Americans donated an estimated $499 billion to charity in 2022. Our collective generosity supports many different causes each year, but donations are not keeping up with inflationary pressure. Charitable giving is actually down year over year after adjusting for inflation.
There are thousands of charities, which can make it hard to decide which ones to donate to. Taking that fact into account, along with the impact of high inflation, we did the legwork to find the best options for you in various categories. We compared nearly 300,000 charities based on our proprietary SmileHub rating, which includes five categories: financial health, management overhead, fundraising efficiency, program efficiency and transparency. We also identified the best organizations to donate to overall, by size, and for each of the most popular causes.
If you want to explore more charities than those listed below, check out our search tool to find more of the best charities for 2024.
Best Charities Overall
| Charity Name | SmileHub Rating | Coverage Area | Category |
| Optica | 94 | National | Research |
| Aga Khan Foundation | 91 | National | International Support |
| Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust | 91 | National | Economic Development |
| Nationwide Children's Hospital | 91 | National | Health & Wellness |
| American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) | 91 | National | Research |
| The United States Olympic Endowment | 90 | National | Sports & Recreation |
| Research to Prevent Blindness | 89 | National | Research |
| Volunteers of America National Services | 88 | National | Community Support |
| Veterans United Foundation | 88 | National | Veterans |
| MAP International | 87 | National | International Support |
| ASTM International | 87 | National | Research |
| MedShare | 87 | National | International Support |
| EY Foundation | 87 | National | Education |
| WaterStone | 87 | National | Economic Development |
| Mather Foundation | 87 | National | Health & Wellness |
| Foundation Housing | 86 | National | Community Support |
| St. Jude Children's Research Hospital | 86 | National | Health & Wellness |
| Rockefeller Family Fund | 86 | National | Economic Development |
| American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) | 85 | National | Sports & Recreation |
| Friends of the Children | 85 | National | Children |
Best Charities By Size
| Charitable Organization | SmileHub Rating | Coverage Area | Category |
| MEGA-SIZED - $25M+ in Revenue | |||
| Optica | 94 | National | Research |
| Aga Khan Foundation | 91 | National | International Support |
| Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust | 91 | National | Economic Development |
| Nationwide Children's Hospital | 91 | National | Health & Wellness |
| American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) | 91 | National | Research |
| The United States Olympic Endowment | 90 | National | Sports & Recreation |
| Research to Prevent Blindness | 89 | National | Research |
| Volunteers of America National Services | 88 | National | Community Support |
| Veterans United Foundation | 88 | National | Veterans |
| MAP International | 87 | National | International Support |
| LARGE-SIZED - $2.5M to $25M in Revenue | |||
| Guidestream Charitable Gift Fund | 97 | National | Economic Development |
| Sickle Cell Disease Association of America | 96 | National | Health & Wellness |
| The American Center for Philanthropy (ACP) | 95 | National | Economic Development |
| Kacyra Family Foundation | 95 | National | Research |
| Follow Your Dream Foundation | 95 | National | Rights & Activism |
| International Myeloma Society | 94 | National | Research |
| Interweave Solutions | 94 | National | International Support |
| San Miguel Community Foundation | 93 | National | International Support |
| Planes of Fame Air Museum | 93 | National | Education |
| Lydian Accelerator | 93 | National | Research |
| MEDIUM-SIZED - $500K to $2.5M in Revenue | |||
| Ability Indiana | 98 | Indiana | Health & Wellness |
| St. Joseph's Villa | 98 | Virginia | Children |
| American Chemical Society Organic Chemistry Division | 97 | National | Research |
| League of Chicago Theatres Foundation | 97 | Chicago, IL | Arts |
| The Literary Club | 97 | Cincinnati, OH | Arts |
| Midwest Central Railroad | 97 | Iowa | Education |
| Yamhill County Historical Society | 97 | Yamhill County, OR | Education |
| The Mooring Foundation | 97 | Appleton, WI | Health & Wellness |
| Grand Rapids Public Library Foundation | 97 | Grand Rapids, MI | Education |
| Food Allergy Fund | 96 | National | Research |
| SMALL-SIZED - Less than $500K in Revenue | |||
| ARA Foundation | 94 | National | Economic Development |
| The Sun House Guild | 94 | Ukiah, CA | Education |
| Friends of the Lafayette Library and Learning Center | 91 | Lafayette, CA | Education |
| California Planning Foundation | 91 | California | Education |
| Larimer County 4-H Foundation | 91 | Larimer County, CO | Children |
| Westfield Rotary Club Foundation | 91 | Westfield, NJ | Economic Development |
| Heart Chan | 91 | California | Faith & Religious Support |
| Mankato Clinic Foundation | 91 | Mankato, MN | Health & Wellness |
| Rotary Club of Lansing Foundation | 91 | Lansing, MI | Economic Development |
| Community Foundation for Oak Park | 91 | Oak Park, CA | Economic Development |
Best Charities By Category
Methodology
To identify this year’s best charities, SmileHub compared nearly 300,000 U.S.-based charities using our proprietary SmileHub Rating (as of April 29, 2024), which covers 15 metrics across five categories: financial health, management overhead, fundraising efficiency, program efficiency and transparency. Using the SmileHub Rating, we scored each organization from 0 to 100, with 100 being the most trustworthy. We did not consider nonprofit organizations with an obvious political affiliation, school-related endowments, charities focused primarily on a politically divisive issue or those involved in legal investigations.
Based on the resulting final scores, we selected the best charities overall from the organizations with a national reach and at least $25 million in revenue.
For the best charities by size, we split charities into four categories: mega ($25M+ in revenue), large ($2.5M to $25M in revenue), medium ($500K to $2.5M in revenue) and small (less than $500K in revenue). For mega and large organizations, we only considered charities with a national reach, whereas for medium and small charities, we also took into consideration organizations focused on regional and local causes.
Lastly, for the best charities by category, we considered local and national organizations with at least $5 million in revenue.
SmileHub Rating - 100 Points Total
Financial Health: 40 Points
- Revenue (6 Points)
- Revenue Growth over Prior Year (6 Points)
- Profit Margin (6 Points)
- Liabilities to Assets Ratio (6 Points)
- Net Asset Growth – the percentage by which net assets increased over the last year (6 Points)
- Liquid Sustainability Ratio – time in months a charity can sustain its spending with its net available liquid assets (6 Points)
- Years of Charity (4 Points)
Management Overhead: 20 Points
- Board Payments (4 Points)
- Total Officer Compensation as % of Revenue (4 Points)
- Management Expenses as % of Total Expenses – the percentage of total expenses that goes toward a charity’s administration costs (12 Points)
Fundraising Efficiency: 15 Points
- Fundraising Productivity Ratio – the ratio of total contributions received by a charity to its total fundraising expenses (15 Points)
Program Efficiency: 20 Points
- Service Expenses as % of Total Expenses – the percentage of total expenses that goes toward a charity’s program(s) (16 Points)
- Volunteer-to-Employee Ratio (4 Points)
Transparency: 5 Points
- CEO Listed on Form 990 with Salary (3 Points)
- Website URL Listed on Form 990 (2 Points)
Visit the following link to learn more about our SmileHub Charity Rating Methodology.
Sources: This report is based on SmileHub calculations, as well as data collected from the Internal Revenue Service.
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