<P> In June 2014, Charity Navigator replaced its rating of HSUS with a "Donor Advisory" citing a $15.75 million settlement of a lawsuit . A Charity Navigator representative told The Washington Examiner that a Donor Advisory indicates "extreme concern ." The advisory has since been removed . At no point did it ever have anything to do with financial metrics, governance, transparency, or the impact and effectiveness of work to protect animals . It came solely as a result of a legal settlement the HSUS and several other parties reached with the owner of Ringling Bros. circus . </P> <P> Charity Navigator's donor advisory penalized animal welfare organizations for advancing their mission through advocacy work and for defending themselves in court against scurrilous charges . The HSUS was never a plaintiff in the case against Ringling Bros . </P> <P> As of 2016, Charity Navigator rated them at 85.09 out of a possible 100 . They based this on "data from FY2014, the most recent 990 received at that time ." </P> <P> The American Institute of Philanthropy, now called Charity Watch, has been critical of the HSUS . Charity Watch gave the HSUS a "C -" in 2013 . Charity Watch believes that HSUS spends an insufficient percentage of donations on programs, and an inordinately high percentage on fundraising . Using different estimates of fundraising expenses and efficiency, the American Institute of Philanthropy AIP's rating system heavily penalizes charities for possessing large assets or maintaining more than three years' operating expenses in reserve . Only Charity Watch among all charity evaluation groups believes that organizations should not write off some of their fundraising costs as program expenses . Other evaluators agree with the approach taken under Generally accepted accounting principles, which permit such joint allocation of expenses . </P>

What type of interest group is the humane society