Oak Brook, Illinois, USA, Aug. 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) has earned its eighth consecutive 4-star rating from Charity Navigator for its effective fiscal management and its commitment to accountability and transparency.
Founded in 2001, Charity Navigator is the largest and most-utilized charity evaluator in the United States. Charity Navigator examines the financial health, accountability and transparency of charities to determine its ratings. Financial information is based on each charity’s 990 tax filing in the United States. Ratings demonstrate how well evaluated charities have sustained their programs and services over time.
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 and transparency metrics, which account for 50 percent 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.
A letter from Charity Navigator’s President and CEO, Michael Thatcher, stated, “Lions Clubs International Foundation’s 4-star rating sets it apart from its peers and demonstrates its trustworthiness to the public.” Mr. Thatcher went on to state “only a quarter of charities rated by Charity Navigator receive the distinction of our 4-star rating. 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 Lions Clubs International Foundation.”
LCIF Chairperson Gudrun Yngvadottir said, “I am proud of this milestone and prouder still in the work LCIF is doing to improve lives around the world. LCIF donors can be confident their donations are being used in support of the programs for which they are intended.” In fact, the Foundation is particularly proud that 100 percent of all donations directly benefit its programmatic work and that LCIF is among the only four percent of U.S. charities that have earned eight consecutive 4-star ratings.
This achievement comes only a year after Lions Clubs International Foundation launched a US$300 million comprehensive campaign, Campaign 100: LCIF Empowering Service, to achieve an even greater impact by expanding its cause areas to include diabetes, childhood cancer, hunger and the environment to ultimately serve hundreds of millions more people worldwide.
About Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF)
LCIF is the charitable arm of Lions Clubs International, the world’s largest service club organization, with more than 1.4 million men and women members in more than 200 countries and geographical areas worldwide. Since 1968, LCIF has funded service work through personal financial gifts from Lions members and the general public. LCIF helps Lions improve peoples’ lives around the world, from combating vision problems to responding to major catastrophes to providing valuable life skills to youth, and much more. Learn more at lcif.org.