Michael Thatcher, President & CEO of Charity Navigator, on Rating 245,000 Charities, New Impact Scores & Why Fewer Americans Are Giving
It's a pleasure to welcome Michael Thatcher back onto the Do One Better Podcast. Michael is President and Chief Executive Officer of Charity Navigator, the largest independent evaluator of nonprofits in the United States, now marking its 25th year and covering roughly 245,000 charities as a free public service to donors.
Michael last joined the show in 2022, and returns with a comprehensive update on how Charity Navigator has evolved since then — including a major overhaul to its rating methodology, a new partnership bringing cost-per-outcome impact data into the platform, and candid reflections on some of the biggest structural challenges facing the charitable sector today.
In this conversation, Michael and Alberto discuss:
A 25-year milestone. How Charity Navigator evaluates nearly 245,000 charities with a team of just 35 people, largely by processing publicly available IRS tax filings.
The April 2026 ratings overhaul. A new methodology spanning 49 metrics across 10 evaluation areas — financial health, governance, leadership and impact measurement among them — plus a new partnership with True Impact to bring cost-per-outcome scoring to the platform.
How curated lists get built. Why a complete, high-quality data set and demonstrated effectiveness are required for an organisation to appear on one of Charity Navigator's roughly 50 curated lists — and how "whimsical" lists (most popular charities, celebrity-favoured causes) sit alongside more rigorously vetted ones.
Giving funds, explained. How Charity Navigator's roughly dozen thematic funds work as pooled, pass-through vehicles (not donor-advised funds), how allocations across organisations are rebalanced, and why full transparency into fund composition matters to donors.
Two unexpected donor demographics. Why younger donors are drawn to cause-based giving over brand loyalty, and why older donors are increasingly using Charity Navigator's funds as a dependable vehicle within estate and legacy planning.
The AI disintermediation challenge. How Charity Navigator's open, free data is increasingly being surfaced directly by large language models — reducing website traffic and, with it, the donation asks that fund the organisation's own operations.
A troubling giving trend. New research showing a steady, multi-year decline in the number of individual donors in the US even as total dollars given continues to rise — and why Charity Navigator's own research points to a "connection" problem rather than a trust problem.
Staying above the fray. How Charity Navigator has maintained credibility with donors across a polarised political landscape by consistently avoiding partisan positioning.
About Michael Thatcher
Michael leads Charity Navigator in its efforts to make impactful giving easier for all by providing donors and the charities they love with the tools, ratings, and information needed to make informed decisions and investments.
Before joining Charity Navigator, Michael spent more than fifteen years with Microsoft, the last ten of which were as their Public-Sector Chief Technology Officer, responsible for technology policy initiatives and engagements with governments and academic leaders in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
Michael's background includes years at sea conducting oceanographic research with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, composing music, and dancing internationally as the co-founder and co-director of Dance Music Light. He has held various board positions within the nonprofit and technology sector, holds several patents in enterprise systems management, and has a degree in Music from Columbia University in New York.
Guiding mantra: Follow your heart – Use your head – Make a difference.