# How Ratings Work Charity Navigator's Rating System provides a comprehensive evaluation of a nonprofit's overall performance and health across four key domains, or "beacons": - Accountability & Finance - Impact & Measurement - Leadership & Planning - Culture & Compensation By assessing nonprofits across 10 specific evaluation areas within these domains, the system provides donors with a holistic view of an organization's verified impact, financial stability, and operational effectiveness, helping guide informed giving decisions. ## Ratings Eligible nonprofits receive a zero- to four-star rating — this is determined by the weighted sum of the organization's metrics (0-100).
| Rating | Score | Assessment | Description | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 4 star rating | 90+ | Great | Exceeds or meets best practices and industry standards across almost all areas. Likely to be a highly effective charity. | | 3 star rating | 75–89 | Good | Exceeds or meets best practices and industry standards across some areas. | | 2 star rating | 60–74 | Needs improvement | Meets or nearly meets industry standards in a few areas and underperforms most nonprofits. | | 1 star rating | 50–59 | Poor | Fails to meet industry standards in most areas and underperforms almost all nonprofits. | | 0 star rating | < 50 | Very poor | Performs below industry standards and well underperforms nearly all nonprofits. |
## Evaluation Areas | Beacon | Evaluation Area | Data Source | Assessment | |---|---|---|---| | Accountability & Finance | Financial Health | Form 990 | Measures financial stability and efficiency using IRS Form 990 tax data. Metrics include the program expense ratio (how much is spent on programs versus administrative costs), the liabilities-to-assets ratio, working capital, and fundraising efficiency. | | Accountability & Finance | Accountability | Form 990 | Ensures the organization has basic transparency and governance practices in place, such as independent financial audits, records retention policies, and no material diversion of assets. | | Impact & Measurement | Impact | Nonprofit Portal | Powered by a partnership with True Impact, this area examines how effectively a program achieves its goals relative to its cost. It evaluates the charity's specific cost per outcome, data quality (e.g., whether impacts are guessed, estimated, or directly measured), and the logic of its impact model. | | Impact & Measurement | Measurement | Nonprofit Portal | Evaluates a charity's capacity for monitoring and evaluation (M&E). This includes whether the charity collects lifecycle data, defines its target populations, uses data analysis practices, and understands barriers to access. | | Impact & Measurement | Learning | Nonprofit Portal | Evaluates how an organization uses data to improve its programs over time. It checks whether leadership is committed to M&E, whether the charity transparently reports results to stakeholders (even unfavorable ones), and whether it actively collects and acts on constituent feedback. | | Leadership & Planning | Leadership | Nonprofit Portal | Assesses the clarity of the charity's mission, vision, and goals. It also evaluates investments in leadership development, external engagements (like strategic partnerships and advocacy), and the organization's adaptability to change. | | Leadership & Planning | Program Planning | Nonprofit Portal | Reviews how the charity designs its programs. This includes checking if they have a shared Theory of Change, use needs assessments to serve their target populations, and set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) objectives. | | Leadership & Planning | Governance | Form 990, Nonprofit Portal | Verifies that the charity's board is structured to provide full deliberation and diverse thinking. Metrics include having an independent board majority, documenting board meeting minutes, and ensuring the board approves the annual operating budget. | | Culture & Compensation | Workplace Policies | Form 990, Nonprofit Portal | Evaluates fair compensation structures, ensuring no board members are improperly compensated, CEO salaries are properly disclosed and reviewed, and competitive employee benefit ratios are maintained. It also checks for performance-tied promotional pay policies. | | Culture & Compensation | Compensation Practices | Form 990, Nonprofit Portal | Checks for policies that create a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment. This includes whistleblower and conflict-of-interest policies, equal employment opportunity (EEO) statements, sexual harassment policies, and documented processes to minimize hiring bias. | ## Ratings Updates Charity Navigator updates and publishes new ratings approximately every two months. Charity Navigator collects data on an ongoing, rolling basis, and applies this new information — whether from IRS Form 990 filings or nonprofit portal submissions — during these rating releases. As for how often nonprofits update their information, Charity Navigator strongly recommends that organizations review and update their profile data at least once a year. Nonprofits should also update their information whenever they undergo a significant organizational change. Keeping this information current is essential because self-reported data expires after four years; if it is not updated, it is automatically removed from the rating calculation. ## Rating Eligibility To receive a rating, a nonprofit must be a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) public charity. Private foundations, consolidated subsidiaries, and organizations with revoked or inactive IRS status are not eligible. Eligible nonprofits must also meet the following criteria: - Charity Navigator must directly receive at least three electronically filed IRS Form 990s within the past six years (these do not need to be consecutive). - At least two of the four most recent filings must be the standard Form 990, and the most recent filing cannot be a Form 990-PF, 990-N, or 990-EZ. - Report total functional expenses greater than zero, with program expenses not exceeding total expenses. - Have no Charity Navigator "Giving Not Recommended" alert. A charity may be listed but not rated if it does not yet meet Form 990 filing requirements, is newly registered, files only Form 990-EZ or 990-N, or is otherwise ineligible for a rating. This subgroup of organizations may submit additional data in the Nonprofit Portal to provide donors with more information. ## Data Availability There are more than 245,000 rated nonprofits. Data is available on the: - Ratings - Beacons - Evaluation areas - Metrics - Raw Data We are currently in the process of adding the Evaluation Areas, Metrics, and Raw Data into the API and will update the changelog when this data becomes available. Once this data has been introduced into the API, we may not have Raw Data, Metrics, or Evaluation scores available for every nonprofit. The availability of data depends on the nonprofit's characteristics (e.g., revenue size, funding structure, number of full-time employees) and whether the nonprofit has claimed and updated its data on Charity Navigator's nonprofit portal. You can learn more about ratings [here](https://www.charitynavigator.org/about-us/our-methodology/ratings/).