Platinum Seal allows donors to focus on progress and results for top Lyme disease organization
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT (August 10, 2020)
Global Lyme Alliance (GLA), the leading 501(c)(3) dedicated to conquering Lyme and other tick-borne diseases through research, education, awareness, and patient support services, today earned the 2020 Platinum Seal of Transparency, the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar, a service of Candid. By sharing metrics that highlight progress GLA is making toward its mission, the organization is helping donors move beyond simplistic ways of nonprofit evaluation such as overhead ratios.
"In accordance with our long-held belief in being transparent about our work,” said GLA CEO Scott Santarella, “we are excited to convey our organization’s results in a user-friendly and highly visual manner. By updating our GuideStar Nonprofit Profile to the Platinum level, we can now easily share a wealth of up-to-date organizational metrics with our supporters as well as GuideStar's immense online audience, which includes donors, grantmakers, our peers, and the media."
To reach the Platinum level, GLA added extensive information to its Nonprofit Profile on GuideStar: basic contact and organizational information; in-depth financial information; qualitative information about goals, strategies, and capabilities; and quantitative information about results and progress toward its mission. By taking the time to provide this information, GLA has demonstrated its commitment to transparency and to giving donors and funders meaningful data to evaluate nonprofit performance.
Lyme disease is a public health crisis. In the U.S. alone there are an estimated 427,000 new cases each year, with an estimated two million people suffering from post-treatment Lyme disease by the end of 2020. Despite these pandemic numbers, federal funding for Lyme disease is miniscule, making financial support of GLA’s work to help patients, caregivers, and the community crucial. "I encourage you to visit our profile on GuideStar to see what we're all about," added Santarella. “We’re thrilled that our GuideStar Platinum Nonprofit Profile and its associated benefits help us better communicate our organization’s exciting initiatives at a global scale."
### About Global Lyme Alliance Global Lyme Alliance (GLA) is the leading 501(c)(3) dedicated to conquering Lyme disease through research, education, awareness, and patient services. GLA has gained national prominence for funding the most urgent and promising research in the field, while expanding education and awareness programs for the general public and physicians. We support those around the globe in need of information about tick-borne diseases, finding a Lyme treating physician, and with the first Lyme-specific peer-to-peer mentor support program. Learn more at GLA.org
### About GuideStar Nonprofit Profiles In February 2019, GuideStar joined forces with Foundation Center to form Candid, a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Today, GuideStar is a service of Candid. The GuideStar database contains a profile for every tax-exempt nonprofit registered with the IRS. The profiles are populated with information directly from nonprofits, the IRS, and other partners in the nonprofit sector. Candid 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 13 million people who visit guidestar.org 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, such as AmazonSmile, Facebook, and Network for Good. To reach a given participation level, organizations must complete all required fields for that 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.
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. Find out more at candid.org and on Twitter @CandidDotOrg.
