Finding the right charity to donate to can be a challenging undertaking. Many factors tend to affect a decision to donate. Many such factors include:

  • Mission
  • Governance
  • Financial stewardship
  • Location

It can be difficult to find what is right for you. The East Gate Advocates database (https://www.eastgateadvocates.org/#db_search) can help you in your search. Two search tools are provided depending on your desired approach. The first approach is map based, has interactive controls, and has a higher “ease of use”. The second is form based, has free form inputs, and allows for searching by multiple criteria, though has a less intuitive interface.

Map Based

Selecting the “map-based” approach allows you to initially narrow your search geographically. First you select your state of interest.

Map navigation controls are provided at the top of the map. Hovering your mouse over each icon will provide simple identifying information for each control. The crossed arrows allow for panning. The Magnifying glass with the dashed box allows for boxed zooming. The magnifying glass with the oval enables mouse scroll zooming. The circle with the plus (+) symbol enables tap selection. The circular arrows is a reset button. The text box icon enables hover text.

At the top of the US and state maps are a series of colored boxes. These boxes highlight the number of organizations and the amount of money in revenue, income, and assets for the US or state selected.

After selecting a state, a map of that state is displayed with a dot for each zip code available. mapping by zip code allows for geographic separation while making allowance for the significant number of IRS submissions with typos in their address. No attempt has been made to correct for misspelled words.

The National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) is a list of codes specific to the nonprofit sector. These codes divide the nonprofit space into 26 distinct categories (one for each letter in the alphabet). Additionally, each of these categories are divided further, adding significant delineation between different activities and focus areas. Many organizations define their work partially by these distinctions assisting the public and others in understanding the work and focus of the organization.

States and cities have a series of pie charts dividing the revenue, income, and asset space into the 26 NTEE code prefixes. Hovering over each pie slice reveals the sector and dollar amount dedicated to that sector.

Using the controls above the map, zoom to your location of interest. Hover over the dots to display the associated city name. Selecting a dot will navigate you to the city page.

Each city page is has a table divided into the 26 NTEE code prefixes. The number in brackets to the right of each NTEE code prefix shows the number of organizations for that prefix. Selecting the NTEE code prefix will expand the table of organizations. Each row contains the EIN, organization name, address (including zip), and the full NTEE code for the organization.

Selecting the organization name will bring up a small dialog box containing a brief synopsis of the organization. Selecting the EIN will navigate you to a page containing detailed information on the organization based on recent IRS submissions.

Depending on the organizations IRS submissions, some organizations have a simply relative rating provided that outlines some financial metrics for the organization. These metrics include management compensation and fund raising efficiencies.

Selecting the Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the organization page will open the Charity Navigator page for that organization providing additional information and scrutiny for the organization.

Form Based

The form based tool allows you the opportunity to search areas greater than a single city while narrowing your search by fields such as NTEE code or revenue amount. The tool allows for search granularity in the following fields.

  • Employer Identification Number (EIN)
  • Organization Name Keywords
  • City(s)
  • State(s)
  • Zip Code(s)
  • Secor(s) (NTEE code prefix)
  • NTEE Code(s)
  • Income Code(s) (selecting the icon next to this field provides a list of categories)
  • Asset Code(s) (selecting the icon next to this field provides a list of categories)

Each field accepts multiple entries separated by commas. Additionally, partial entries are acceptable. For example, you can search for zip codes that start with 773 to find organizations in SE Texas. Care should be taken to refine your search as only a limited number of entries are allowed.

After submitting the form, the results are displayed on a page similar to the “city” page described above with all of the same format and navigation options.

CSV Export

Data provided in the search results tables and the organization pages can be exported to a CSV format using the export button at the bottom of the page.