Wearing pink and pinning up pink ribbons will show that your salon supports breast cancer awareness. But when you get more involved and stage an event to raise money, check out a charity before you donate. Sometimes you want to contribute to a local, highly targeted cause—perhaps a client’s family is raising funds for her living expenses while she takes off work to get treatment. Other times, you decide to support an established national organization. Do you know what that organization will do with the money you contribute? 

Charity Navigator demystifies this by rating major charities after investigating their records and reports. The ratings are based not only on the percentage of funds that go to the program rather than to administrative expenses, but also on multiple “accountability and transparency” factors. In Charity Navigator’s breast cancer category, this is how the charities shake out:

4 stars

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Breast Cancer Research Foundation

The Rose

Breast Cancer Connections

National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.

Living Beyond Breast Cancer

Breastcancer.org

Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation

Sharsheret

3 stars

Breast Cancer Alliance

Casting for Recovery

American Italian Cancer Foundation

Young Survival Coalition

Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation

National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund

Prevent Cancer Foundation

Susan G. Komen for the Cure

2 stars

John Wayne Cancer Institute

American Cancer Society

Breast Cancer Fund

Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute

1 star

Breast Cancer Prevention Fund

United Breast Cancer Foundation

American Breast Cancer Foundation

The Breast Cancer Relief Foundation

0 stars

Walker Cancer Research Institute

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