We are currently in development of an algorithm to rate charities. This algorithm will include metrics on charity transparency, cost efficiency, and funding need. We are also testing metrics on charity results reporting and governance which we plan to incorporate in our algorithm going forward.
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Greg Thomson, MBA, Director of Research Kate Ruff, Social Results Analyst Roland Bertin, Chair, Ci Recommendation Committee Kate Ruff, MSc, Charity Analyst Chris Murphy, CFA, Food Banks Analyst Indi Gopinathan, MBA, Food Banks Analyst Greg Stevenson, CFA, At-Risk Youth Analyst Michael Phillips, CFA, Education Analyst Peter Holden, CFA, Education Analyst Nancy Self, CFA, Homeless Analyst Karen Greve Young, MBA, Cancer Analyst Hanny Elsayed, CFA, Charity Analyst Ken Evans, Public Relations Patrick Gossage, Public Relations Martha Grant, Public Relations &Communications Joni Avram, Marketing &Communications (Alberta) Stephen Thursby, Design Myrna Forsythe, Editor Rachel Greiner, Production & DesignRead More
Click below to download progress reports:
images/carehaiti_3mo_report.pdf Care Canada
images/dwb_haiti_6months_en.pdf Doctors Without Borders
images/hfh_haiti_progress_report.pdf Habitat for Humanity
images/oxfam_haiti_brief.pdf Oxfam
images/redcross_haitiearthquake_sixmonthreport.pdf Red Cross
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjPjoTrun6g Salvation Army (video)
images/stc_6month_report.pdf Save the Children
images/unicefhaiti_6moreport.pdf UNICEF
images/wv_haiti_6moreport.pdf World Vision
images/ci_top_picks_2010.pdf” title=”Download CI top picks 2010 PDF 
At Ci, we take giving seriously. We are funders who give to charities and wish that we had more to give, but our financial means are finite, making charitable donations a scarce resource. We value our money and also care about how this money can be best used to help those in need. Ci seeks to direct generosity where we believe it can have the greatest impact in helping Canada.
Perhaps we were invited to one too many charity fundraising galas. At one of those events we began asking: how much of what we paid for in tickets actually goes to the charity, what exactly does this charity do, and does our giving do any good? To answer these questions we applied
investment analysis techniques which are, by no means, the best tools, but are the only ones we knew how to use. We found the answers startling.
The Ci team believes that giving is good, but if the charities we had been supporting were mediocre at best, which charities should we give to? We began turning the tables on charities, asking hard questions to those who asked us for donations, and calling charities across Canada to look for excellence.
To find excellence, Ci researches and assesses charities. Our assessment extends far beyond just the numbers, looking at a charity’s mission, theory of change, history of results, outcomes rather than just outputs, and management. However, since Ci began in 2006, the greatest interest in our work has been in the numbers, maybe because it is the first time that donors have seen this kind of assessment of charities. While we believe that the numbers are important, number crunching is only a minor portion of the evaluation process Ci undertakes on a charity.
To download our 2010 Top Picks report, please images/ci_top_picks_2010.pdf click here.