The Internet ...

Charitywatch.org, the online home of the American Institute of Philanthropy, is the pit bull of watchdogs. It rates charities according to a special grading system by conducting in-depth analyses of audited financial statements, IRS filings, and annual reports to reveal how they spend their funding.

Give.org is the site for the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance. It provides evaluations and publishes a quarterly Giving Guide that helps to clarify a charity’s “programs, activities, and accomplishments.”

Charitynavigator.org allows you to “search by size of organization, state, and financial stability.” The site divides “more than 5,000 charities” into nine broad categories, such as religion and environment, and then into further subcategories.

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Source: Consumer Reports