Sustainable Harvest International Receives Highest Rating from Charity Navigator for Fourth Consecutive Year

Surry, ME, October 01, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Sustainable Harvest International (SHI), a Maine-based non profit that provides Central American farming families with the tools and training to overcome poverty while restoring our planet’s tropical forests, has received Charity Navigator’s highest four star rating for the fourth year in a row, an achievement shared with only 7 percent of the charities rated nationwide.

This rating, which SHI has received each year it was evaluated, indicates that it “consistently executes its mission in a fiscally responsible way, and outperforms most other charities in America,” says Trent Stamp, President of Charity Navigator (http://www.charitynavigator.org), one of the nation’s largest independent charity evaluators. “This ‘exceptional’ designation from Charity Navigator differentiates Sustainable Harvest International from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust," he concludes.

In Maine, 15 non profit organizations received the 4 star rating from Charity Navigator, but only 4 of them, including SHI, have received it for four consecutive years. They are: Maine Community Foundation, Preble Street, and Safe Passage, which, besides SHI, is the only other charity falling within the international category. Only two organizations on the list have received 5 consecutive 4 star ratings: Camp Sunshine and Maine Sea Coast Vision, and only Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory has received 6 consecutive 4 star ratings.

The annual rating, which is designed to help Charity Navigator meet its mission of guiding “intelligent giving,” is based on two broad areas of a charity’s financial health: organizational efficiency and organizational capacity, or, how responsibly a charity functions day to day, and how well positioned it is to sustain its programs over time. The charity is then awarded an overall rating, ranging from zero to four stars, with four stars being the highest rating. Only 501(c) (3) organizations, which are considered public charities, meaning that all donations to them are tax-exempt, are evaluated.

Last year SHI ranked among just 10% of all charities rated nationwide that had received 3 consecutive 4- star evaluations, according to Charity Navigator. Prestigious ratings like these are all the more important today, as the economy poses problems for people and organizations alike, and non profits in particular. Says Florence Reed, Founder and President of SHI, “We are very proud that we have maintained our outstanding rating over the years. With an exceptional score in organizational efficiency and low overhead, we spend just 8% of our budget on administration. This rating is particularly important to us at this time, given the overall climate of economic uncertainty. We hope to continue to merit Charity Navigator’s exceptional rating for years to come.”

To find out more about SHI, go to their web site at http://www.sustainableharvest.org

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