If you can, visit the nonprofits you are thinking of supporting. Newtithing Group suggests questions you should ask a nonprofit that you are evaluating. There is no single, universal way to evaluate a nonprofit organization. People's values and objectives differ, as do those of individual nonprofits. You want to identify the organizations that share your values and goals.
Some organizations work harder than others to establish personal relationships with donors.
Financial information and ratios, such as the proportion of program costs to administrative expenses, are important but are only two tools for evaluating a nonprofit. How the organization works toward accomplishing its mission and the effectiveness of its programs are equally important criteria. Size, age, and mission all affect a nonprofit's ability to achieve its goals. It is important to compare organizations to others that have similar missions and are of approximately the same size and age. GuideStar does not judge the organizations in its database.