Every year the American Institute of Philanthropy rates over 500 charities and assigns them a letter grade; these grades range from A+, the best rating a charity can receive, down to F, the worst. The criteria used by the American Institute of Philanthropy includes percent of budget spent on programming, ratio of dollars spent per dollar raised, reserve asset holdings and disclosure of financial information.
Animal Welfare Institute
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) was founded in 1951. They originated as an organization focused on eliminating the use of animals as test subjects in laboratories. Today they have expanded their focus to include abolishing animal factories, the elimination of traps that inflict pain on animals such as steel leghold traps and wire snares, the preservation endangered species and improving the conditions required when transporting animals. Of the money available to them, the AWI spent 96% of that funding on their programs; only 3% was spent on administrative expenses and 1% on fundraising expenses. Beyond having an A+ rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy, they also received a four star rating (out of four) from the Charity Navigator and qualify for the Combined Federal Campaign.
The Conservation Fund
The main focus of The Conservation Fund is to preserve America's land, water and natural ecosystems. The Fund was started in 1985 and has since grown to have a staff of 140 full time employees and over six million acres in property holdings spanning all fifty states. Beyond land holdings, The Conservation Fund also puts on educational programs that are built around efficient water usage, green methods of building and support of sustainable businesses. They received not only an A+ rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy but also four stars from the Charity Navigator. It should be noted that, per dollar, The Conservation Fund has protected more land than any other organization.
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Big Brothers Big Sisters is a mentoring foundation that focuses on providing youths with one on one time with an adult who will be a positive influence on their lives. Some of the benefits from Big Brothers Big Sisters are improvements in schoolwork, reduced likelyhood of skipping class and reduced usage of drugs. At Big Brothers Big Sisters, over 92% of their funding goes directly to their programming with the remainder going to administration costs. Big Brothers Big Sisters received a four star rating from the Charity Navigator, an A+ rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy, they meet all the Standards for Charitable Accountability and have been awarded the Independent Charities Seal of Excellence.
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