FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Beth Hauptle, Communications Manager, [email protected]
[Pittsboro, NC August 12, 2010] Rural Advancement Foundation International – USA’s (RAFI-USA) strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency have earned it a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluation. This is the sixth consecutive time that RAFI-USA has earned this top distinction, placing it among the top 14% of all charities evaluated by Charity Navigator.
Since 2002, using objective analysis, Charity Navigator has awarded only the most fiscally responsible organizations a 4-star rating. In 2011, Charity Navigator added 17 metrics, focused on governance and ethical practices as well as measures of openness, to its ratings methodology. These Accountability & Transparency metrics, which account for 50% of a charity’s overall rating, reveal which charities operate in accordance with industry best practices and whether they are open with their donors and stakeholders. In 2016, Charity Navigator upgraded its methodology for rating each charity’s financial health with CN 2.1. These enhancements further substantiate the financial health of its 4-star charities.
“RAFI-USA’s exceptional 4-star rating sets it apart from its peers and demonstrates its trustworthiness to the public,” according to Michael Thatcher, President & CEO of Charity Navigator. “Only a quarter of charities rated by Charity Navigator receive the distinction of our 4-star rating. This adds RAFI-USA to a preeminent group of charities working to overcome our world’s most pressing challenges. Based on its 4-star rating, people can trust that their donations are going to a financially responsible and ethical charity when they decide to support RAFI-USA.”
“It’s important that our donors trust that we’re using their donations wisely to accomplish our mission of challenging the root causes of unjust food systems, supporting and advocating for economically, racially, and ecologically just farm communities,” said Edna Rodriguez, Executive Director. “Our 4-star Charity Navigator rating demonstrates to our supporters our good governance and financial accountability.”
RAFI-USA’s rating and other information about charitable giving are available free of charge on www.charitynavigator.org. More detailed information is available to Charity Navigator site visitors who become registered users, another free service.
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About Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator, www.charitynavigator.org, is the largest charity evaluator in America and its website attracts more visitors than all other charity rating groups combined. The organization helps guide intelligent giving by evaluating the Financial Health and Accountability & Transparency of more than 8,000 charities. Charity Navigator accepts no advertising or donations from the organizations it evaluates, ensuring unbiased evaluations, nor does it charge the public for this trusted data. As a result, Charity Navigator, a 501 (c) (3) public charity itself, depends on support from individuals, corporations, and foundations that believe it provides a much-needed service to America’s charitable givers. Charity Navigator can be reached directly by telephone at (201) 818-1288, or by mail at 139 Harristown Road, Suite 101, Glen Rock, N.J., 07452.
About RAFI-USA
RAFI-USA challenges the root causes of unjust food systems, supporting and advocating for economically, racially, and ecologically just farm communities. We envision a thriving, sustainable, and equitable food system: where farmers and farm workers have dignity and agency; where they are supported by just agricultural policies; where corporations and institutions are accountable to their community. RAFI-USA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Pittsboro, North Carolina, and incorporated in 1990.