Consistent Ratings?

Last week, I had posted some information I retrieved from an article called “the rating game.” In it, the authors had compared the ratings received by several organizations on various websites. I thought that since we have been talking consistently about the organization in Forces for Good, I would do the same. All of the websites I used have different ratings systems (like Charity Navigator’s star system) so they cannot be compared that easily. Regardless, I thought it was interesting to see the comparison, particularly since Crutchfield and Grant thought these organizations had the greatest IMPACT. Impact, of course, being something many of these websites fail to consider and a weakness we have discussed.

So, here it is.



Here is the description provided by Guidestar about the requirements to become a Guidestar Exchange Partner.

The GuideStar Exchange is an initiative designed to connect nonprofits with current and potential supporters. With millions of people coming to GuideStar to learn more about nonprofit organizations, the GuideStar Exchange allows nonprofits to share a wealth of up-to-date information with GuideStar's vast on-line audience of grantmakers and individual donors.

Exchange members are nonprofits that have updated their nonprofit reports to the fullest—sharing information, documentation, photos, and video with GuideStar's visitors.

Becoming a GuideStar Exchange member is free of charge. To join, an organization needs to update its report page, completing all required fields for membership. Here are some of the required fields:

• An independent audit of financial statements (organizations with total revenues greater than $1 million)
• A GuideStar Basic Financial Statement (organizations with revenues less than $200,000)
• An independent audit of financial statements (community foundations with assets of $5 million or more)
• An independent review of financial statements (community foundations with assets less than $5 million)

** Interestingly, like the other sites, the focus appears to be on financial information.