Nonprofit Plan is about improving the philanthropic ecosystem. The book by Hall & Hinkelman (2022) of Strategic Business Planning Company takes the holistic view: both from the charity’s point of view and from the donor’s. See Fig 17 from the book.
Chapter 3 and 5 are from a donor’s point of view, starting with larger charities (NGOs) and working into how to assess local/small charities.
The Nonprofit Self-Assessment for the charity’s internal review is instructive for a donor review of a charity. Although the self-assessment is an internal management tool, the general format is useful for a donor or volunteer to consider in charity selection. For large(r) nonprofit organizations look at the information available from the large assessment organizations (fig 9).
The results, if any, from the large assessment organizations is only a starting point. You, the donor or volunteer, still need to do additional due diligence and review how well the short list of charities matches with your own ideals/interests.
Chapter 3 of H&H’s Nonprofits book focuses on the assessment organizations and how they rank a large(r) charity. They look at how money is spent. Since nonprofits are (generally) required to report informational 990 tax forms to the IRS, it is easy to look at the amount of money spent on executive salaries (and board compensation, if any) and on fundraising. The remainder is spent on “programs”, whatever those may be for the specific charity. Too much spent on salaries and/or fundraising leaves less for the actual programs which can be a red flag. Financial strength and best practices for a nonprofit organization (like governance) are also considered.
Chapter 5 of H&H works through the budgeting process and how best to support a charitable cause (and various charities within that cause). You should consider contributions to charities as an investment and exercise the same due diligence. Fig 21 (H&H, 2022) outlines the ways to help out a charity (charitable cause).
The Gift of Giving, the Art of Caring(tm)
Hall, E. B. & Hinkelman, R. M. (2022). Perpetual Innovation™: Strategic planning for nonprofits and the art of impactful giving: the gift of giving, the art of caring. ISBN: 979-8842614615
Retrieved from: Amazon.com/dp/B0BF8MB13X (Available on Kindle eBook as well.)
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