Free Software Foundation Awarded Perfect Score, Eighth Consecutive Four-Star Rating From Charity Navigator

by Free Software Foundation
Press Release

Boston, Massachusetts, USA -- February 9th, 2021. The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has been awarded a four-star and 100% rating, the highest possible, from Charity Navigator, the largest independent evaluator of US-based nonprofit charities. The FSF was also selected for Charity Navigator's "Top Ten List" as one of "10 Charities Worth Watching." These designations exemplify the FSF's strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency.

Using objective analysis, Charity Navigator awards only the most fiscally responsible organizations a four-star rating, with metrics including governance, ethical practices, operations in accordance with industry best practices, and openness with donors and stakeholders. This is the eighth year in a row the FSF has received a four-star rating, a record attained by only six percent of the 160,000 charities evaluated by Charity Navigator. The FSF also earned perfect scores on "Financial Health" and "Accountability & Transparency," resulting in the organization's first-ever 100% rating, an accomplishment less than one percent of all charities evaluated by Charity Navigator are able to achieve. This is the second time the FSF has placed in the list of "10 Charities Worth Watching."

"The Free Software Foundation's exceptional four-star rating sets it apart from its peers and demonstrates its trustworthiness to the public," according to Michael Thatcher, President and CEO of Charity Navigator. "Only a quarter of charities rated by Charity Navigator receive the distinction of our four-star rating. This adds the FSF to a preeminent group of charities working to overcome our world's most pressing challenges. Based on its four-star rating, people can trust that their donations are going to a financially responsible and ethical charity when they decide to support the Free Software Foundation."

FSF executive director, John Sullivan, shared: "This is truly an accomplishment requiring the whole organization's efforts. It reflects excellence by our board of directors in its leadership, especially overseeing the FSF's financial management and key organizational policies, and by our whole staff, doing their work with exceptional efficiency and diligence, focused precisely on the FSF's mission. This is full validation of our supporters' confidence that when you contribute to the FSF, that hard-earned money will substantially advance the cause of software freedom."

The FSF's Charity Navigator profile can be visited at https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=8557.

About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at https://fsf.org and https://gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at https://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.