December 16, 2019
Audubon Society of Rhode Island Earns GuideStar’s Highest Seal of Transparency
Platinum Seal Allows Donors to Focus on Progress and Results
Audubon Society of Rhode Island today earned a 2019 Platinum Seal of Transparency, the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar, the world’s largest source of nonprofit information. By sharing metrics that highlight progress Audubon is making toward its mission, the organization is helping donors move beyond simplistic ways of nonprofit evaluation such as overhead ratios.
"In accordance with our long-held belief in being transparent about our work,” said Audubon Executive Director Lawrence Taft, “we are excited to convey our organization’s results in a user-friendly and highly visual manner. By updating our GuideStar Nonprofit Profile to earn a Platinum Seal, we can now easily share a wealth of up-to-date organizational metrics with our supporters as well as GuideStar's immense online audience, which includes donors, grantmakers, our peers, and the media."
To reach the Platinum level, Audubon added extensive information to its GuideStar Nonprofit Profile: basic contact and organizational information; in-depth financial information; qualitative information about goals, strategies, and capabilities; and quantitative information about results and progress toward its mission. By taking the time to provide this information, Audubon has demonstrated its commitment to transparency and to giving donors and funders meaningful data to evaluate nonprofit performance.
"I encourage you to visit our Nonprofit Profile on GuideStar to see what we're all about," added Taft. “We’re thrilled that our Platinum Seal of Transparency and the associated benefits help us better communicate our organization’s exciting initiatives at a global scale."
About GuideStar Nonprofit Profiles
The GuideStar database contains a profile for every tax-exempt nonprofit registered with the IRS. GuideStar encourages every nonprofit to claim and update its profile at no cost to the organization. Updating allows nonprofits to share a wealth of up-to-date information with the more than 10 million people who visit GuideStar to learn more about nonprofit organizations each year. Updating also allows nonprofits to share information with the more than 200 philanthropic websites and applications that are powered by GuideStar data. To reach a given participation level, organizations need to complete all required fields for that participation level. The GuideStar participation levels, acknowledged as symbols of transparency in the nonprofit sector, are displayed on all updated participants' profiles in the GuideStar database.
GuideStar, guidestar.org, is the world’s largest source of nonprofit information, connecting people and organizations with data on 2.7 million current and formerly IRS-recognized nonprofits. Each year, more than 10 million people, including individual donors, nonprofit leaders, grantmakers, government officials, academic researchers, and the media, use GuideStar data to make intelligent decisions about the social sector. GuideStar Nonprofit Profiles are populated with information directly from nonprofits, the IRS, and other partners in the nonprofit sector. The Seal levels, acknowledged as symbols of transparency in the nonprofit sector, are earned by nonprofits providing specific information to its profile to. In addition, users see GuideStar data on more than 200 philanthropic websites and 5 applications like AmazonSmile, Facebook, and Network for Good. Foundation Center and GuideStar joined forces to become Candid, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Find out more at candid.org and on Twitter @CandidDotOrg.
