🤝 Supporting Responsibly
Vetting organizations
When evaluating organizations, look for:
- Financial transparency and public reporting
- Clear goals and realistic descriptions of impact
- Local partnerships or on the ground presence
- A history of consistent work, not only crisis driven activity
Common red flags because situations of crisis can attract oportunists and bad actors:
- Emotional manipulation or guilt driven messaging
- Pressure to act immediately without details
- Vague or inflated claims of impact
- No clear information about leadership or structure
- Fundraisers without independent verification
- Recycled images or stories without context
- Organizations that cannot explain how funds are used
Useful tools
Charity Navigator
Evaluates charities based on financial health, accountability, and transparency. Most useful for larger, established organizations, primarily US based.
ACAPS
Independent humanitarian analysis focused on needs, gaps, and response quality. Helpful for checking whether claimed interventions align with real needs.
Open Collective
Radical transparency for community driven initiatives. Every expense is public and traceable.
ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer
Direct access to nonprofit tax filings and historical records. Less polished, highly transparent.
Aid Transparency Index
Evaluates how openly organizations publish data about their activities, locations, and results. Focuses on transparency rather than fundraising optics.
Aid Worker Security Database
Tracks incidents affecting humanitarian workers. Provides indirect signals about field presence, risk exposure, and operational environments.
UK Charity Commission
Official registry for charities in England and Wales, including trustees, finances, and compliance history.
Devex
Journalism focused on global development and humanitarian work. Useful for identifying controversies, failed interventions, and structural issues.