Wildlife Conservation Network is honored to be ranked as the leading Wildlife Conservation charity on Charity Navigator, a website that looks at the financial health, accountability, and transparency of nonprofit organizations. We are committed to ensuring that donations made to WCN have a real impact for endangered animals and continually strive to make our model as effective as it possibly can be.
For over five years WCN has received four stars, the highest rating on Charity Navigator, with a current score of 99.49 out of 100. This rating is defined by Charity Navigator as “exceptional” and “exceeding industry standards.” The scores include an evaluation of financial metrics such as percentage of expenses spent on programs and services, fundraising efficiency, primary revenue growth and working capital ratio. Accountability and transparency metrics such as an easily accessible donor privacy policy and the availability of audited financials are also considered.
While efficiency and accountability are extremely important to us, we also recognize that they are not the only or even the most important measures of a non-profit’s success. To truly be exceptional, a non-profit needs to create real impacts. Of course, these impacts are difficult to measure or to capture in a single rating or set of statistics.
At WCN, we work to make a difference for endangered animals by partnering with and supporting some of the world’s leading wildlife conservationists. These conservationists live and work in the field and have a deep understanding of the challenges that the endangered species they work with face. They work closely with local communities to develop innovative solutions to these issues. In 2014, WCN and our donors helped Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Program fund an emergency vaccination campaign when rabies threatened the future of the Ethiopian wolves. The Elephant Crisis Fund, begun by WCN and long-time partner Save the Elephants, has fueled a global on-the-ground coalition of organizations committed to stopping elephant poaching and demand for ivory.
We are proud of our efficiency, our accountability and our impacts. We continue to be dedicated to using the donations from our supporters in the most effective way possible and, most importantly, to saving endangered animals around the world.