Hurricane Isaac

Hurricane Isaac is expect to make landfall in Louisiana near New Orleans seven years to the day that Hurricane Katrina devastated the region. We will be following how charities are responding in advance and following landfall of this storm on our Hot Topic page. If you do plan to donate to this cause, then be sure to first consult our Tips For Giving In Times of Crisis.

What Kind of Social Advocate Are You?

This month, McKinsey & Company is featuring stories about Social Movements. And part of this special report includes an interactive quiz to help you identify which of seven types of social advocate best suits your interests. Once the tool reveals the type of social advocate you are, it suggests organizations that would be a good fit for your passion. We're thrilled to note that Charity Navigator is a perfect fit a certain type of social advocate.

Let's Hear It From The Smart 4-Star Charity

We're going to hand the blog off to one of our 4-star charities today to explain their comment about 4%. Go here to see what they wrote about the importance of being an informed donor.

Another Study Confirms – Women Give More

Senior Couple Looking At Eachother via Bigstock

The Women's Philanthropy Institute at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University just published a new study that says women from the Baby Boom Generation and older give nearly 90% more of their total income to charity than men (keeping education, income, race, number of children and other factors affecting giving equal). This is in keeping with prior studies that show women tend to give more to charity than men. The newest study shows that the difference between older men and women is even more profound if we look at the wealthier– women in the top 25% for income give 156% more than their male counterparts. Researchers involved in the study suggest that women give more because they tend to score higher on traits such as empathy and caring which impact philanthropic activity. 

Another Creative Approach to Sharing 4-Star Rating

This month, Abode Services earned its 8th consecutive 4-star rating. The charity shared the great news with all of its stakeholders via the following creative email.

Important Facts About America's Philanthropic Sector

The Center for Civil Studies created this infographic based on the new, third edition of America's Nonprofit Sector: A Primer (Foundation Center), by Lester R. Salamon.

A Very Creative Approach to Sharing 4-Star Rating

Don't you just love the creative approach that the National Center for Learning Disabilities used to share the great news about their 4-star rating?

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How many stars did we receive from Charity Navigator? 
Count the number of green stars in this photo, and you’ll have your answer. 
(Hint: It’s the highest possible ranking.) 

New Social Impact Report

Walden University has released its second annual Social Change Impact Report - a study about the current state of social change around the world. A couple key findings include:

• While donating money, goods or services is the top way adults have gotten involved in social change in the past six months (50%, on average), donating money is also where adults are most likely to cut back when economic conditions are bad (37%, on average).
• In seven of the eight countries surveyed, nonprofits are among the top two ways adults are most likely to get involved in social change. 
• Adults in the U.S. and Canada are most likely to say being involved in social change is important because they want to help those less fortunate than themselves (64% each). 
• Adults in Brazil and India say social change is important because it makes them feel good (70% and 72%, respectively).
• Adults in China, Germany and Jordan say it is a moral responsibility (80%, 56% and 55%, respectively).
• In Mexico, adults are most likely to say it is because they want to be part of the solution and not just benefit from the actions of others and also because they want to improve life for themselves and their families (64% each).

Today We Added 100 NEW Charities to Our Site!

We are constantly bombarded with requests to rate more charities – both from donors who want to be assured their contributions are going to worthy charities and from the charities who hope to earn a 4-star rating to prove to potential donors that they have their financial house in order and that they are committed to being accountable and transparent. Although we really want to accommodate everyone’s requests, we haven’t had the capacity to add significant numbers of charities to our site. Recently, we’ve developed a strategy that has allowed our analysts to ramp up their ability to rate new charities. Under this plan, we'll be adding charities over the next several months at about the rate of 100/ month so that we reach 6,000 charity ratings by the end of the year.

Photo from Bigstock

Today, we release the first batch of 100+ new charities. The newly added charities include:

• 4-star Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
• 4-star Person-to-Person
• 3-star Pat Tillman Foundation
• 3-star National Sports Center for the Disabled
• 3-star Per Scholas

As it is the first of the month, we also release today updated ratings for 100s of charities including:

• 4-star American Museum of Natural History
• 4-star Autism Research Institute
• 4-star Special Operations Warrior Foundation
• 3-star Yellowstone Association
• 0-star American Institute for Cancer Research