World ORT News
Category: Special Update
World ORT awarded top rating by Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator, a leading independent NGO watchdog, has given World ORT its top four-star rating.
After months of carefully scrutinizing World ORT’s independently audited accounts for the years 2007 to 2010, Charity Navigator awarded the organization the highest possible ranking in all three categories: efficiency, capacity and overall.
The four-star rating means that World ORT is exceptional, exceeding industry standards and outperforming most charities in its field, according to Charity Navigator’s website.
“This result is really a testament to the support and devotion of our lay leadership and to the efficiency and dedication of our professional staff. I believe we can all feel very proud of this accomplishment,” said World ORT Director General and CEO Robert Singer.
The report shows that money invested in ORT gets to where it’s needed.
Charity Navigator, which has been described as the “gold standard” for donors seeking information about the fiscal responsibility and financial health of non-profits, is America’s largest, most used evaluator of charitable organisations. Its unbiased, objective ratings for more than 5,000 of the country’s best-known charities indicates how responsibly they function day-to-day and how well positioned they are to sustain their programmes over time.
The organization found that World ORT raises one dollar for every three cents spent on fundraising and that its fundraising and administrative expenses together amount to only six per cent of total costs – meaning that 94 per cent of its spending is on programmes. The full report can be seen here: http://www.charitynavigator.org/stage/special/world-ort2.htm
“This is a superb result which vindicates the hard work we have put in over the years on our efficiency and capacity building,” said World ORT’s Chief Financial Officer, Steve West. “The first stop for donors who want to know that their money is going where it’s meant to is Charity Navigator; this is a powerful validation of our trustworthiness.”
Normally, Charity Navigator only reviews organizations granted tax-exempt status under section 501(c) (3) of the USA’s Internal Revenue Code and that file a Form 990.
“Even though World ORT is not an American entity, Charity Navigator agreed to evaluate the organisation as it would any other using our accounts which are audited by Ernst and Young. We feel it’s worthwhile to undergo this kind of scrutiny in the spirit of transparency and accountability to which we aspire,” Mr Singer said.