The spending picture
If a charity reports 72% for programs, about $72 of each $100 it spent went toward its stated cause, such as cancer research or animal care. The rest paid for raising money and running the organization.
How to read the numbers
How we assess
financial information.
The score
A separate number that combines program spending, the records in our snapshot, and how old those records are. It is not a percentage of money.
Illustrative examples, not a charity rating. Neither number tells you how many people were helped or how well a program worked.
How the score is calculated
Higher scores mean a higher share spent on the cause, more source coverage, newer records, or a mix of those things. The weights below reflect our editorial methodology; they are not an industry standard.
| Part | Weight | Exact calculation | Missing information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spending on the cause | 60% | Program expenses ÷ total expenses × 100. | Withhold the score if either amount is invalid, total is not positive, or expenses do not reconcile. |
| Source records | 25% | 50 points for an audit included in the reviewed snapshot; 50 for a functional expense breakdown. | A document not reviewed earns no coverage points. This describes our research, not the charity’s honesty or whether a document exists. |
| Age of records | 15% | 100 points up to 24 months after fiscal year end; 50 up to 36 months; then 0. Months = elapsed days ÷ 30.4375, measured at Oct 17, 2026. | Withhold if the fiscal end date is missing, invalid or after the snapshot date. |
| Results of the work | Not scored | No comparable outcome evaluation is included. | Not assessed: insufficient comparable information. Missing evidence does not mean no benefit. |
Multiply each component by its weight and add. Display one decimal place, without redistributing missing coverage points. A score of 80 is not an 80% success rate or a school grade.
Methodology financial-balanced-1.0. Calculation snapshot: Oct 17, 2026. Methodology reviewed October 17, 2026.
What does “spent on the cause” include?
The work that serves a charity’s mission: for example, research, food distribution, education or advocacy. Program expenses can include staff, donated goods and communications. They are not all cash handed to people.
Read the records in context
4 profiles use charity financial reports; 246 use IRS Form 990 figures rendered by ProPublica. The filing figures were extracted by code and checked for matching totals. That is not a human audit of every filing. AI assisted site code, editorial explanations and illustrations; calculations are deterministic.
Profiles distinguish fiscal period, source retrieval, and review. Reports can be old, incomplete or amended. Different missions, accounting periods and reporting entities are not automatically comparable. Donated goods and shared campaign costs can change the ratios.
Independent discovery
The directory starts in name order. Payments do not influence our score formula, directory order, or random discovery feature. Any future advertising or referral relationships will be identified separately from our assessments.
Our collection has 250 organizations across 10 causes. It is not an exhaustive list or a list of the most effective charities. Inclusion does not imply a charity’s approval or affiliation.
Corrections and changes
Changes to a source record or our methodology can change a score. A score is withheld when its inputs lack sufficient support. Outcome measures remain unassessed across this collection.