Know the Signs, Fight for Victory

The Marfan Foundation Earns 4-Star Rating from Charity Navigator

The Marfan Foundation’s sound fiscal management practices and commitment to accountability and transparency have earned it a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluator.

“The Marfan Foundation’s coveted 4-star rating puts it in a very select group of high-performing charities,” according to Michael Thatcher, President & CEO of Charity Navigator. “Out of the thousands of nonprofits Charity Navigator evaluates, only one out of four earns 4 stars — a rating that demands rigor, responsibility and commitment to openness. The Marfan Foundation’s supporters should feel much more confident that their hard-earned dollars are being used efficiently and responsibly when it acquires such a high rating.”

Since 2002, using objective, data-driven analysis, 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 & Transparency” metrics, which account for 50 percent of a charity’s overall rating, reveal which charities have “best practices” that minimize the chance of unethical activities and whether they freely share basic information about their organization with their donors and other stakeholders.

“As a Marfan volunteer and now President & CEO, I have always been impressed by the financial oversight of The Marfan Foundation,” said Michael Weamer. “Our Charity Navigator 4-star rating is an affirmation of our commitment to raising income in an effective manner and spending every possible dollar directly on our fight for victory over Marfan syndrome and related disorders. It is an exciting moment!”

The Marfan Foundation’s rating and other information about charitable giving are available free of charge on www.charitynavigator.org. More-detailed information about the Foundation’s rating is available to Charity Navigator site visitors who become registered users, another free service.

Charity Navigator

Charity Navigator, www.charitynavigator.org, is the largest charity evaluator in America and its website attracts more visitors than all other charity rating groups combined. The organization helps guide intelligent giving by evaluating the Financial Health and Accountability & Transparency of more than 8,000 charities. Charity Navigator accepts no advertising or donations from the organizations it evaluates, ensuring unbiased evaluations, nor does it charge the public for this trusted data. As a result, Charity Navigator, a 501 (c) (3) public charity itself, depends on support from individuals, corporations, and foundations that believe it provides a much-needed service to America’s charitable givers. Charity Navigator, can be reached directly by telephone at (201) 818-1288 or by mail at 139 Harristown Road, Suite 101, Glen Rock, N.J., 07452.


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The Marfan Foundation is a nonprofit organization that saves lives and improves the quality of life of individuals with genetic aortic and vascular conditions including Marfan, Loeys-Dietz, and Vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndromes. Our vision is a world in which everyone with genetic aortic and vascular conditions can live their best life.


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