Guidestar Correction

We wrote: Please beware of sites such as GuideStar, where the charities pay to be members and are rated accordingly. This is incorrect, and we apologize to GuideStar and thank Chuck McLean, VP, Research, GuideStar USA for his time and patience in helping us understand the process of Guidestar.

Indeed, the ratings are done by consumers, not by Guidestar, and are subjective to each one’s experience. While it is true that Guidestar does list a $1000 charge for charities to list with them, the “charities that provide us with all of the information that we request will get a free subscription for as long as their information remains current. We are both notified when a charity updates its information and get a computer-generated list of charities that have not made any updates in a one-year period” One additional note: Guidestar will provide a way to donate to your charity through their site, but uses a third party for processing who charges a 4.75 percent fee. (So, if you want the charity of your choice to receive $100, you must pay $104.75.) McLean also pointed out that his company does make public “more than four million Forms 990 available…at no cost, and we also make a lot of the information that organizations provide us available at no cost. We are looking for ways to make better information for individual donors available."

McLean acknowledges his site charges the $75 fee mostly to people who use this site for their jobs. “The $750 product you mention is Charity Check, which is used mostly by grantmakers." Frugal Living Press regrets the errors. --- Alice Rose Kieft