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Development Ratings is part of a growing sector in philanthropy that the Monitor Institute, a leading think tank on philanthropy, has termed "infrastructure". According to Monitor, these are organisations that attempt to fix some of the failings of philanthropy by enabling greater sharing of information and best practices, as well as ensuring that grant capital is used more efficiently and effectively. Other organisations in the space include Geneva Global, New Philanthropy Capital, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and Synergos, among others.

Development Ratings is a UK organisation founded in 2006 that provides research and recommendations on charities. It currently makes around 6 new charity recommendations per year. The organisation's goal is to increase the flow of funds to the developing countries by increasing transparency about charitable organisations. Development Ratings recommends charities based on their track record and ability to make a development impact.

Its goal is to promote the long-term support of charitable organisations rather than short-term support of individual projects. The focus on organisations is an explicit goal of Development Ratings to overcome the traditional project specific tied funding that a number of charities suffer from and thereby increase the trust in the sector. The service functions much in the same way as an equity research department within an investment bank; the differences being that the recommendations are on charities rather than on companies, and are obviously based on philanthropic outcomes rather than monetary profits.

Development Ratings focuses exclusively on charities working in 50 of the least developed countries - classified according to the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report.

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