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    Impact & Measurement

    We assess the direct impact of a charity’s program relative to the cost required to run it to help donors identify high-impact charities.

    Donors want to make sure their hard-earned dollars are doing the most good when they support a charity. In a world of limited resources and numerous needs, it becomes crucial to track and maximize the impact of those resources and help as many as possible, as much as possible. Donations can achieve a greater amount of good per dollar spent by supporting high-impact charities.

    How We Assess Programmatic Impact

    This beacon assesses programmatic impact through two assessments: Measuring Outcomes, which reviews how charities collect and use data to improve their programs, and the Impact Assessment, which analyzes a program's achievements in relation to its costs. All charities are eligible for the Measuring Outcomes assessment, while the program-level impact evaluations are available only to charities that run programs meeting specific criteria.

    Charities can earn Impact & Measurement beacon by logging into the Charity Navigator Nonprofit Portal and providing the necessary data. here. You can read the full methodology in our guidebook.

    Measuring Outcomes

    This metric assesses the use of evaluation tools to determine programmatic goals, objectives, approaches, and other activities that facilitate learning within an organization. 

    This metric focuses on identifying key stakeholders and ensuring they are engaged and considered throughout the entire M&E process, from conceptualization to setting objectives and early implementation.

    This metric focuses on best practices for identifying the most effective means of collecting data and employing scientifically sound and appropriate analysis techniques.

    This metric assesses whether findings from program monitoring are reported to all stakeholders in an accurate, relevant, and understandable way.

    This metric focuses on using data as a guiding consideration from the inception of an M&E approach. The use of findings may depend on the audience but is generally focused on accountability to funders, program improvement, and demonstrating program effectiveness.  

    Impact Assessment

    This metric evaluates eligible charities on cost-effectiveness, rewarding those that achieve more good per dollar and guiding donors to high-impact giving opportunities. Given the diversity in cause areas and success metrics, our evaluation process is tailored to each program type. Charities earn a score of 100 for highly cost-effective programs, 80 for cost-effective ones, and 65 if sufficient data is submitted but the program is deemed not cost-effective.

    • We collaborate with external partners to gather reliable data on programs and outcomes, enabling us to assess and score more organizations based on their cost-effectiveness.

    • We also partner with other trusted evaluators to leverage their rigorous evaluations as part of our Impact & Measurement assessments.

    • When data is provided from external sources, we provide credit and cite the source.

    Find Impactful Charities

    Discover charities rated on Impact & Measurement. Find a new and exciting giving opportunity.

     

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