Rating Charitable Organizations

From LoveToKnow Charity

For donors who are interested in offering financial support to a charity, rating charitable organizations that make the best use of that financial donation can feel overwhelming. There are so many charities across the country, and across the world, that determining the top charities can seem impossible. Read on to learn more about which charitable organizations are rated the highest by various philanthropy organizations across the world.

List of Nonprofit Organizations

The Process of Rating Charitable Organizations

In order to determine the overall top rated charities in the country, LoveToKnow Charity poured over several lists from charity rating organizations, including GetOnBoardNow, Forbes, Seekler, ListTopCharities, and The American Institute of Philanthropy, in order to provide readers with a comprehensive list of the top five, highly rated charities to donate to.

#5: Heifer International

Hiefer International is an amazing organization that seeks to end world hunger and poverty by working with local communities around the world in order to improve the standard of living around the world, and improve the earth. Heifer aggressively pursues the following action items on their list of important issues they seek to actively confront and overcome.

Agroecology: Teaching communities how to avoid overusing the land through sustainable agriculture.
Gender Equality: Heifer International beliefs that gender issues are directly related to hunger and poverty.
HIV-AIDS: HIV-AIDS is at the top of the list of issues that Heifer is concerned about.
Financing: Heifer offers no interest loans, in the form of both livestock and money, in order to help poor families in undervalued communities establish important local businesses.
Youth: Heifer International offers a wide range of programs the serve the youth of impoverished communities across the world.

#4: Animal Humane Society

Almost everyone in the world eventually discovers a soft place in their heart for animals. However, no one loves animals more than the good people who volunteer time and resources at the Animal Humane Society. The Humane Society offers a wide range of important services that help to improve the quality of life for animals in every community within the Humane Society's reach. If you locate your local society, you'll find that they typically offer all of the following critical community services for all local animals.

Free animal surrender for people who can't take appropriate care of their pets anymore
Housing lost or stray pets
Paid boarding services for family pets
Providing educational services to local schools regarding animal welfare
Youth programs, where kids learn responsibility and respect for animals
Spay and neutering services
Pet training and playgroups
Work with local authorities on humane investigations and reporting animal cruelty
Advocate for animals in animal cruelty cases

#3: Wildlife Conservation Society

The Wildlife Conservation Society is the world's premier charity that seeks to maintain the natural state of nature through caring for and protecting both wildlife and lands. The WCS is a tremendous organization, filled with volunteers and scientists who, through a devoted love for animals and nature, dedicate their time and resources to wildlife conservation. The WCS practices scientific studies, offers amazing and comprehensive educational services, and maintains wildlife parks around the world. WCS serves families, children, and communities across the world in immeasurable ways by elevating awareness regarding the importance of human interaction with wildlife and nature, and also by acting as stewards of some of the worlds most precious and delicate animals and wilderness areas. Money invested to the WCS goes a long way toward making the world a better place in countless ways.

#2: Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity is an amazing organization that serves almost every community in the world by helping unfortunate families in dire straights establish a home of their own. Founded in 1976, the Habitat for Humanity has designed homes that are uniquely designed to be easy and inexpensive to build and very efficient. The goal of Habitat for Humanity is a noble one - it is to eliminate "poverty housing," and to eradicate the world of homelessness, one family at a time. The entire premise of this organization is that no low-income family should be forced to live in slums or poorly constructed, dangerous apartment buildings. The Habitat provides safe and decent shelter to deserving families. Since this organization has been in operation, they've built over 300,000 homes around the world. They offer youth, gender, and educational programs as well.

#1: The Conservation Fund

This large and effective conservation charity is a powerhouse within America. The Conservation Fund seeks to protect America's land and waters through conservation efforts, training services, and even through strategic investments in land purchases that protect wildlife and forests around the country. This charity is so efficient and successful in their many conservation efforts, that most financial organizations that rate charities have the Conservation Fund at the top of the list. Charity Navigator and the AIP have both rated the Fund at A+ for efficiency. Specific activities of the Conservation Fund include:

Assisting agencies, land trusts and other organizations with land conservation efforts.
Assists communities across the nation balance economic improvement with forest and wildlife protection.
Helps communities with training and technology that serves to aid development while protecting wildlife.