‘Smart Money’: Ranking Charities

Smart Money (December) rates 100 big charities to determine which ones are most efficient.

To develop the ratings, the magazine looked at three years’ worth of financial data and calculated how much of an organization’s budget goes to charitable programs. That ratio was given 60 percent weight in the rankings — the more that went to programs, the better an organization did.

The second calculation, worth 30 percent, was based on the amount spent on fund raising. The less spent, the higher a charity’s score. The third calculation, worth 10 percent, showed how much went to savings. Thus Smart Money gave better marks to charities that spent more than to those that accumulated significant sums.

Here is the magazine’s top-rated charity in each of seven fields, followed by the worst-rated organization in each field:

Conservation. Trust for Public Land; Ducks Unlimited

Culture. Public Broadcasting Service; Museum of Fine Arts (Boston)

Education. SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics); Junior Achievement

Health. Shriners Hospital for Children; American Cancer Society

Human services. Neighborhood Centers (Houston); Paralyzed Veterans of America

International relief. International Rescue Committee; Save the Children

Religion. Samaritan’s Purse; American Bible Society

A full list of the rankings is available at http://smartmoney.com/mag.