Rescuing horses is a noble cause. It should attract the most kind-hearted, responsible, and honest people, right? Unfortunately, the horse rescue world also attracts many people looking to line their own pockets and/or bail out hundreds of horses without a long-term plan.

Look up the Twist of Fate (TOF) sanctuary for one example of a non-profit gone bad. I followed TOF on Instagram and considered donating to them at one point. This was a 501c3 (or so I thought), its founder, Ashley DiFelice, was a close friend with many reputable sanctuary founders, and TOF had even been featured on Dodo. However, I never donated because their social media pages never showed employees or volunteers. It seemed “off” to me that Ashley could care for so many animals by herself. I didn’t think of fraud or animal abuse. I was more worried more about mismanagement.

Even before the TOF scandal, in which hundreds of animals were found dead or malnourished, I’ve always been a fairly cynical person. However, I have also donated after reading a desperate plea or seeing a tear-jerking video.

There were many scandals before TOF, and there will be more in the future. Therefore, do your research before donating to any non-profit. Below are some resources that I use.

Charity Navigator – They rate thousands of U.S. charities based on IRS data and info provided by the non-profit. Each charity is assessed for financial health & accountability, culture & community, and leadership & adaptability. For me, finances are the most important. I also like charities that have independent board members.

I highly recommend that you only donate to charities that are rated three stars and above.

Guidestar (Candid) – In 2019, Guidestar and the Foundation center merged to form Candid but most people are more familiar with Guidestar. Guidestar/candid provides a comprehensive database of 2+ million nonprofits. Nonprofits can also use this platform to highlight their programs and accomplishments.

The downside is that you have to open an account (free) to get basic information. You need to pay for a pro account to get to dive deeper into financial data.

Cause IQ – Its goal is to help companies get nonprofit clients, not help donors research nonprofits. However, anyone can use it to find  financial information including form 990s.

Tip: I normally just Google the name of the nonprofit and cause IQ.  For example: for the love of aria cause IQ

You can also go directly to the Cause IQ homepage and search for animal focused organizations. The downside is that they only allow users to search for 20 nonprofits per month for free. They also ave lists of nonprofits by  state and/or category (animal services, wildlife sanctuary etc). However, only paid subscribers can view the entire list. Paid access starts at $199/month.

CharityWatch – Their mission is to maximize the effectiveness of every dollar contributed to charity by providing donors with information to make informed giving decisions. They boast about being independent and being tough on nonprofits; 20% of nonprofits they evaluate received a “F”.

To get an “A”, a nonprofit must meet the following criteria:

• spend 75% or more of their cash budgets on programs.
• spend $25 or less to raise each $100 of cash support.
• do not hold excessive assets in reserve (equal to an adjusted three years or more of a charity’s annual cash spending) 

Great nonprofits – This is a platform for clients, donors, volunteers, and others to submit reviews about their favorite charities. Organizations can also earn a “badge” of excellence, which seems fairly easy to obtain.

Of course, there are gray areas to consider. A new organization may be waiting for 501c3 approval. In cases like this, I try to find out as much info as possible and donate smaller amounts. Another option is to focus on rescues closer to your home. Nothing beats visiting in person.

If you know of any other resources for researching charitable organizations, please share!