5 Ways Your Website Can Improve Your Charity Navigator Score
Charity Navigator is the nation’s largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities. With the slogan “Your Guide to Intelligent Giving,” it’s a non-profit whose mission is to help donors make the best decision when it comes to contributing to other charities.
So far, they’ve evaluated 9,000+ American non-profits, using their “unbiased, objective, numbers-based rating system.” And, in 2019, they had 11 million+ website visits by donors, who want to know which nonprofits they can trust with their contributions.
Charity Navigator’s perfect 100 (non-profits that have perfect scores)
How Does Charity Navigator’s Rating System Work?
Charity Navigator bases their ratings on two broad areas of performance: 1) Financial Health and 2) Accountability & Transparency.
For financial health, Charity Navigator looks at financial information the charity provides in their IRS Form 990. Their team analyzes performance in 7 areas, focusing on financial efficiency and capacity, in relation to the charity’s cause area.
For accountability & transparency, Charity Navigator takes into account the charity’s Form 990 and “information collected from a review of the charity’s website.” Their team analyzes 17 different metrics, which assess “whether the charity follows best practices of governance and ethics,” and “whether the charity makes it easy for donors to find critical information about the organization.”
Charity Navigator uses your website as the source to evaluate 5 of the 17 metrics in the accountability and transparency rating group.
In general, information architecture as well as design and layout can help improve your score. While they’re evaluating your website across these categories, the main question they ask is: “How accessible is it to find and read this information?”
For each of these metrics, we will explain…
- How and why Charity Navigator evaluates it
- The impact it has on your overall accountability and transparency (A&T) rating
- Our tactical recommendations for your website
Applying the recommendations here could add up to a 18-point difference in your Charity Navigator score.
#1: Provide Information About (and Access to) Your Board Members
Charity Navigator believes that publishing your board members’ names on your website allows donors and other important stakeholders to understand the composition of your charity’s governing body. It also allows a donor to report concerns directly to a member of the Board instead of your staff, who might be a part of the concern.
While your Form 990 lists your Board, Charity Navigator looks for Board information on your website because they assume it is the most up-to-date version (a Form 990 can quickly become irrelevant).
Impact on Overall A&T Rating
If you do not publish board members on your website, you will receive a deduction of 4 points from your overall rating (out of 100).
Recommendations for Your Website
- Create a directory page (i.e. “Our Board Members” or “Our Leadership”) for your Board and/or leadership at large
- Clearly list all Board members, their name, role, and a way to get in contact with individual members or the Head of the Board
- On your About page or top navigation drop-down, include a link to that directory page
#2: Share Basic Information About Your Senior Staff
Charity Navigator believes that donors and other stakeholders have the right to know who is running the day-to-day operations of the organization.
The reasoning behind including a list of names on the website, as well as preferring the website over the Form 990, is similar to their reasoning on Board information (outlined above).
Impact on Overall A&T Rating
If you do not publish senior staff on your website, you will receive a deduction of 3 points from your overall rating (out of 100).
Recommendations for Your Website
- Create a directory page (i.e. “Our Staff” or “Our Leadership”) for your staff and/or leadership at large
- Clearly list all senior staff members, their name, role, and a way to get in touch
- On your About page or top navigation drop-down, include a link to that directory page
#3: Give Easy Access to Audited Financial Statements
Can donors find your financials? Charity Navigator believes that donors should have easy access to the audited financial report so they can determine if your charity is managing financial resources well. They check to see if your website has your audited financial statements for the fiscal year represented by the most recently filed IRS Form 990.
Impact on Overall A&T Rating
If you do not publish the latest Audited Financial Statements on your website, you will receive a deduction of 4 points from your overall rating (out of 100).
Recommendations for Your Website
- In the footer of your website, include a link to a “Financial Statements” page
- On that “Financial Statements” page, have all financial-related content titled, including your audited financial statements, labeled by year
- On your About page, have a section that links directly to your audited financial statements for the fiscal year represented by the most recently filed IRS Form 990
#4: Publish or Link to Your Most Recent Form 990
As with the Audited Financials, Charity Navigator believes that the Form 990 will also help donors understand the financial health of your non-profit. They check to see if your most recently filed IRS Form 990 is published on your website or if there’s a direct link to it on an external website.
Impact on Overall A&T Rating
If you do not publish the latest Form 990 on your website, you will receive a deduction of 3 points from your overall rating (out of 100).
Recommendations for Your Website
- In the footer of your website, have a link to a “Financial Statements” page
- On that Financial Statements page, have all financial-related content titled, including a link to your most recent Form 990 (optional: include previous years’ 990s)
- On your About page, have a section that links directly to your most recent Form 990
#5: Communicate Your Privacy Policy and Use Messaging to Protect “Donors”
Data privacy is becoming increasingly important for users across websites, and that includes donors who give personal information when supporting an organization. Charity Navigator believes it’s important to communicate your donor privacy policy and assure that your donor lists will be confidential.
Charity Navigator outlines that a privacy policy must be specific to “donors” (“users” or “visitors” is not sufficient), as it must consider online and offline contributors.
Because privacy policies are less standardized than financial reports, Charity Navigator will categorize your privacy policies into three different levels:
Level 1: Yes
- Written donor privacy policy published on website
- Policy states:
- (1) “it will not share or sell a donor’s information with anyone else, nor send donor mailings on behalf of other organizations”
- (2) “it will only share or sell personal information once the donor has given the charity specific permission to do so”
Level 2: Opt-out
- Written donor privacy policy published on website
- Allows donors to remove their names and contact information from share or sell lists
- Donors must take specific action to opt-out (this varies by organization)
Level 3: No
- No written donor privacy policy, OR
- The existing policy does not meet basic criteria for protecting contributors’ information
Impact on Overall A&T Rating
If you do not have a donor privacy policy, you will receive a deduction of 4 points from your overall rating (out of 100).
If you do not have an opt-out donor privacy policy, you will receive a deduction of 3 points.
Recommendations for Your Website
- In the footer of your website, have a link to your Privacy Policy
- Use language “donors,” not just “users” or “visitors,” or possibly have a section in the privacy policy to address the specifics for donors
- Speak with your internal team to determine if you’d prefer an opt-out privacy policy (this will deduct points, but not as much as not having a policy)
