You want to know if your financial support is doing the work you purposed for it to do! Right?
Trustworthy. Legitimate. Proven. These are the words donors want to hear about their charities. As explained in the introduction we will be using Mercy Ships as the charity for this series.
Let's get right to it! Did you watch the video? Thanks!
3 Great Websites to check the "Trustworthy" Factor of a Charity:
- Charity Navigator gives Mercy Ships a score of 91.9 (out of 100) and a 4-star rating. Charity Navigator is the first go-to website to get the breakdown of any Charity of your choice. Financial performance, Accountability, Transparency...
- The BBB Wise Giving Alliance (Give.org) - Mercy Ships is an accredited charity. It meets 20 Standards of Charity Accountability. Using Charity Navigator gives you a credible "second opinion" with the Better Business Bureau.
- Great Nonprofits - Mercy Ships has a 5-star rating out of 40 reviews. It is one of their Top-Rated Nonprofits in the past! Reading the reviews helps give you a "feel" for a charity.
Mercy Ships "Endorsement & Partners" page is incredible! Nelson Mandela, Tony Blair, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and others endorse Mercy Ships.
Take a look at the financials of Mercy Ships. They have several of the past years available for download in Annual Report, Form 990, and Audit Report in PDF format. Mercy Ships is also part of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) and a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (EFCA).
You're probably saying to yourself, "Ok, ok, we get it! Mercy Ships is legit!".
In 2004 I was working with Mercy Ships on the Anastasis (now retired) as the Executive Chef. We were on outreach in West Africa first in Benin, then on to Liberia. During this time I met a man whose roommates were some of the guys that worked on my cooking teams. He came as a photojournalist to help capture the stories. He would share his crazy party lifestyle as a nightclub promoter and how it left him broken and empty. There had to be something better. His name was Scott Harrison.
Do you know Scott Harrison? Maybe it sounds familiar? He started Charity: Water. Scott's story starts with Mercy Ships.
"I signed up for volunteer service aboard a floating hospital with a group called MERCY SHIPS, a humanitarian organization which offered free medical care in the world's poorest nations. Operating on surgery ships, they'd built a 25-year track record of astonishing results yet I'd never heard of them."
Scott goes on to talk about the great impact Mercy Ships had on him and founding Charity:Water. Here is a man that went on to start a successful charity in the nonprofit world. And he continues to give credit to Mercy Ships every, single, time.
Trustworthy. Legitimate. Proven. These are the words donors want to hear about their charities.
Disclaimer: We are not official representatives of Mercy Ships. BUT, We have spent many years as volunteers working in the organization! Their vision incorporates our skills, talents, and values to complement the mission!
Disclaimer: We are not official representatives of Mercy Ships. BUT, We have spent many years as volunteers working in the organization! Their vision incorporates our skills, talents, and values to complement the mission!
