While the online charity rating services (e.g. Charity Navigator) serve their purpose, there's nothing that says you are failing to serve the public's interest like when the Oregon State Attorney General lists you as one of the worst chairties of the year. This is the case for Making Memories which appears to have an inordantly high proportion of administrative expenses (although if you accept the staff's story, the group just doesn't know the difference between administrative and program expenses).
That said, helping the public recognize best from worst in philanthropy is an excellent job for the state enforcement organization. That they could analyze their own records and implement their own ratings over using the BBB program (which has had some "issues", not always being objective) is a bit of a concern but all-in-all, this is a great service I think every state attorney general should consider emulating.
For the story, see, the Portland Tribune.
Comments