Remember in elementary school when you were told to XYZ? Well an unexamined Guidestar page is much like the unexamined zipper: embarrassing and easily fixable.

A recent Network for Good study found that 25 percent of the donations Network for Good collected over the past nine years came through giving portals.

We've seen a large uptick in December visits to our clients that start on charity rating sites like Guidestar or Charity Navigator.

So the question is: "When was the last time you reviewed your information on these sites?" This isn't just a digital issue as many people go online before giving offline

A 2008 study by the Nonprofit Times, showed the people were almost as likely to research a ministry on an independent rating site as the ministries website. I know 2008 seems acient but it is the newest I found.

Network for Good's data also showed that the majority of that portal giving was driven by disasters. If your organization deals with disaster response, an out of date or incomplete profile could be costing you.

I think I've made a case to update this information but with at least a dozen rating sites, where do you start? I would suggest Guidestar since it is the most prominent and your Guidestar information is pulled in by other web properties to represent your organization.

Updating your Guidestar profile is straightforward and it is well documented on their website. One area where this is more complicated is if your ministry was organized as a church or is part of a larger organization.

The short version is if you are part of a larger organization your out of luck. The larger organization can include your ministry as a program, but you can't get your own profile. If you were organized as a church as long as you have an employer identification number and a denomination you should be ok, you can read more here.

If you're looking for a great example of a Guidestar page check out Care Net's page. They have just about every area filled out and do an excellent job of responding to comments.

Do you have another example of a great Guidestar page? Link it up in the comments, but only after you check your page and make sure it is up to date.