Please visit GiveWell.org This CharityScorecard.org site was in use from 2006 to 2008, but is now mostly dormant, and the material here is out of date. The GiveWell project has similar goals and is being actively maintained. I've left the old CharityScorecard.org content here just for the historical record.

From CharityScorecard

Discount rate (DCR) 

Discount rate is a term used by economists to talk about the rate used for comparing the value of a resource today to the value of a resource at some point in the future. Discount rates are usually expressed as percent values, such as 5% or 12%. Discount rates can be based on subjective factors (such as personal preferences about the value of having something now vs. waiting until later), or on objective factors (such as the rate of inflation, or the rate of return available on investments). See also: Skinner Fund discount rate.