Friendship Manor in Rock Island is at the top in transparency and openness. That's according to GuideStar, a charity and website that collects and disseminates information about 1.8 million U.S. nonprofits. And it gave the Rock Island retirement community its best or platinum rating.
Jeff Condit, Friendship Manor's Development Director, says some nonprofits operate as if they're private. But he thinks the people have a right to know details about groups that accept donations from the public. And the process helps him with fundraising.
The forms Condit filled out to reach the top level of transparency on GuideStar included questions no one had ever asked him before.
Friendship Manor is one of only 573 U.S. nonprofit organizations with a platinum rating from GuideStar. Several others in the Quad Cities have a gold rating including Augustana College, the Doris and Victor Day Foundation, Rauch Family Foundation, Catholic Foundation for the Diocese of Davenport, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the German American Heritage Center.
GuideStar provides IRS form 990s for most charities in the U.S. Access requires creating a free account. WVIK News signed up a few years ago and has not received unwanted emails from GuideStar or had any other problems with the account.
