Charity Navigator

[drwex]

Miss Chance (miss_chance) linked this in her blog: http://www.charitynavigator.org/
This seems like something I should've known about before and I'm really glad to get this info. I'm blogging it myself mostly for record purposes, but I'm also interested in hearing my readers' comments.

It claims to be an independent organization and their Web site has a lot of good detailed information on who they are and how they operate. For example, here's their page on how they rate charities: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=35

For people who just want suggestions, or things to avoid, they have simple top 10 lists, like "10 Slam-Dunk Charities" and "10 Inefficient Fundraisers".

My top charities (other than MIT) are:
MSF, 4 stars
AIDS Action (National gets 4 stars, but AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts gets 1?! WTF, must read more)
DonorsChoose, 4 stars
Kiva isn't per se a charity and isn't rated

Must do more research later...