VIN Foundation Reaches GuideStar Platinum for Third Year in a Row

Allows Donors to Focus on Progress and Results

Davis, CA: The VIN Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has earned the Platinum GuideStar Nonprofit Seal of Transparency for the third year in a row. Platinum is the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar, the world’s largest source of nonprofit information. By achieving and sharing metrics highlighting the progress VIN Foundation is making in line with its mission, GuideStar and VIN Foundation are helping donors move beyond simplistic (e.g, overhead ratios ) ways of evaluating which organizations to support.

“In accordance with the VIN Foundation’s long-held belief in being transparent about our work we are excited to convey our achievements and processes in a user-friendly and highly visual manner,” said Executive Director Jordan benShea. “ Achieving GuideStar Platinum level for the third year in a row is an honor that we are proud to share with our supporters as well as GuideStar’s immense online audience, which includes donors, grantmakers, our peers, and the media.”

The VIN Foundation’s nonprofit profile highlights quantitative metrics on resources where veterinary students and veterinarians are receiving confidential support, student debt loan education and advice, and veterinary school information including chances of acceptance and ways to apply smarter to decrease student debt. These metrics provide vital benchmarks to help the VIN Foundation determine where help is most needed in the veterinary profession and focus efforts accordingly.

The VIN Foundation believes a healthy animal population depends upon a healthy veterinary profession. The VIN Foundation directs support toward programs that foster the long-term emotional and professional well-being of veterinary professionals and the veterinary profession. “It is important for our donors to know their donations are going directly to programs making a positive difference.” said benShea. “I encourage all to visit our profile on GuideStar or the VIN Foundation website to see what we’re all about.”

About VIN Foundation

The VIN Foundation was created by members of the Veterinary Information Network (VIN) in 2005. VIN is an online community of veterinarians and veterinary students with over 65,000 members worldwide. Learn more about the VIN Foundation and its programs at http://VINFoundation.org. The VIN Foundation is made possible through generous gifts by individual donors and grants; all gifts made to the VIN Foundation are tax deductible.

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.