written self-assessment of its performance within the past
three years?
Other site, such as
GreatNonprofits, utilize user
reviews. This is where it gets tricky,
as it can be difficult to ask for
reviews. However, we suggest that
you provide a link on your website to
the platform where people can
submit their experiences, or through
an email to your subscribers. This
makes it easier to ask for reviews
without having to do it individually.
 Overall, don't worry. Make sure you take
a look at the metrics of each site and see
what you can do to improve. Most of
them heavily overlap on what they look
for, and some easy website fixes will
make a world of difference.

Other metrics, such as the

financial ones, will take time. Keep
working on the sustainability of your
organization, and let these evaluation
ratings improve as you do.
How did you enjoy this tool?
We want to hear from you!

If you have any questions, or tips you'd like us to address,

reach out to us at info@zamia.media