Understanding Charity Businesses

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By Ashka Ramanlal
Stonehill.College News Blog Journalist

Marwah Maasarani, a senior program analyst at Charitynavigator.com, analyzes and rates charities.
Maasarani’s research is important for donors in the charity world. Her job may sound daunting and tedious, but Maasarani said she enjoys her work.
Days after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, a spokesperson for the American Red Cross stated the organization had run out of supplies, despite having raised $500 million. The scandal influenced people to hesitate donating anywhere, believing their money will not do anything useful.
Donors turned to researchers such as Maasarani to help quell their concerns and get information.
Maasarani landed a job at Charity Navigator before her graduation from Wellesley College in 2013. She continued working at the organization while earning a diploma in Monitoring and Evaluation from New York University in 2019. The NYU program teaches students ways to measure progress of certain programs, such as charities.
“My heart was in it,” she said. “Growing up, I went to Islamic schools that were nonprofit, but saw things could have been improved upon.”
From her research, Maasarani said there are three main ways to determine the legitimacy of a charity organization:
·         See how transparent the organization is.
·         Look at a third-party analysis of the organization.
·         Look them up on an institutional finder.
“If they’re committed, call and see if they’re willing to share and answer all of your questions.” she said. “What are their goals? Is their leadership visible?”
When asked for advice about going into this field, she said to do research for the companies you want to work for, and they’re “always hiring here at Charity Navigator.”
Regarding the American Red Cross, most of the ratings have high advisory warnings. However, this doesn’t always cover the full story – Maasarani said that people should do their own research and use Charity Navigator as only a part of it.
She said that Charity Navigator holds advisories and articles on certain charities if they’ve done something wrong but can be removed if the organization has taken responsibility for their mistakes.
Journalist Jonathan M. Katz, the news correspondent stationed in Haiti during the earthquake, shared a similar view.
“I don’t think the American Red Cross is evil,” Katz said. “The overall system needs to change…it’s important to understand [that the] humanitarian aid industry is an industry – it’s a business.” He said there are people doing this work for not just out of the goodness of their heart, but also for a steady salary.
According to Katz, many charities implement policies from their country’s government, so government bias can influence the actions of charity organizations, including where the donations go.
“It doesn’t really matter as much as whether one organization is good or bad,” Katz said. “[What matters is] who’s doing the right thing that everybody should be emulating.” One of the best solutions, he said, is giving money to those in need. It’s simply a matter of finding out who does that.






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