A composite charity index for assessing philanthropic organisations under partial disclosure: preliminary evidence from Uzbekistan

Abstract

This article develops and preliminarily applies a composite Charity Index to assess the transparency, openness and reliability of philanthropic organisations in an institutional environment characterised by uneven public disclosure. The index formalises the transparency-rating approach piloted by the civic platform xayriya.info and comprises 17 observable indicators in three weighted dimensions: transparency (40%), openness (30%) and reliability (30%). Scores on a 0–100 scale are translated into five tiers: Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Unrated. A preliminary single-assessor desk review of four Uzbek organisations gave scores of 81.8 (“Vaqf” Charitable Public Fund) and 80.0 (Red Crescent Society of Uzbekistan), both Gold, and 58.0 (“Sog'lom avlod uchun” Fund) and 54.3 (“Ezgu Amal” Public Fund), both Bronze; transparency was the weakest dimension for the two Bronze-rated organisations. A hypothetical worked example scored 82.5 and remained Gold under four alternative weighting scenarios. The results are preliminary and have not been verified with the organisations; a published scoring rubric, independent double scoring and further validation are needed before national deployment.