IRC Wins 'Gold Star' from Forbes in Annual Survey of Charities

The International Rescue Committee has been chosen as one of 10 gold-star charities in an annual survey of 200 major nonprofit organizations conducted by Forbes magazine.

Forbes said its gold-star list, appearing for the first time, identifies "charities we think are worthy of your consideration." The list appears in a special edition of Forbes, the "2004 Investment Guide."

The Forbes survey analyzes 200 charities according to three criteria: "charitable commitment" (the percentage of spending devoted to programming rather than fundraising or overhead); "fundraising efficiency" (the cost of raising funds) and "donor dependence" (income from donations rather than other sources, such as the sale of goods or services). Forbes awarded the IRC grades of 90, 93 and 94, respectively.

In the last 12 months, the IRC has also won high marks from Newsweek, Worth and SmartMoney magazines.

In its Dec. 16, 2002, edition, Newsweek asked, "In a mood to give? Who'll make the best use of your donation?" The article said, "We've picked five charities, all financially sustainable groups operating with low overhead." The other four selected charities operate in the fields of missing children, mental health, land conservation and community service, respectively.

Worth magazine included the IRC in its list of the 100 Best Charities. In the December 2002 issue of its print edition, SmartMoney magazine cited the IRC as the leader in the field of international relief and development.