Christmas is a time when a growing number of people are choosing to make charitable donations on behalf of their friends and family, rather than splashing out on meaningless, expendable knick-knacks.

But that good-hearted gesture can quickly become overwhelming, when faced with the vast number of charitable organisations around the country.

Brisbane-based social enterprise business, The Impact Suite has developed a ratings system and searchable database, assessing the 57,000-plus charities currently operating in Australia.

The Lotus Rating System evaluates charities based on information including their social impact and governance, among other metrics.

People can search the database by name, or by cause, (e.g. medical research or animal welfare) and find ratings on each charity operating in that particular sphere.

The Impact Suite co-founder, Peta Tilse says the Lotus Rating is an Australian first for the charitable sector.

“The Lotus Rating is like a tick of approval and helps a donor identify very quickly whether one organisation is potentially run better than another,” Tilse said.

“We researched and developed a methodology looking at these key factors, so all charities in Australia can get a Lotus Rating which clearly articulates their social impact, what they’re doing, what they’re delivering on and how they’re run.”

Tilse says with a couple of hundred new charities popping up in Australia each month, people need simple, fast access to information before they pledge their hard-earned cash.

“This helps them to distil down from more than 57,000 charities to a short-list of good organisations which they can then do some more deep diving on, to make sure their gift gets to the cause they have a burning desire to solve,” she said.

Tilse says when selecting a charity to donate to on behalf of a loved one this Christmas, there are some key points to remember.

“Think about what’s important to the particular person you have in mind and what they feel passionate about – whether that’s finding a cure for cancer, providing drought assistance to farmers, or perhaps helping the less fortunate in our community – and by jumping onto our website to start your search, we will help you to see which organisations score the highest on our Lotus Rating, before making your final decision.”