CEO of Charity Navigator Leaves Abruptly

Ken Berger, who has led Charity Navigator for nearly the past seven years, has abruptly decided to leave his position with the organization, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. Berger stated in an interview that the organization “has been going through a planning process and doing a lot of thinking about where we’re headed next.” He also stated that the company is “increasingly seeing itself as a technology company.” Charity Navigator has stated they are looking for new skills as the company expands into more types of technology, and are on a quest to find a leader with more technology expertise.

For those not familiar, Charity Navigator is one of the most prominent nonprofit evaluators in the nation. Since its creation in 2001, the organization has evaluated thousands of nonprofits in areas such as financial health and accountability.

The nonprofit sector, overall, has mixed feelings about Charity Navigator. As we’ve discussed in the past, many nonprofits felt like Charity Navigator helped perpetuate the notion that donors should evaluate charities based on their overhead expenses. More recently, the group has made a concerted effort to change that perception by challenging “The Overhead Myth”.  They partnered with GuideStar President/CEO Jacob Harold to share that message with the nonprofit community and our readers on this very issue.

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