Forbes: Direct Relief “100 Percent Efficient” in Fundraising for Seventh Straight Year
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - For the seventh straight year, financial magazine Forbes has given Direct Relief International a perfect score of 100 percent for fundraising efficiency according to the magazine’s Web site.
Direct Relief is the only California-based nonprofit organization and one of two charities nationwide to have received a perfect fundraising efficiency score from Forbes for each of the past seven years. The average score in the category for 2008 was 90 percent. Only 18 other groups on the list were rated as 100-percent efficient in fundraising.
Forbes' annual rating of 200 top American charities "calculates three major efficiency ratios for each nonprofit": charitable commitment, fundraising efficiency, and donor dependency.
The organization received a score of 99 percent in the "charitable commitment" category, which measures "how much of total expense went directly to the charitable purpose." The average for 2008 among the 200 groups was 85 percent.
In the category of donor dependency, which "measures how badly a nonprofit needs [a] contribution to break even," Forbes scored Direct Relief at 107 percent.
Forbes’ rating comes on the heels of other recent positive assessments of Direct Relief by outside groups:
- Charity Navigator: Named Direct Relief the nation’s #1 “Slam-Dunk Charity” in November, along with a Four Star rating;
- Chronicle of Philanthropy: Rated Direct Relief as California’s largest international charity based on private support
- NonProfit Times: Named Direct Relief its “biggest mover” in its evaluation of the top 100 charities in the country;
- Membership in the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance
The full list of Forbes’ ratings and explanations is available at http://www.forbes.com/personalfinance/philanthropy/2008/11/19/americas-largest-charities-pf-charities08-cx_wb_1119charity_land.html.
About Direct Relief International
Founded in 1948, Direct Relief International is a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit organization focused on improving the quality of life by bringing critically needed medicines and supplies to local healthcare providers worldwide. Direct Relief works in 59 countries and has delivered more than $1 billion in privately funded humanitarian medical aid to health professionals serving impoverished communities since 2000. Direct Relief is one of two charities ranked by Forbes that has received a perfect fundraising efficiency score for seven consecutive years and is ranked by the Chronicle of Philanthropy as California’s largest international nonprofit organization based on private support. For more information, please visit www.DirectRelief.org.
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