Understanding The MinistryWatch 5-Star Financial Efficiency Rating System

One of the most interesting – and, if understood, most helpful – aspects of the MinistryWatch database is its 5-star financial efficiency rating system.

Let’s unpack the system so you can know what it does, and what it does not, do.

First, the ratings attempt to measure financial efficiency and not ministry effectiveness. We define financial efficiency as getting the most out of the least amount of resources.  Said another way:  If you give a dollar to ministry, how much of that dollar goes to ministry, and how much to fundraising, administration, and asset accumulation?

Ministry effectiveness is much more difficult to measure. It is more concerned with outcomes and deliverables. So, for example, if 90 percent of a poverty alleviation ministry’s dollars go to ministry efforts, that ministry would have a very high financial efficiency score. But financial efficiency doesn’t tell you how many people are actually lifted out of poverty. You can measure the number of meals a homeless shelter delivers in a year, but it is much harder to determine if that ministry is simply feeding the same people day after week after year.

So while financial efficiency is an important measurement, it should not be the sole basis on which donors make giving decisions. However, we believe that understanding financial efficiency is relevant and useful.

Second, the ratings are objective. They are based entirely on financial ratios derived from information in an organization’s IRS Form 990. Ministry leaders often ask us how to improve their scores. We often tell them, “It’s not magic. It’s math.” If you want to improve your financial efficiency score, you must spend more on ministry and less on fundraising, asset accumulation, and administration. There is no other way than that to improve a ministry’s score.

Third, the ratings are peer-comparisons. Once we calculate the ratios, we compare ministries to others in their peer group. The final “star rating” of an organization is based on a comparison to other organizations with similar purposes and structures are compared to one another to determine relative efficiency.  We have divided the approximately 1300 ministries in our database into about 22 peer group categories.  We compare ministries to others in their peer group.

The Three Dimensions of Financial Efficiency

Here’s a brief description of the three dimensions of financial efficiency.

Fund Acquisition. The Fund Acquisition efficiency rating uses ratios that relate to the way an organization raises funds. The less money an organization spends on fundraising as a percentage of its total revenue, the higher its rating in this category since more money will be left for ministry.

Resource Allocation. The Resource Allocation efficiency rating uses ratios that relate to the way an organization spends its money. The more money an organization spends on its ministry efforts, and the less money it spends on administrative and other non-program costs, the higher its rating in this category.

Asset Leverage. The Asset Leverage efficiency rating measures the way an organization uses its assets to further its operations. An organization with few financial liabilities (which could include debt and accounts payable) will typically rate higher. However, an organization with large endowments or large physical assets (such as real estate holdings) will typically rate lower.

Assigning a Star Rating

MinistryWatch uses six individual ratios, two within each of the three dimensions noted above, for each organization to calculate an overall financial efficiency score for each ministry.  (You can see the result of these calculations by clicking on any of the individual ministries in the MinistryWatch database.)

We then compare the results of each organization’s financial efficiency score to other ministries in the in their sector or category in the MinistryWatch database, ranking them from highest to lowest.  Organizations are then assigned a star-rating based on the following scale.

5 Stars                         Ministries in the top 20 percent of financial efficiency scores (81 to 100 percentile)

4 Stars                         Ministries in the 61-80 percentile

3 Stars                         Ministries in the 41-60 percentile

2 Stars                         Ministries in the 21-40 percentile

1 Stars                         Ministries in the lowest 20 percent

It is important to note (again) that financial efficiency is just one way to measure the effectiveness of an organization. Donors should consider other important factors, such as program outcomes and each ministry’s business model.

It is also important to note that these ratios, and therefore MinistryWatch’s financial efficiency rating for each ministry, can and does change over time. It can change because its financial performance changes, of course. But it can also change if there are significant changes to the financial performance of others in its peer group.

Therefore, we recommend that you check back regularly to see how your favorite ministry is doing.