ServLife was ranked among worldwide leaders in nonprofit transparency and effectiveness on Wednesday with the launch of the GuideStar Platinum Participant accreditation. A platinum ranking is now the highest offered by GuideStar, the world’s largest nonprofit information source, indicating an organization’s extreme commitment to honest reporting and genuine results.

ServLife is one of 248 nonprofits out of GuideStar’s 1.8 million participants to become an “Early Adopter” of the platinum ranking, placing us in the top .0001% of registered nonprofit organizations. “Platinum allows nonprofits to report their progress against their missions in quantitative terms. For the first time in the history of the field, Platinum will allow us to address nonprofit performance measurement at scale,” Jacob Harold of GuideStar states.

“We are honored to be one of only five Indiana nonprofits to be early adopters into the new GuideStar Platinum program,” says ServLife Executive Director Adam Nevins. “GuideStar continues to push nonprofits in the area of accountability while simultaneously informing and equipping donors.”

ServLife demonstrated the efficacy and transparency of our programs through qualification for GuideStar Platinum. We are committed to honest reporting of our use of funding, as well as maintaining a high percentage of support going to programs despite doubling our program reach.

Nepal’s average citizen makes only $2 a day and India’s poverty rate is over 20% according to WorldBank. Both countries are in need of sustainable resources to aid the poor. Our program to educate children and house orphans has grown 51% in the last four years, giving 383 children an opportunity to overcome systemic poverty in 2015 alone. We are also proud of our successful micro-lending program to empower families in remote villages of the Himalayas through small business loans. Graduates of this program make over 200% the average daily wage and are paying off their loans on within two years, allowing funds to be redistributed to others in their communities and lift whole villages out of poverty.

“Being part of the vanguard with Guidestar Platinum says a lot about ServLife – and their desire to truly build a partnership with their supporters,” says Indiana State Treasurer Kelly Mitchell. “When an organization is willing to go beyond normal transparency metrics, to actively seek ways to be more open and forthcoming, it builds trust and creates the space for deepening relationships and increasing positive outcomes.”