Use these databases to identify top charities giving in your area of interest (Mostly U.S.-based organizations).
Charity Navigator and Charity Watch rate charities based on their financial health, transparency, and accountability; Foundation Directory and GuideStar provide you with the raw financial details for charitable giving organizations.
Foundation Directory Online is a database of over 100,000 public and private foundations, corporate giving programs, and grantmaking public charities in the U.S. It provides comprehensive information on grant-makers and their grants. Includes Candid's "Foundation Grants to Individuals Online".
Candid's GuideStar provides data on IRS-recognized nonprofit organizations in the U.S. Users can search nonprofits according to their operating budgets, size, location, and National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE). Highlight include a financial trends analysis snapshot for each organization and downloadable form 990s.
To access the premium section of Guidestar, you must register and create an account. Once registered, NYU users are permitted to download 1000 records per month. Registration can be done on this link here.