CharityWatch

What CharityWatch does

CharityWatch (legally American Institute of Philanthropy, Tax ID 33-0491030) is a Chicago-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity watchdog founded in 1992. The organization assigns letter-grade efficiency ratings (A+ to F) to over 600 charities across 35+ cause categories, derived from manual, in-depth analysis of audited financial statements, IRS tax filings, state filings, and annual reports. Its methodology explicitly adjusts for accounting items that automated raters miss, including in-kind donations, joint costs, and excessive asset reserves, and produces structured outputs including Program Percentage, Cost to Raise $100, Top Compensation lists, and a High Asset Charities chart. Analysts have cumulatively reviewed over 16,380 financial documents and invested more than 135,200 research hours in building the organization's proprietary charity-intelligence dataset.

The organization serves four primary audiences: individual donors seeking due-diligence tools before giving, corporations and foundations running philanthropy and ESG programs, journalists investigating nonprofit wrongdoing, and high-net-worth philanthropists/family offices conducting grantmaking diligence. Its product surface spans a free web platform with top-rated charity lists, a paid annual membership unlocking detailed rating reports and a biannual printed Charity Rating Guide & Watchdog Report, an educational blog, and a bi-weekly email newsletter. Distribution is predominantly direct-to-consumer via charitywatch.org and earned media in tier-one outlets (NBC, Wall Street Journal, CNN, New York Times, Forbes, LA Times); Donor-Advised Fund gifts are routed through partnership platform every.org.

Revenue comes from three streams: small individual donations (over 95% of support by the organization's own statement), corporate and foundation grants/memberships, and individual/corporate paid memberships for detailed reports. The organization operates with 1-10 employees, is led by CEO and Executive Director Laurie Styron with founder Daniel Borochoff continuing as analyst, and reports no parent company, institutional backing, or non-grant funding. CharityWatch does not offer a public API, mobile application, or documented AI/ML tooling, with all rating work conducted through manual analyst review.

Name

CharityWatch

Legal name

American Institute of Philanthropy

Website

https://charitywatch.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CharityWatch is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1992 that rates over 600 charities on an A+ to F efficiency scale through manual financial analysis. It serves individual donors, corporations, foundations, and journalists seeking independent nonprofit accountability intelligence.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charity Ratings and Nonprofit Analysis

akta.pro primary industry

Charitable Giving & Philanthropic Trust Advisory (FSAEAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Philanthropy & Foundations Advisory (Donor-Advised Funds, Endowments) (FSAAABAH)

Keywords

• Charity ratings
• Nonprofit evaluation
• Donor education
• Charity watchdog
• Nonprofit financial analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: CharityWatch relies on individual donors for support. Individual donors can make one-time donations, gift accounts to friends/family, or give through Donor-Advised Funds. The organization emphasizes that over 95% of its support comes from small, individual donations.
2. Corporate & Foundation Donations: Charities and corporations can support CharityWatch through corporate memberships and foundation grants. These organizational donors receive benefits including unlimited views of detailed charity rating reports.
3. Membership Fees: Paid memberships provide access to detailed charity rating reports on over 600 charities, including the biannual print publication Charity Rating Guide & Watchdog Report.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CharityWatch performs in-depth manual financial analysis of more than 600 U.S. charities and assigns them letter-grade efficiency ratings from A+ to F. It sells access to detailed rating reports, specialized lists (Top-Rated Charities, High Asset Charities, Top Compensation), and a biannual print Charity Rating Guide & Watchdog Report through paid individual, corporate, foundation, and donor-advised fund memberships, while offering basic ratings and educational content for free.

Product overview

CharityWatch offers a comprehensive charity watchdog and rating service through its core online platform and biannual print publication, the Charity Rating Guide & Watchdog Report. The platform provides letter-grade efficiency ratings (A+ to F) for over 600 charities, supplemented by specialized lists including the Top-Rated Charities list, High Asset Charities chart, and Nonprofit Compensation Packages analysis. Additional offerings include Analysts' Notes with in-depth financial analysis, a blog with educational content, and a bi-weekly newsletter. The membership/subscription service provides unlimited access to detailed ratings and the print publication. Together, these products help donors make informed giving decisions by evaluating charity financial efficiency, governance, and accountability.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• CharityWatch analysts collectively spend more than 1,000 hours each year analyzing and reporting on financial waste and questionable practices
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• every.orgcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributorevery.org serves as a platform for Donor-Advised Fund donations to CharityWatch. Donors can contribute through their DAF to CharityWatch using Tax ID 33-0491030 (American Institute of Philanthropy, dba CharityWatch). This partnership enables donors to take tax deductions in the year of contribution while recommending grants to CharityWatch later.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Cause IQ: A nonprofit and government data platform providing deep profiles on organizations using IRS data and other public sources. Adjacent — competes for nonprofit data attention, but targets researchers and grantmakers rather than individual donors.
• Independent Sector: A national membership organization of nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs that produces research and policy advocacy on the charitable sector. Thematically related as a sector-wide voice on nonprofit accountability, but not a direct competitor in charity ratings.
• Philanthropy Roundtable: A membership organization for individual donors, families, and foundations that provides education and networking on effective philanthropy. Thematically adjacent in serving informed donors, but focused on donor education rather than charity ratings.
• Nonprofit Finance Fund: A community development financial institution that provides loans, consulting, and research to strengthen nonprofit financial health. Adjacent — shares the nonprofit financial analysis domain but operates as a lender/consultant rather than a ratings provider.
• ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: A free investigative-journalism tool providing searchable access to IRS Form 990 data on U.S. nonprofits. Adjacent — provides raw financial transparency data that complements but does not replicate CharityWatch's adjusted efficiency ratings.

Direct peers

• Charity Navigator: The largest U.S. charity rating organization, providing letter-grade and star ratings on a much larger universe of charities. Direct peer offering the same core service (independent charity ratings) to the same donor audience, though at significantly larger scale and with a more automated methodology.
• ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability): An accreditation organization providing faith-based charity accountability standards and seals. Direct peer offering independent financial accountability verification, though specialized to evangelical/faith-based nonprofits.
• Candid (formerly GuideStar): The leading source of nonprofit information including IRS Form 990 data, seals of transparency, and nonprofit profiles used by donors, funders, and journalists. Direct peer in the nonprofit transparency/ratings space, with significantly larger data infrastructure and institutional funder backing.
• BBB Wise Giving Alliance (Give.org): A charity evaluation organization that produces detailed reports on charities meeting 20 standards of accountability. Direct peer producing independent donor-focused evaluations with similar accountability focus, operating as part of the Better Business Bureau network.
• GreatNonprofits: A reviews-based nonprofit rating platform where donors share stories and ratings about charities they have supported. Direct peer serving the same donor due-diligence use case, though differentiated by crowdsourced reviews rather than financial analysis.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CWTips
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/american-institute-of-philanthropy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CharityWatch