ECAD Awarded Highest Rating By Charity Navigator

ECAD’s sound fiscal management practices and commitment to accountability and transparency have earned it a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluator. This is the third consecutive time that ECAD has earned this rating.

ECAD, co-founded by Dale and Lu Picard in 1995, educates and places Service Dogs with people with disabilities so that they may lead lives with more independence and mobility. To date they have placed 250 Service Dogs, with Veterans, with civilians representing a wide variety of degenerative diseases, and with children with disorders on the Autism Spectrum.

Canton resident Joe Recupero, a Veteran with PTSD and Parkinson’s Disease, received his ECAD Service Dog, Colby, this past June.

“It’s important our donors trust that we’re using our funding wisely to accomplish ECAD’s mission,” said Dale Picard, ECAD’s Executive Director. “Our 4-star Charity Navigator rating demonstrates to our supporters that we take our fiduciary and governance responsibilities very seriously. We work hard for each dollar raised, and we are proud that Charity Navigator recognizes our work to used these dollars effectively.”

Since 2002, using objective, data-driven analysis, Charity Navigator has awarded only the most fiscally responsible organizations a 4-star rating. In 2011, Charity Navigator added 17 metrics, focused on governance and ethical practices as well as measures of openness, to its ratings methodology. These “Accountability & Transparency” metrics, which account for 50 percent of a charity’s overall rating, reveal which charities have “best practices” that minimize the chance of unethical activities and whether they freely share basic information about their organization with their donors and other stakeholders.

“ECAD’s coveted 4-star rating puts it in a very select group of high-performing charities,” according to Tim Gamory, COO of Charity Navigator. “Out of the thousands of nonprofits Charity Navigator evaluates, only one out of four earns 4 stars -- a rating that demands rigor, responsibility and commitment to openness. ECAD’s supporters should feel much more confident that their hard-earned dollars are being used efficiently and responsibly when it acquires such a high rating.”

ECAD’s rating and other information about charitable giving are available free of charge on www.charitynavigator.org. More-detailed information about ECAD’s rating is available to Charity Navigator site visitors who become registered users, another free service.

For additional information on ECAD and its programs, please visit www.ecad1.org, www.facebook.com/ECADServiceDogs, or www.twitter.com/ECADServiceDogs.