(Blackhawk Region) – For another consecutive year, United Way Blackhawk Region’s sound fiscal management practices, commitment to accountability and transparency have earned the local nonprofit organization a 4 out of 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluator. Again in 2022, United Way Blackhawk Region has also earned a Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid (formerly GuideStar), its highest rating available.
“Our unwavering commitment to responsible stewardship is reinforced by consistently earning top ratings from two of the nation’s most trusted nonprofit evaluators,” said United Way Blackhawk Region President and CEO Mary Fanning-Penny. “We do not take for granted the significance of this accomplishment year after year. The board of directors and lean team is incredibly proud of what these ratings symbolize to donors – a gift to United Way is a wise investment in our community.”
Charity Navigator is the largest charity evaluator in America. Accessed more than 11 million times annually, donors can give with confidence knowing the organizations that are highly rated on Charity Navigator’s website efficiently steward donations, are accountable and transparent. Charity Navigator has received praise from TIME Magazine, Forbes, Reader’s Digest, and BusinessWeek. Its founders wanted to give donors across the country the tools necessary to make informed giving decisions.
Founded in 1994, GuideStar has helped drive the nonprofit transparency revolution. GuideStar released the first-ever searchable electronic database of nonprofits in 1996. Over the years, GuideStar expanded the database to include all tax-exempt organizations registered with IRS; the database currently comprises profiles of 2.7 million organizations. In 2019, GuideStar joined forces with Foundation Center to form Candid.
Fanning-Penny added, “Accountability is United Way’s value proposition to our donors and corporate partners. We are proud to efficiently direct resources where they’re needed most, to achieve the greatest impact in our community.”
United Way Blackhawk Region encourages undecided donors to do their research and recommends Charity Navigator, Candid, and the Better Business Bureau as effective tools for analysis. Additional information on United Way Blackhawk Region’s charity ratings and financial accountability may be found online at LiveUnitedBR.org/financial-accountability/.
About Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator, the world’s largest and most-utilized independent nonprofit evaluator, empowers donors of all sizes with free access to data, tools, and resources to guide philanthropic decision making. Through Charity Navigator’s ratings, nonprofits are equipped with the nonprofit sector’s premier trust indicator and a powerful platform to raise awareness and funds. Charity Navigator does not charge 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.
About Candid
Foundation Center and GuideStar joined forces in 2019 to become Candid, a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Every year, millions of nonprofits spend trillions of dollars around the world. Candid finds out where that money comes from, where it goes, and why it matters. Through research, collaboration, and training, Candid connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to do it. Candid’s data tools on nonprofits, foundations, and grants are the most comprehensive in the world.
About United Way Blackhawk Region
United Way fights for the health, education, and financial stability of every person in every community. We win by Living United, by forging unlikely partnerships and by finding new solutions to old problems; by mobilizing the best resources; and inspiring individuals to join the fight against a common foe, each community’s most daunting social crises. United Way Blackhawk Region Lives United against poverty, family violence, hunger and homelessness to name a few, by providing community grants and resources to more than 35 human services programs at 20 nonprofit agencies in Rock County, Wis. and northern Winnebago County, Ill.
