“The United States has more than 800,000 public charities…” the editors of Worth magazine note, in describing how they selected charities to honor as America’s 100 best. “We set out to find the 100 nonprofits that have had the biggest impact and see how those groups spend the money you invest in them.”
They began by interviewing hundreds of philanthropy experts. Then they reviewed the financial records of the nonprofits on the preliminary list to “identify those charities that are doing the best job, dollar for dollar” of mitigating the nation’s problems.
“These have not been easy times for charities,” the Worth editors wrote, noting that the dollar value of donations in 2001 was nearly the same as in 2000 but that actual giving declined by 2.3 percent when viewed in inflation-adjusted terms. Among charities that specifically deal with health, donations declined by 5 percent in 2001.
Even so, 2002 was a productive year at NORD, which receives approximately 10,000 phone calls and 80,000 Web visits a month from patients, their relatives, and others seeking information on rare diseases and support organizations. New programs were initiated to help patients obtain medications they could not afford. Research grants and fellowships were expanded. Free booklets describing rare diseases were mailed to physicians across the U.S., and a new 900-page medical text for physicians was to be released by year’s end.
To receive a copy of the full text of the Worth magazine article, call NORD's Development Office at (203) 744-0100 Ext. 210.
Read about events on Capitol Hill, funding for rare-disease research, and other topics of interest from NORD's office in Washington, DC.
