By Heather Mansfield, founder and editor-in-chief of Nonprofit Tech for Good
Seventy-two percent of individuals say that the presence of a charity rating badge increases their likelihood of giving. If your nonprofit does not have charity rating badges on your website, then it’s time to get registered with Charity Navigator, Candid, and GreatNonprofits. All three programs are free to use, accept online donations for your nonprofit, and are nonprofit organizations themselves.
It’s also worth noting that, according to the Charity AI Brand Footprint Study, Charity Navigator and Candid nonprofits are cited often by chatbots, including Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT. That said, all three charity rating and badge programs are only available to nonprofits based in the United States. If your nonprofit is located outside of the US, then Google “charity ratings [your country name]” to find similar programs.
1) Charity Navigator :: charitynavigator.org
Founded in 2002, Charity Navigator currently provides information about the financial health, transparency, and accountability of more than 1.6 million nonprofits in the United States and has issued ratings for nearly 245,000 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organizations. To begin, visit their FAQ for Nonprofits and then conduct a search for your nonprofit on Charity Navigator to see if your nonprofit has been rated. To update your profile and access your badge, sign up to access the Nonprofit Portal.
Eligible charities receive a zero to four-star star rating which is determined by the weighted sum of your nonprofit’s beacon scores (0-100).
For example, Panthera has earned a near-perfect score of 99% score from Charity Navigator, thus a ★ ★ ★ ★ rating, and has placed its badge in the footer of its website.
2) Candid :: candid.org
Candid (formerly known as Guidestar) released the first-ever searchable database of nonprofits in 1996 and has built one of the most comprehensive, up-to-date databases available to donors, nonprofits, and foundations worldwide. Through their APIs, more than 200 websites that serve the nonprofit sector, such as Global Giving and Benevity, use Candid to quickly validate a nonprofit’s legal status and contact information.
To begin, sign up to update your nonprofit’s Candid profile. Your nonprofit will then earn a Seal of Transparency based on the level of information provided.
A clever use of a Candid Seal of Transparency is the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge which occasionally promotes and embeds its seal on social media graphics.
3) GreatNonprofits :: greatnonprofits.org
Launched in 2007, GreatNonprofits is unique from Charity Navigator and Candid in that its charity rating badges are awarded based on reviews from your donors and supporters. Any nonprofit that gathers 10 or more positive reviews and maintains an overall average of 3.5+ stars from January 1 to December 31 each year earns a GreatNonprofits Top-Rated award. It’s worth noting that GreatNonprofits reviews also appear on Candid.
To begin, sign up to claim and set up your nonprofit’s profile and then invite your supporters, donors, and volunteers to write a review. Once you have earned your badge, add it to your nonprofit’s website. For example, Friends of Saguaro National Park is a nonprofit located in Tucson, AZ that features its GreatNonprofits badge on its “About Us” page.
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