Here's an activity I'm sure many US nonprofits would really appreciate (note: I seriously doubt this).
The Scottish Office of the Charity Regulator has developed a computer based model to assess whether charities provide public benefit. The model focuses on understanding the ability of beneficiaries to afford fees charged by charities. The Office says that for now it is just providing the information from its research to help set standards and will not apply its model to individual charities -- at least for the time being.
US Hospitals and education institutions look out! Imagine if Guidestar or other nonprofit rating organizations were to use the tool with their rating systems. Then we would truly be able to talk about how charitable some of these institutions are.
For the story, go here.