Support

We're here to help you build with Charity Navigator data.

Contact

API questions and data issues — Submit a support request with your account email, the query you ran, and the response you received.
Attribution and licensing — See the Attribution Guidelines first; for anything not covered there, submit a support request.

What should I do if my API key is compromised? Roll your API key immediately from your My Subscriptions page or submit a support request if you need manual key invalidation.
Why am I receiving a 401 Unauthorized or 403 Forbidden error? Check that your Authorization request header contains your exact API key without trailing spaces or missing headers.
Why am I receiving 429 responses? You have exceeded the rate limit of 1,000 calls per minute. A 429 always means the rate limit — an exhausted monthly quota returns 403 instead. See Usage & Quotas.
Where do I report incorrect data about an organization? Submit a support request with the EIN and the field in question; our research team reviews every report.

How often is charity rating data updated in the API? Ratings update every two months and alerts update on a weekly basis.
Can I cache the data? Yes — licensees may cache responses to stay within quota, but cached ratings should be refreshed at least monthly so alerts and rating changes are reflected promptly.
Why is a charity's rating missing? Ratings are suppressed while an organization carries an active alert, and not every organization has been rated yet. Check highest_level_alert on the publicSearchFaceted results to see whether an alert is the reason.

How do I upgrade or change my pricing plan as my platform grows? You can review plan thresholds on the Pricing page. Submit an upgrade request on your My Subscriptions page or submit a support request.
What happens if I temporarily spike over my plan's rate limit? Requests exceeding 1,000 calls per minute receive a 429 Too Many Requests status code. Implement exponential backoff or caching to handle rate limits.

Do I need to display the Charity Navigator logo when using this data? Yes, platforms displaying ratings or advisories must adhere to the Attribution Guidelines, including displaying approved badges and standard disclaimer text.

Last modified on September 28, 2026