ICR Receives the Independent Charities Seal of Excellence

by Christine Dao *

The Institute for Creation Research has received the “Independent Charities Seal of Excellence” for meeting the highest standards of public accountability and program cost effectiveness. Less than 0.2 percent of the estimated 1 million charities operating in the U.S. today have received this recognition.

The Seal was awarded during a recent review process in which ICR received formal approval to participate in the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) at the national level. Through this program, federal employees have the option of donating part of their pre-tax income to a participating charity of their choice, and this year ICR is an option.

The CFC is the world’s largest and most successful annual workplace charity campaign, with more than 300 individual campaigns participating to help raise hundreds of millions of dollars for charities and non-profit organizations each year. “To gain approval, ICR’s financial officers were required to submit to rather stringent criteria,” says ICR Director of Donor Relations Henry Morris IV. The review process, conducted by Christian Charities USA, found ICR’s financials to be in such high standing that the ministry received approval in an extraordinarily short period of time, as well as being awarded the Seal of Excellence.

“Since its inception nearly 40 years ago, ICR has always operated in the black [without debt]. If there was a project we wanted to do, we didn’t borrow money. We believed God would provide, and He always has. It’s also a litmus test that we’re in the Lord’s will, because if we weren’t, He wouldn’t provide the means,” Morris said. “We exist at all because of God’s faithfulness through our faithful donors.”

When giving to charities, it is always good to consider where the funds are going and how the organization manages those funds. ICR remains a ministry dedicated to the authority and inerrancy of all of God’s Word, and everyone who partners with us can rest assured that their gifts are faithfully managed.

* Ms. Dao is Assistant Editor.

Article posted on August 11, 2008.