Local charities rank among good, bad

Charity Navigator, a New Jersey watchdog organization, noted some top-notch charities with Georgia connections and a couple that donors ought to look at carefully in its lists of the good, the bad and the ugly.

Decatur’s MedShare International, which ships medical supplies around the world, was highly rated in two of the organization’s top 10 lists. It ranked second in “10 Slam-Dunk Charities” and also second in “Highly Rated Charities Relying on Public Contributions.”

The Elton John AIDS Foundation, headquartered in New York but founded by the part-time Atlantan, came in at sixth on the “Highly Rated” list.

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation in Washington ranked sixth in the “10 Highly Paid CEOs at Low-Rated Charities.”

Its CEO, Harry Johnson, made $289,645 in the 2007 fiscal year, the Web site says.

Also, Lawrenceville’s The Committee for Missing Children came in seventh in the “10 Inefficient Fundraisers” list. It uses professional fund-raisers who give the agency only 22 cents out of every dollar raised, the Web site says. The group spreads information about missing children. To see more, go to charitynavigator.org.