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America's Top 50 charities in 2011: How well do they rate?

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RANK NAME WEBSITE CATEGORY TOTAL INCOME IN MILLIONS (2011) PUBLIC SUPPORT IN MILLIONS (2011) PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL EXPENSES SPENT ON PROGRAMS† SALARY & BENEFITS OF HIGHEST-PAID OFFICIAL† CHARITYWATCH‡ GRADE WISE GIVING ALLIANCE ‡‡ CHARITY NAVIGATOR†
1 YMCA of the USA ymca.net Social services $5986.1 $823.4 87.4 $441,438 A MEETS STANDARDS ★★★★
2 Goodwill Industries International goodwill.org Social services 4,437.0 778.0 89.0‡‡ $508,571 A MEETS STANDARDS NO RATING
3 Catholic Charities USA catholiccharities.usa.org Social services 4,422.8 679.2 79.6 $265,356 NO RATING MEETS STANDARDS ★★★★
4 United Way unitedway.org Social services 4,139.9 3,903.2 90.6 $763,394 NO RATING NO RATING ★★★★
5 American Red Cross redcross.org Social services 3,453.0 945.9 92.2 $568,594 A MEETS STANDARDS ★★★
6 The Salvation Army salvationarmyusa.org Social services 3,203.8 1,697.6 84.0 $216,182 A / A– MEETS STANDARDS NO RATING
7 Habitat for Humanity International habitat.org Social services 1,490.6 619.3 83.7 $315,130 B+ MEETS STANDARDS ★★★
8 Boys & Girls Clubs of America bgca.org Youth 1,458.3 658.3 85.1 $1,814,593 A+ MEETS STANDARDS ★★★
9 Easter Seals easterseals.com Health 1,402.5 161.6 80.6 $838,901 B– MEETS STANDARDS ★★
10 Smithsonian Institution si.edu Museums 1,241.0 161.4 73.7 $517,318 NO RATING NO RATING ★★★★
11 Feeding America feedingamerica.org Social services 1,185.0 1,144.3 97.2 $524,052 B MEETS STANDARDS ★★★★
12 Task Force for Global Health taskforce.org Health 1,163.4 1,147.8 100.0‡‡ $262,500 NO RATING MEETS STANDARDS NO RATING
13 Planned Parenthood Federation of America plannedparenthood.org Health 1,154.0 279.6 72.8 $382,688 A– MEETS STANDARDS ★★★★
14 World Vision worldvision.org Relief/development 1,055.8 848.2 88.3 $405,975 B+ MEETS STANDARDS ★★★★
15 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute dana-farber.org Hospital/med center 1,002.5 275.8 85.2 $905,018 NO RATING NO RATING ★★★★
16 The Nature Conservancy nature.org Environment 997.0 504.0 78.8 $493,332 A– MEETS STANDARDS ★★★
17 Shriners Hospitals for Children shrinershospitalsforchildren.org Hospital/med center 963.6 195.7 85.0 $428,771 A/F ‡‡‡ NO RATING ★★★
18 American Cancer Society cancer.org Health 953.6 888.3 70.0 $2,081,246 C MEETS STANDARDS ★★
19 Food for the Poor foodforthepoor.org Relief/development 938.2 930.2 96.8 $388,979 B– MEETS STANDARDS ★★★
20 Boy Scouts of America scouting.org Youth 904.7 394.0 89.0‡‡ $815,014 A MEETS STANDARDS NO RATING
21 Catholic Relief Services crs.org Relief/development 821.5 319.4 94.4 $325,000 A+ MEETS STANDARDS ★★★★
22 ALSAC/St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital stjude.org Hospital/med center 814.3 698.4 70.3 $477,920 B+ MEETS STANDARDS ★★★
23 Children’s Hospital Los Angeles chla.org Hospital/med center 812.8 97.7 85.0** $822,616* NO RATING NO RATING NO RATING
24 Girl Scouts of the USA girlscouts.org Youth 735.2 102.3 88.9 $442,016 C+ MEETS STANDARDS ★★★
25 YWCA ywca.org Social services 699.9 397.7 36.8 $233,722 D/F ‡‡‡ NO RATING ★★
26 AmeriCares americares.org Relief/development 663.8 662.9 98.4 $266,021 B– MEETS STANDARDS ★★★
27 American Heart Association heart.org Health 657.2 510.3 53.3 $602,529 C+ MEETS STANDARDS ★★
28 Save the Children savethechildren.org Relief/development 600.5 349.3 90.7 $425,324 A+ MEETS STANDARDS ★★★★
29 CARE care.org Relief/development 582.0 361.6 89.5 $419,284 A+ MEETS STANDARDS ★★★
30 Compassion International compassion.com Relief/development 548.9 547.4 83.2 $273,125 A MEETS STANDARDS ★★★★
31 Campus Crusade for Christ cru.org Religious 517.1 474.5 86.0 (2) $64,020 NO RATING REVIEW IN PROGRESS NO RATING
32 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center fhcrc.org Hospital/med center 470.6 69.1 90.6** none reported NO RATING NO RATING NO RATING
33 Metropolitan Museum of Art metmuseum.org Museums 470.0 164.3 86.9 $988,523 NO RATING NO RATING ★★★
34 United States Fund for UNICEF unicefusa.org Relief/development 455.0 451.0 90.5 $467,463 B+ MEETS STANDARDS ★★★
35 Feed the Children feedthechildren.org Relief/development 436.5 430.1 92.9 $214,209 F REVIEW IN PROGRESS ★★★★
36 Direct Relief International directrelief.org Relief/development 404.9 404.7 98.8 $341,347 A- MEETS STANDARDS ★★★★
37 PBS pbs.org Relief/development 404.3 172.8 100 (3)** $603,403 NO RATING NO RATING NO RATING
38 International Rescue Committee rescue.org Relief/development 397.9 141.4 92.3 $395,612 A+ MEETS STANDARDS ★★★★
39 Art Institute of Chicago artic.edu Education 397.1 71.9 91.4 $1,026,395 NO RATING NO RATING ★★★★
40 Samaritan’s Purse samaritanspurse.org Relief/development 388.2 375.7 88.3 $421,198 C+ DOES NOT MEET ALL STANDARDS ★★★★
41 Institute of International Education iie.org Education 366.7 366.7 93.4 $490,547 NO RATING NO RATING ★★★★
42 Metropolitan Opera Association metoperafamily.org Cultural 365.9 194.1 90.5 $1,300,916 NO RATING NO RATING NO RATING
43 Susan G. Komen for the Cure ww5.komen.org Health 357.8 285.7 75.0 $471,471 B MEETS STANDARDS ★★★
44 Boys Town boystown.org Youth 325.2 141.9 88.7 $316,272 B –/C ‡‡‡ MEETS STANDARDS ★★★★
45 New York Presbyterian Fund (1) nyp.org Health 312.8 96.5 50.5** $4,304,436 NO RATING NO RATING NO RATING
46 Cystic Fibrosis Foundation cff.org Health 312.0 126.3 79.3 $477,065 A– MEETS STANDARDS ★★★
47 Good360 good360.org Relief/development 310.5 305.8 99.0 $708,722 B MEETS STANDARDS ★★★
48 Catholic Medical Mission Board cmmb.org Relief/development 305.1 294.3 97.0 $282,018 B MEETS STANDARDS ★★★★
49 Pew Charitable Trust pewtrusts.org Public interest 300.1 283.4 92.4** $708,722 NO RATING NO RATING NO RATING
50 Christian Broadcasting Network cbn.com Religious broadcasting 285.3 177.6 85.4 $404,394 NO RATING NO RATING ★★★★
† CHARITY NAVIGATOR; ‡ CHARITY WATCH (AIP); ‡‡ A SERVICE OF THE COUNCIL OF BETTER BUSINESS BUREAUS; * FOUND ON 990 TAX FORM; ** PERCENTAGE CALCULATED BY PROGRAM EXPENSES DIVIDED BY TOTAL INCOME; ‡‡‡ GRADE REDUCED BECAUSE OF LARGE AMOUNTS OF UNUSED ASSETS (1) ALL DATA FROM FISCAL YEAR 2010 (2) DATA COMES FROM CAMPUS CRUSADE FOR CHRIST’S INTERNAL FINANCIAL REPORT (3) PBS HAD $47.5 MILLION IN EXPENSES OVER REVENUE
Source: The NonProfit Times (except where noted); Research by Schuyler Velasco