•  Leave a $5 tip on a $2 cup of coffee.
• Sign-up for a volunteer activity in your community.
• Go out of your way to do something nice for a friend, family member, or colleague.
• Pledge to spend at least an hour helping someone with something you're really good at.
• Make a donation to your favorite charity, or help someone in need.
• Purchase a Good Card (a charitable gift card) and give it to someone you love.

Before making a donation, philanthropists across America have come to rely on Charity Navigator’s 5,500, free, objective charity ratings. But despite the fact that we evaluate ten times more organizations than anyone else in America has ever attempted, and despite the fact that those charities account for roughly 50% of the donations in America, many deserving (and not deserving) charities exist that we haven't gotten to yet. As a result, the most frequent communication we get from donors and charities alike is a request to add a specific charity to our site.


Knowing your desire for more charity ratings, we are thrilled to announce the addition of 20 more charities to our site thanks to funding provided by the Hobbs Foundation. For eight years, the Hobbs Foundation, located in Florida and known for its support of charities that benefit children, has funded our analysis of more charities. In all, their generous support has enabled us to add more than 150 charities to our site.

Check out the newly added charities now!

Here are our 10 blog posts that received the most views:

Hurricane

Wyclef Jean

Haiti Earthquake



1. Are Text Donations Safe? (January 2010)
   
2. 7.0 Earthquake Hits Haiti (January 2010)
   
3. Non-Profit CEO Pay and Government Funding (February 2009)
   
4. Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti Foundation (January 2010)
   
5. The Obama Budget and Charitable Tax Deductions (February 2009)
   
6. Beware of Scam Charities Popping Up (January 2010)
   
7. Tips, Tips and More Tips for Funding Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts (January 2010)
   
8. Crisis Giving: Cyclone, Earquake, Tornado and Fires (May 2008)
   
9. Help Vicitims of Deadly Cyclone in Myanmar (May 2008)
   

Text Donations

10. God and Money - The Church and the IRS (July 2008)

Setting up automatic contributions to your favorite charity (or charities) is a great way to give. But as this article from CreditCards.com reminds us, don't forget to do an annual review of those contributions. You'll want to check to make sure the charity is still Financially Healthy, that it is being Accountable and Transparent, and, most importantly, that it has reported on its Results. And you should also check to be sure that the charity's mission is still in line with your personal philanthropic goals.

As the Presidential Election gets closer, we’ll hear more and more about the candidates. And that includes how much they give to charity (an issue we've discussed in the past). Here’s what we found out recently:

• Mitt Romney has donated $9.5-million to his family foundation, Tyler Charitable Foundation, from 1999 – 2010. The foundation has given made grants of $7-million mostly to the Mormon Church and Brigham Young University. The foundation has also made grants to Right to Play,  City Year, Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, The Heritage Foundation and others.
• In 2010, Newt and Callista Gingrich contributed $81,133 to charity and their foundation, The Gingrich Foundation, made $120,000 in grants. The foundation made grants to 14 cultural, educational, and health charities, including the Alzheimer’s Association and the Atlanta Ballet.

Has your nonprofit used strategy & performance management principles to overcome a challenge to achieve your mission? If so, you could win a $2,000 grant from the Ascendant Strategy Management Group.  To compete for the grant, submit a video or podcast of no more than three minutes, or an abstract of 1,500 words (or less) to Mark Cutler (mcutler@ascendantsmg.com) by February 15, 2012.  Your essay, video or podcast should address the following questions:

• What is your organization's vision/mission?
• What challenges or barriers to success were you facing?
• Did you use any strategic planning or performance improvement models or methodologies to overcome the challenge(s)?
• How did you communicate the plan to your staff, volunteers, and other stakeholders?
• Did you use any tools or software to help manage the process?
• Ultimately, did you achieve breakthrough results?
• And if so, what was the secret of your success?

Winners will be announced at the Mission-Driven Management Summit in Washington, DC in March where Charity Navigator’s own Ken Berger will be presenting.  More information about the grant competition can be found on Ascendant’s blog.