There are many ways to evaluate a sports team, a corporation, even a rock band or dance company. Is the most successful organization the one that makes the most money, has a winning record, does the most good for the community, produces a high quality product, or achieves artistic excellence? And even if you could decide which measurements mattered, it is not always easy to quantify the results.
Christian ministries are the same way. How do you evaluate excellence? Here at MinistryWatch, we have been asking ourselves this question for a long time – for more than two decades. We still don’t know all the answers, but we do know some of the right questions to ask.
That’s what the Donor Confidence Score is all about: asking some of the right questions.
In 2021, MinistryWatch, working with Calvin Edwards and Company and the Strategic Resource Group, identified 75 questions we think donors should ask ministries. You can find the complete list here.
While all these questions are important, some are more important than others. That’s why MinistryWatch picked the 20 most significant of these questions and used them to create our Donor Confidence Score (DCS).
We have asked these questions of the ministries in the MinistryWatch 1000 database, and we have given each ministry a score from 0 to 100. If a ministry scores more than 65, we believe it is possible to “Give With Confidence” to this ministry. If a ministry scores from 40 to 64, we recommend that you “Give With Caution.” For these ministries, we recommend that you do a bit of additional research to make sure that you are comfortable with these ministries before you give. If the ministry scores less than 40, we recommend that you “Withhold Giving” from this ministry.
We have posted the answers to these questions on the profile of every ministry in our MinistryWatch 1000 database.
Below, we have compiled a list of ministries with a perfect 100 score in our rating system. As you will see, this list has only about 60 ministries on it. We have organized the list by ministry category, so you can see what the best ministries are in each category. It is our hope that you will use this list as a guide to your giving.
It’s important to note that this list is dynamic and could – indeed, likely will – change over time. This list is accurate as of March 1, 2023, you should look at the page for an individual ministry to find the “latest and greatest” information about the ministry that interests you. You can find the ministry you’re looking for by clicking here.