Charity watchdog downgrades leading nonprofits

The recession is not the only thing hurting Orthodox Jewish nonprofits. A lack of disclosure on their finances has resulted in a downgrade of ratings from a leading watchdog group.
Charity Navigator, an independent agency that examines some 5,500 charities nationwide, announced more comprehensive rating criteria, which resulted in downgrading to three stars for Yeshiva University. Looking at the new score, Mayer Fertig, the senior director for media relations at YU, said that while his university is not alone in losing a star this year. Princeton and Columbia were assigned only two stars this year. “To see thousands of nonprofits, including a number of other major research universities, it seems clear that this is about change at Charity Navigator rather than anything specific about our enterprise,” Fertig said.
While the financial ratings for the universities held up near the top, it was the accountability and transparency category that resulted in the overall reduction in ratings. “Previously, our ratings were entirely based on financial performance, but our new ratings also factor in accountability and transparency,” said Charity Navigator Vice President Sandra Minuitti.
The hardest hit by the change is Agudath Israel of America. Commonly known as Agudah, the national umbrella body represents synagogues, summer camps, and social service organizations, received only two stars this year. While receiving the top score in finances, Agudah failed in accountability, the stark omissions related to “readily accessible information,” such as the names of board members and its key staff. “It definitely impacts them because they do not have a website with information,” Minuitti said. Under the leadership of its rabbinic board, Agudah does not keep a website. “If that results in a lower rating for the organization as a charity, that’s unfortunate,” said Agudah spokesman Rabbi Avi Shafran. “The directive of our rabbinic leaders is more important to us than ratings.”