So, Who's Using Charity Navigator?

I am curious to learn more about the users of Charity Navigator. What impact does Charity Navigator have on actual donations? If 80% of its users are not looking elsewhere for information, what percentage of that 80% are donors? Or is the other 20% that does look elsewhere the user population actually giving money? And what average amount of money are users of Charity Navigator giving? As an NPO administrator (or even as a potential donor to Charity Navigator) I would be interested in knowing what effect a rating site like Charity Navigator has on donations and users.

I looked around to see if Charity Navigator had any publicly available data on its users. The" 80%" fact cited above is the only information I've been able to learn, and it was part of a PowerPoint presentation to our class. I also wasn't able to find an Annual Report for Charity Navigator in under 5 minutes (or under 15). Is this kind of user information considered proprietary? I wondered why Charity Navigator wasn't publishing any reports on itself and, while searching, learned that Charity Navigator doesn't rate itself either* because it is currently a 501(c)(3) private foundation and files a 990-PF. If you can't rate Charity Navigator using the criteria it uses for the nonprofits it rates (especially the new "Results Reporting" criteria), does this affect your desire to donate money to them?

Ultimately, I feel that any organization like Charity Navigator, that is creating incentives for nonprofits to publish better reporting, is of value, not only to donors but to the NPOs themselves. I would like to know if my other classmates think that the lack of user reporting from Charity Navigator is meaningful in any way?


* They state that they cannot rate themselves because they are a private foundation, then in the second paragraph say that they are a federally recognized nonprofit organization. Am I missing something? I think they are in a transition stage, similar to a Provisional Charter for Museums in the State of NY? If this is so, why can't they start to rate themselves? If anyone has more or better information, please share!