Three major nonprofit groups released a tool this week to help charities do a better job of describing their work so donors can easily assess their results.

The tool is part of a project called Charting Impact, organized by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, GuideStar, and Independent Sector. It lists five questions groups can use to create a report about a charity’s plans and successes or to devise a strategic plan:

*  What is your organization aiming to accomplish?

* What are your strategies for making this happen?

* What are your organization’s capabilities for doing this?

* How will your organization know if you are making progress?

* What have and haven’t you accomplished so far?

For nonprofits that answer the questions on the Charting Impact Web site, a report will appear on their GuideStar and BBB Wise Giving Alliance profiles and eventually on other Web sites.