Top Charities

How To Make a Difference in a Child's Life By Donating to the Top Charities for Children In 2009

If we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much. --Marian Wright Edelman

It's 2009. During every recession, there is one demographic group that is always the hardest hit, and that's children. CBS News did a series of stories called Children of the Recession. One 9 year old boy told CBS News correspondent Seth Doane "I cry … because I'm hungry."

Some parents like Shaunna Terry of Austin, Texas had to let their family's health insurance coverage lapse in order to put food on the table.

So ZenTactics.com decided we should try and help the children in some small way.

We're posting what we consider to be the 3 top charities for children with links to their websites so you can directly donate to those organizations. When we say "top charities for children", we mean charities that focus on influencing policies aimed at helping children or that directly help children in some way. Because of our own mission to help abuse survivors, we primarily focused on top charities that help children at risk of poverty or abuse, although one charity we picked focuses on helping sick children and their families.

ZenTactics is not affiliated with these charities in any way and our choices were made independently with our best judgment and by combing through various charity websites.

We made our list of top charities for children based on the effectiveness of that charity.

We used a website called Charity Navigator in order to decide the "effectiveness". We decided to include top charities that had an overall rating of 3 stars or higher (4 stars is the current maximum) under Charity Navigator's evaluation system. A four star rating means the charity "exceeds industry standards and outperforms most charities in its cause." A three star rating means the charity "exceeds or meets industry standards and performs as well as or better than most charities in its cause." Any rating less than 3 stars means there's room for improvement.

How the Charity Navigator Evaluation System Works

Under the Charity Navigator evaluation system, charitable organizations are rated on two main criteria - organizational efficiency and organizational capacity. The scores of these 2 main criteria are used to determine the overall rating.

Organizational efficiency is a measure of how well the charity functions on a daily basis. For instance, the lower the administrative costs of a charitable organization, the more money that is freed up for the actual charity work. Organizational capacity is the financial ability of the charity to sustain its activity and services over time, and whether or not it can do so in the face of an economic downturn or loss of support. Think of organizational capacity as a financial measurement to help you decide if that charity can stick around for sometime to pursue long term objectives. You can learn more about the rating system by clicking here.

A Word About the Facts & Figures For This List of Top Charities For Children

What's great about Charity Navigator is that it tells you how efficient an organization is at fundraising. For instance, "$0.09" in fundraising efficiency for the Children's Defense Fund means that CDF spends $0.09 to raise $1 in charitable contributions. Charity Navigator also typically tells you how much the President/CEO of that organization makes and what percentage of expenses their salary makes up.

A high overall rating ensures that an organization is typically spending its dollars efficiently and has the financial health to be around in the long term. Yes, we realize this is not a perfect rating system. It does not measure the qualitative impact it makes on the people it's intended to help. However, Charity Navigator states on its own website that it does not take any money from the charities it evaluates to ensure objectivity. Plus, these charities have been around for at least two decades and we feel they are fine charities worth donating money to in light of the work they're doing.

*This page was last updated Dec 9, 2009. A special thanks to Charity Navigator for letting us use their evaluation data in this page.

And now...(drum roll)...presenting the best charities for helping children in 2009:

1. Children's Defense Fund

About the Children's Defense Fund (CDF):

"The Children's Defense Fund's (CDF) mission is to leave no child behind and to ensure every child a healthy start, a head start, a fair start, a safe start, and a moral start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. Founded in 1973, CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investments before they get sick, drop out of school, get into trouble or suffer family breakdown. CDF advocates nationwide on behalf of children to ensure children are always a priority." --CDF Mission Statement from CharityNavigator.org

Why we like CDF:

The CDF has a clear strategic plan laid out on its website. Currently, its 3 year strategic plan covers four priorities: health care for children, reducing incarceration through early intervention in children's lives, developing leaders who will become the next generation of child advocates, and ending childhood poverty and stabilizing families.

Not only does it have a clear mission, but it has a decent fundraising efficiency. CDF spends $0.09 to raise $1 in charitable contributions. This is not the best of the 4-star organizations that do similar work, but it's certainly better than the Alliance for Children's Rights which spends $0.14 to raise $1 in charitable contributions.

Yes, I would like to donate to the Children's Defense Fund. Take Me There!

Overall Rating:	66.84 out of 70
Efficiency Rating:	37.73 out of 40
Fundraising Efficiency:	$0.09	N/A
Capacity Rating:	29.10 out of 30

I want to look at some more information from Charity Navigator about the Children's Defense Fund.

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2. Starlight Children's Foundation

About the Starlight Children's Foundation (SCF):

"When a child or teenager has a serious medical condition, everyone in the family is affected. For more than 25 years, Starlight Children's Foundation has dedicated itself to helping seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education and family activities. Starlight's programs have been proven to distract children from their pain, help them better understand and manage their illnesses, and connect families facing similar challenges so that no one feels alone. Through a network of more than 30 offices, Starlight provides ongoing support to children, parents and siblings in all U.S. states and Canadian provinces with an array of outpatient, hospital-based and Web offerings. Programs are also delivered internationally through affiliates in Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom." --SCF Mission Statement from CharityNavigator.org

Why we like SCF:

SCF doesn't grant wishes like the Make-A-Wish Foundation. They're dedicated to easing pain and suffering brought on by the illness. The great thing about Starlight is that their website says that research studies have shown the benefits of its programs for children and their families such as: reducing depression and loneliness, increased communication with friends and family, and improved self confidence and ability to deal with the disease. Plus, you can actually pick which geographic area to donate to. For instance, you can send your dollars to Starlight programs in any one of the 50 states of the USA. You can also support families in different Canadian provinces or in international countries like Japan.

Yes, I would like to donate to the Starlight Children's Foundation. Take Me There!

Overall Rating:	60.31 out of 70
Efficiency Rating:	32.81 out of 40
Fundraising Efficiency:	$0.13	N/A
Capacity Rating:	27.50 out of 30

I want to look at some more information from Charity Navigator about the Starlight Children's Foundation.

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3. K.I.D.S.

About K.I.D.S.:

"Since 1985, K.I.D.S. (Kids in Distressed Situations) has fulfilled its promise of bringing smiles to children in need by distributing over a half-billion dollars worth of new merchandise. In 2007, nearly $62 million worth of new products was distributed for the benefit of almost five million children who live in poverty and suffer from distressed conditions. K.I.D.S. operates six key programs that focus on meeting the needs of: victims of natural disasters and political unrest; homeless children; domestic abuse victims; children with low literacy levels; children of incarcerated parents/juvenile offenders; and military families/wounded soldiers." --K.I.D.S. Mission Statement from CharityNavigator.org

Why we like K.I.D.S.

K.I.D.S. is a very organizationally efficient charity according to the Charity Navigator data. Apparently, they don't spend anything to raise $1 in charitable contributions. This is probably because they donate mostly physical goods to help children and their families. If you look on their page about how K.I.D.S. works, you'll see that they accept donations from suppliers and retailers and then distribute those donations to other relief agencies and organizations. These relief agencies and organizations then distribute them to the children and families. The idea is that these relief agencies understand the needs of their communities and so they should be the ones doing the final distribution.

K.I.D.S. also states on its website that 85% of its donations are distributed to U.S. agencies, and the other 15% is distributed abroad.

K.I.D.S. lets you donate merchandise or cash to its program. However, while it accepts financial contributions from individuals, it only accepts "donations in quantity" from manufacturing or retail companies according to its website.

Yes, I am a manufacturing or retail company and would like to donate merchandise to K.I.D.S. Take me there!

Yes, I would like to donate money to K.I.D.S. Take me there!

Overall Rating:	62.42 out of 70
Efficiency Rating:	39.92 out of 40
Fundraising Efficiency:	$0.00	N/A
Capacity Rating:	22.50 out of 30

I want to look at some more information from Charity Navigator about K.I.D.S.

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Someday, maybe there will exist a well-informed, well considered and yet fervent public conviction that the most deadly of all possible sins is the mutilation of a child's spirit. --Eric Erickson

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