We don't assume good. We verify it.
Why the name
Charities benefit from a halo effect. People want to believe that an organization doing ostensibly good work must itself be good. That belief is why worthy missions attract money, and it is also why the mission itself can sometimes substitute for scrutiny.
No Halo removes the assumption. Being a charity does not exempt an organization from scrutiny. Accepting donated money should invite it.
What we are
No Halo is an independent charity intelligence and investigative research company. The public product begins with national public-source organization coverage, original filings, and a research report built around a charity the donor chooses. We separate what an organization reported from what the evidence supports, and what the evidence supports from what remains unresolved.
For consequential giving decisions, deeper commissioned research can go further into audits, relationships, transactions, fundraising, government funding, regulatory and court records, public claims, outside research, and written questions where the scope and available evidence warrant it.
What we are not
We are not anti-charity. We are pro-accountability. We are not a donation platform, a seal-of-approval business, or a marketplace where charities pay for visibility. The organization directory is infrastructure for the research, not the product itself. And we are not a substitute for a donor's judgment. We are an evidence layer underneath it.
How the business works
The public record, methodology, and public research reports are designed to be accessible to donors. The business model is professional research for wealth managers, family offices, foundations, attorneys, accountants, corporate giving teams, and others who need deeper work for a specific decision. No Halo does not need charities to become customers in order to make the research business work.
Independence rules
- No organization can pay for a favorable assessment, alter a conclusion, suppress a finding, or buy a place in a comparison.
- We do not accept engagements whose fee depends on the outcome of the research.
- If No Halo ever sells products or tools to charities themselves, that business must be separated from research by a disclosed firewall.
- Researchers disclose personal connections to organizations under review and are recused where a conflict exists.
- Material conclusions are tied to their sources. Gaps in the public record stay visible rather than being filled with assumptions.
Fairness
Before publishing material findings that could reasonably be read as critical in a full review, No Halo can put written questions to the organization and provide a reasonable opportunity to respond. Responses and supporting evidence can change the report when the evidence changes. Organizations and readers can also submit factual corrections through a public process. We correct facts when shown to be wrong. We do not negotiate conclusions.
Where we are
No Halo is based in Columbus, Ohio, and is built to research organizations across the United States.