Rating NGOs

The crisis in Burma is the occasion for examining what the best charities are for getting aid where it’s needed quickly and efficiently. The Chronicle of Philanthropy has a post titled “Donors Need Emergency ‘Help’ in Deciding How to Aid Myanmar.”

“Google ‘Myanmar’ and you’ll see a huge list of organizations advertising for donations,” writes Holden Karnofsky, a program officer at GiveWell, a grant maker that publicizes its evaluations of nonprofit groups. “I don’t know whether they’re coordinating on the ground, but they’re certainly competing when it comes to raising money—and donors, including myself, have virtually nothing to go on in picking one.”

The site where I got the link, The Agitator, makes a great suggestion:

I’d love to see someone host online a developing country-by-country assessment of which NGOs are doing what. Not just relief work, but ongoing human and environmental betterment. Something that goes far beyond “percentage spent on overhead” scorecards. With “reviews” of that work by knowledgeable observers, both locals and outside experts … and even donors. Like Amazon book reviews.

We need an assessment website like that for organizations involved in refugee resettlement, or any domestic charities for that matter. (Is there one? Let me know if so.)  Chris Coen has a ton of information about the various groups, based on his personal experience. Maybe other people do too. The State Department has steadfastly ignored him. It would be useful to have a place to collect information and make it public.

See one account of Chris Coen’s experiences here. And enter “Chris Coen” in our search function for more.