Charitology
Tool · For nonprofits and funders

Due Diligence Checklist

Check an organization against 25 questions on legitimacy, money, results, learning, its place in the system and red flags. Unknowns become questions to ask, and the report downloads as Markdown.

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Check an organization

20 checks and 5 red flags. Saved only in this browser.

Links to ProPublica and WHOFUNDS include the organization’s name, so clicking one sends the name to that site. Nothing else leaves your browser.

Legitimacy

Is it what it says it is?

1. Is it on the IRS list of organizations that can receive tax-deductible gifts?

Why it matters. The list confirms that the IRS recognizes it as tax-exempt. It says nothing about how well it works. Some eligible groups aren’t listed: churches don’t have to apply for recognition, and groups covered by a parent organization’s group ruling aren’t listed separately.

How to check. Search its name or EIN in Tax Exempt Organization Search. If it isn’t there, ask for its IRS exemption letter. IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search

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2. Has it kept filing its annual return with the IRS?

Why it matters. An organization that doesn’t file for three years in a row automatically loses its tax-exempt status. The returns are also the fullest public record of what it does with its money.

How to check. Tax Exempt Organization Search shows revocations and recent returns, and ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer shows the filings. Organizations whose gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less may file only a short electronic notice, the e-Postcard. IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer

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3. Is it registered with your state’s charity regulator, if your state requires that?

Why it matters. Registration rules differ from state to state. The FTC suggests checking that both the charity and any fundraiser asking on its behalf are registered with your state.

How to check. Find your state’s charity office in the National Association of State Charity Officials directory. State charity offices (NASCO)

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4. Does it have an independent board and written conflict-of-interest and whistleblower policies?

Why it matters. These are how an organization checks itself. Form 990 asks about each one in Part VI.

How to check. Read Part VI of its latest Form 990: line 1b counts independent board members, line 12a asks about a conflict-of-interest policy and line 13 about a whistleblower policy. U.S. exempt organizations must let the public see their annual returns for three years. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer

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Money

Where does the money go, and where does it come from?

5. Do you know what its spending buys?

Why it matters. How costs split between programs, management and fundraising says little about results. In 2013 the leaders of GuideStar, Charity Navigator and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance told donors that overhead is a poor measure of performance.

How to check. Charity Impact Media shows Form 990 spending for U.S. charities with $10 million or more in revenue. For a charity that files the full Form 990, Part IX splits its expenses into programs, management and fundraising. Charity Impact Media ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer The Overhead Myth

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6. Does it invest in what results depend on, such as skilled staff, good systems and evaluation?

Why it matters. Charities that starve these to keep overhead low can end up less effective. Ann Goggins Gregory and Don Howard called the pattern the nonprofit starvation cycle.

How to check. Ask what it would fix first if it had more flexible money. The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle (SSIR)

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7. Are its financial statements compiled, reviewed or audited by an independent accountant?

Why it matters. It is an outside check on the books. Form 990 asks about it in Part XII.

How to check. Read Part XII, line 2, of its latest Form 990, or ask for its latest audit or review. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer

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8. Do you know who else funds it?

Why it matters. If large funders already cover the work, your gift might do more elsewhere. If one funder pays for most of it, ask what happens when that money ends.

How to check. WHOFUNDS shows what U.S. private foundations reported paying it, from their Form 990-PF filings. WHOFUNDS

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9. Is leadership pay set by people without a conflict of interest?

Why it matters. The question isn’t whether pay is high or low. It is whether independent people set it and compare it with similar organizations.

How to check. Form 990 asks about the process in Part VI, line 15, and lists pay for officers, directors and key employees in Part VII. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer

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Results

What changes because it exists?

10. Does it report what changed for people, not only what it did?

Why it matters. Outputs count activity, such as meals served. Outcomes are changes in people’s lives, such as fewer hungry days. Form 990 asks for accomplishments in measures such as clients served, which are outputs, so you usually have to ask for outcomes.

How to check. Ask which outcomes it tracks and how it measures them. The Measurement Gap Impact Measurement Toolkit

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11. What is the strongest evidence that its approach works?

Why it matters. A careful study of the same approach somewhere else is useful. A careful study of this program, in this place, tells you more.

How to check. Ask for the best study it knows of and who did it. Independent evaluators publish research on some causes. GiveWell Giving Green Animal Charity Evaluators

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12. Does it know what one result costs?

Why it matters. Programs with the same goal can cost very different amounts per result. Cost per result tells you more than an overhead ratio.

How to check. Ask for its cost per outcome, such as the cost per child who learns to read, and how it was worked out. The Giver’s Checklist

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Learning

Does it find out, and act on what it finds?

13. Does it publish what didn’t work?

Why it matters. A published failure lets others avoid repeating it, and an organization that names its mistakes shows it is looking for them. Some publish them openly, such as Engineers Without Borders Canada with its failure reports and GiveWell with its public list of mistakes.

How to check. Look for a failure report, a mistakes page or lessons learned in its annual report. GiveWell: Our mistakes EWB Canada failure report The Silence About Failure

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14. Can it name something it changed because of what it learned?

Why it matters. Learning shows up as programs that change, not only as reports.

How to check. Ask for one example from the last few years.

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15. Does it know what result would make it change course?

Why it matters. A program with no stop rule can keep running whatever its results. Deciding in advance keeps the later decision honest.

How to check. Ask what result would make it redesign or stop the program. Impact Measurement Toolkit

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16. Does it ask the people it serves for feedback, and tell them what changed as a result?

Why it matters. The people served are the first to know whether help is working. Listen4Good, a feedback program for nonprofits, ends its five-step loop by reporting back to the people who answered.

How to check. Ask how often it collects feedback, and for one change it made because of it. Realizing the Promise of High-Quality Feedback The Missing Feedback Loop

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The system lens

Where does it sit in the larger system?

17. Do you know where on the depth scale its work acts?

Why it matters. Relief, repair, prevention, structure or source. Every level is needed. Know which one you are paying for.

How to check. Ask what would have to change for the problem to stop coming back, and whether its work changes that. The depth scale

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18. What would happen without this work, or without your gift?

Why it matters. A program’s effect is the difference between what happened and what would have happened anyway. If the work would be funded without you, your gift’s real effect lands somewhere else.

How to check. Ask how it compares its results with people or places it doesn’t serve, and whether another funder would fill the gap. J-PAL: Introduction to randomized evaluations The Counterfactual Problem

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19. Does it work with others on the same problem?

Why it matters. Organizations that work alone on a shared problem can duplicate each other’s costs and compete for the same donors.

How to check. Ask who else works on this problem nearby and how they divide the work. The Fragmentation Problem

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20. Do the people it serves help decide what it does?

Why it matters. The people closest to a problem often know which fix will last.

How to check. Ask whether people it serves sit on its board, its advisory groups or the panels that decide where money goes. The Missing Voice Fund for Shared Insight

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Red flags

Warning signs the FTC describes. Here, yes means you saw it. Seeing one doesn’t prove a scam, but it is a reason to stop and check.

21. Did anyone pressure you to give right away?

Why it matters. The FTC says scammers rush people so they can’t stop to research. A real charity will still welcome your gift after you have checked it.

FTC: Before giving to a charity

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22. Were you asked to pay only by cash, gift card, wire transfer, cryptocurrency or a payment app?

Why it matters. The FTC says a charity that only accepts these is likely a scam, and that a credit card or check is the safest way to give.

FTC: Before giving to a charity

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23. Did the name sound like a better-known charity, or were you thanked for a pledge you don’t remember making?

Why it matters. The FTC says some scammers use names that sound like real charities, or claim you already pledged, so you feel you should give.

FTC: Before giving to a charity

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24. Was the appeal emotional but vague about how the money would be used?

Why it matters. The FTC advises caution when a moving story comes with few specifics about where the money goes.

FTC: Before giving to a charity

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25. Were you promised a prize, or told a gift is tax-deductible when you couldn’t confirm it?

Why it matters. The FTC says a promise that you will win something for giving is a scam. You can check deductibility yourself.

How to check. Search the organization in Tax Exempt Organization Search. IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search

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Summary

Yes
0
of 20 checks
No
0
information, not a verdict
Unknown
0
questions to ask
Not applicable
0
left out on purpose
Red flags seen
0
of 5 warning signs

These are counts, not a score. Unknowns are never counted against an organization.

Questions to ask

    Anything you mark unknown appears here as a question to ask.

    Red flags seen

      No red flags marked.

      How it works

      Pick an organization, or start a new one, and work through the questions in any order. Each question says why it matters and, where a public record can answer it, how to check. Mark each one yes, no, unknown or not applicable, and add a note if you like. The checklist keeps a separate copy for every organization you check, saved only in this browser.

      The summary counts answers by status. Anything marked unknown is listed as a question to ask the organization, and the whole checklist downloads as a Markdown report you can share, edit or keep.

      If you came from the Charity Lookup, the organization’s name is already filled in. Links to ProPublica and WHOFUNDS then open with that name searched, which sends it to those sites when you click.

      Six groups of questions

      Legitimacy asks whether the organization is what it says it is: recognized by the IRS, still filing, registered where your state requires it, and governed by people who can check it. Money asks what the spending buys and who else pays, and deliberately doesn’t ask for an overhead ratio, because a low one tells you little about results. That is the Overhead Myth. Results asks for outcomes, not just outputs, which is the Measurement Gap. Learning asks whether the organization publishes what didn’t work and changes because of it, the cure for the Silence About Failure.

      The system lens asks what no tax form shows: where on the depth scale the work acts, what would happen without it, whether it coordinates with others and whether the people it serves have a say. That last one is the Missing Voice. Red flags are warning signs the Federal Trade Commission describes. In that group, yes means you saw the sign.

      What it isn’t

      It isn’t a score, and it never adds answers into a grade. A “no” is information, not a verdict: a young organization may not have an audit yet, and a tiny one may have no reason to publish a failure report. Unknowns are questions, never failures. The registries it points to are U.S. sources run by other organizations, and Charitology doesn’t vouch for what they show. A clean checklist doesn’t prove an organization is effective, and seeing a red flag doesn’t prove a scam. It means stop and check.

      Sources

      1. Search for tax exempt organizations · Internal Revenue Service, 2026
      2. Automatic revocation of exemption · Internal Revenue Service, 2026
      3. Churches, integrated auxiliaries and conventions or associations of churches · Internal Revenue Service, 2026 · Churches that meet section 501(c)(3) are tax-exempt without applying for recognition.
      4. Exempt organizations general issues: Eligible charitable donees · Internal Revenue Service, 2026 · Subordinates under a group ruling aren’t listed separately.
      5. Annual exempt organization return: who must file · Internal Revenue Service, 2026
      6. Public disclosure and availability of exempt organizations returns and applications: Documents subject to public disclosure · Internal Revenue Service, 2026
      7. Instructions for Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (2025) · Internal Revenue Service, 2025 · Part III (program accomplishments), Part VI (governance), Part VII (compensation), Part IX (functional expenses) and Part XII (financial statements).
      8. Before Giving to a Charity · Federal Trade Commission, 2025
      9. National Association of State Charity Officials · NASCO, 2026 · Registration and filing requirements differ from state to state. Accessed October 2026.
      10. State Government · National Association of State Charity Officials, 2026 · Directory of state charity offices, accessed October 2026.
      11. 3 Major Charity Groups Ask Donors to Stop Focusing on Overhead Costs · The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 2013
      12. The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle · Ann Goggins Gregory and Don Howard, Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2009
      13. Charity Impact Media · Charity Impact Media, 2026 · Accessed October 2026.
      14. WHOFUNDS open grant graph · WHOFUNDS, 2026 · Accessed October 2026.
      15. Our Mistakes · GiveWell, 2026 · A running list, accessed October 2026.
      16. 2017 Failure Report · Engineers Without Borders Canada, 2018
      17. Realizing the Promise of High-Quality Feedback · Juan Clavijo and Melinda Tuan, Feedback Labs, 2021
      18. Introduction to randomized evaluations · Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), 2023