The Chronicle, 9/21/2005: How Charities Handle Good -- and Bad -- Reviews From Nonprofit Watchdogs

The Chronicle, 9/21/2005: How Charities Handle Good -- and Bad -- Reviews From Nonprofit Watchdogs: "How Charities Handle Good -- and Bad -- Reviews From Nonprofit Watchdogs
By Eman Quotah

One day about three years ago, the mail brought unexpected good news to Thomas Bailey. Mr. Bailey, executive director of Little Traverse Conservancy, a land trust in Harbor Springs, Mich., received a letter from Charity Navigator, in Mahwah, N.J., congratulating the conservancy on achieving the highest grade the watchdog group bestows on the nonprofit organizations it evaluates.

Though Mr. Bailey had not heard of Charity Navigator until then, the four-star rating -- which measured his group's financial health against that of similar charities -- did not surprise him."