Where Celebrity Give, Do Fans Follow?
Paparazzi swoon, but not necessarily donors

Feb 4 | archive | subscribe

Most charities welcome the chance to sign on a celebrity, even if it won’t draw in a bigger donor base, because it raises the level of seriousness around the topic. However, studies show celebrities can raise an organizations profile, but it doesn’t always help to raise funds.

Americans don't dole out donations based on a megawatt smile or marquee name. According to studies, only 15% out of more than 1,000 adults surveyed, said they would donate to a cause because of its affiliation with a star. Word of mouth still wins out. 77% said family members could sway them and 64% listen to their friends.

Star power may help raise a nonprofit's profile, but experts warn donors to do their research.
Charity Navigator, founded in 2001, has become the nation's largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities. In Their team of professional analysts has examined tens of thousands of non-profit financial documents. As a result, they know as much about the true fiscal operations of charities as anyone.

“We've used this knowledge to develop an unbiased, objective, numbers-based rating system to assess the financial health of over 5,000 of America's best-known charities.” Says the spokesperson for the website.

Charity Navigator's rating system examines two broad areas of a charity's financial health -- how responsibly it functions day to day as well as how well positioned it is to sustain its programs over time. Each charity is then awarded an overall rating, ranging from zero to four stars.