Executive Transition at Charity Navigator

Trent Stamp, founding president of Charity Navigator, the often-controversial site that bills itself as "the nation's largest and most-utilized evaluator of America's charities and nonprofits," has announced he is leaving the New Jersey-based organization to become executive director of the Eisner Foundation in Los Angeles.

In a final post to his blog, Trent Stamp's Take, Stamp acknowledged the sometimes-contentious relationship he and Charity Navigator have had with the nonprofit community and got in a jab or two of his own:

Along the way, some of you have laughed with me, and others at me. I've been called everything from a "genius" and a "prophet" to a "moron" and a "sell-out." (One thing I won't miss is the cowardice of anonymous blog posters and commenters.) But for all of you, I wrote as truthfully and as passionately as I could. And most of you, I will miss. I've had fun. And next time some non-profit leader does something stupid to dishonor the public trust, I'll miss having a place to call him out. But that's not my job anymore. Someone else will have to pick up the slack....

While I agreed with many of the criticisms of the Charity Navigator approach, I thought Trent was a straight shooter and a breath of fresh air, and I wish him well in his new position. I'm sure we'll be hearing more from him and the Eisner Foundation in the months and years to come.

-- Mitch Nauffts