Give with Confidence: 8 Years of Proven Charity Ratings

Fundraising Resources

·Sep 23rd, 2025

For eight consecutive years, Starlight received a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, a charity rating platform that looks at the overall health of charities’ programs, including stability, efficiency, and sustainability.

One of Charity Navigator’s Best Rated Charities

Bella_Good Gifts for Kids in the Hospital

Four stars is the highest rating a charity can receive from Charity Navigator.

According to Charity Navigator, a nonprofit who receives a four-star rating, "exceeds or meets best practices and industry standards across almost all areas.”

Charity Navigator rates more than 225,000 charities, and only 32% receive the highest four-star rating.

In a letter to Starlight, Charity Navigator President and CEO Michael Thatcher wrote, “This exceptional designation from Charity Navigator sets Starlight Children's Foundation apart from its peers and demonstrates to the public its trustworthiness."

Read more about Starlight's top scores on other charity rating sites, audited financial statements and Form 990s on the financial integrity page.

Our Proven Impact

Confidently give to Starlight, knowing your donation will make an impact on the lives of seriously ill kids and their families.

Our supporters, hospital partners and families put it best:

“The Starlight Hero Wagons have been life changing for our family during hospital stays. As a parent you can feel so helpless when your child is in the hospital. Knowing that the wagon gives Emily a sense of peace and calms her means the world to me as her mom. ”
- Judy, Emily's Mom

“If we can assist them in doing it [an IV] to a Starlight doll – it usually helps them be able to cope better. It gives them choices. We even catch them talking to their stuffies through what has happened to them ... They tell them 'it’s okay. You’re being so brave.'”
- Certified Child Life Specialist, Arizona

“Ninety-five percent of our kids are on medicaid or uninsured. None of them are bringing toys with them ... So, being able to give them Starlight toys to help calm them down makes them more willing and ready to participate in procedures - it really helps with cooperation, coping, and reducing trauma.”
- Certified Child Life Specialist, Illinois