United Way Earns Top Honor

The last voyage of the Space Shuttle. Prince William and Kate Middleton tie the knot. The iPhone 4S debuts. That’s what was happening during the first year your United Way received Charity Navigator’s coveted 4-Star rating.

This week, we made it an even decade.

Charity Navigator rates nonprofits in two areas of performance: financial health, and accountability and transparency. This helps donors know how efficiently a charitable organization uses their support, how well it sustains its programs and services over time, and its commitment to good governance, best practices and openness with information. Only 2 percent of charities evaluated nationwide by Charity Navigator have achieved this mark ten times running.

“This is our highest possible rating and indicates that your organization adheres to sector best practices and executes its mission in a financially efficient way,” said Michael Thatcher, president and CEO of Charity Navigator.

“Attaining a 4-star rating verifies that United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region exceeds industry standards and outperforms most charities in your area of work.”

Charity Navigator’s complete assessment can be found here: