Sea Shepherd Awarded 4-Star Rating for the Third Consecutive Year by Charity Navigator

For the third year in a row, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was awarded a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator (CN), a leading charity evaluator based in the United States. Sea Shepherd is proud to be among the elite 31 percent of charities that receive this exceptional designation.

As the non-profit sector continues to grow at an unprecedented pace, savvy donors are demanding more accountability, transparency, and quantifiable results from the charities they choose to support with their hard-earned dollars. In this competitive philanthropic marketplace, CN highlights efficient charities such as Sea Shepherd and provides donors with essential information needed to give them greater confidence in the charitable choices they make.

A few highlights from CN’s evaluation process:

• Sea Shepherd is part of the Wildlife Conservation category.

• CN requires four years of our IRS Form 990 filings to complete an evaluation.

• CN evaluated our financials from 2006 through 2009.

• CN only evaluates charities based in the U.S. and registered with the IRS. However, the scope of a charity's work can be international.

CN's rating system examines two broad areas of a charity's financial health -- how responsibly it functions day to day, as well as how well positioned it is to sustain its programs over time. Each charity is then awarded an overall rating, ranging from zero to four stars.

Charity Navigator explains, “We rate charities by evaluating two broad areas of financial health, their organizational efficiency, and their organizational capacity. We use a set of performance categories to rate each of these two areas, and we issue an overall rating that combines the charity's performance in both areas. Our ratings show givers how efficiently a charity will use their support today, and to what extent the charities are growing their programs and services over time.”

Sea Shepherd's Founder and President Captain Paul Watson commented, "Since the founding of Sea Shepherd over 30 years ago, one of our guiding principles has been to use donor funds as effectively as possible to fulfill our marine conservation mission to defend ocean wildlife worldwide. The trust and goodwill of our donors can never be taken for granted and we constantly work to earn it. Being awarded the highest rating from Charity Navigator is the ultimate confirmation of these efforts and a strong indicator to our donors that their funds will be utilized efficiently to save as many marine animals as possible."

Sea Shepherd works hard to put your dollars to effective use and they believe that is proven in their listing with Charity Navigator, which shows that Sea Shepherd allocated 84.9 percent of their revenue to programs.

Charity Navigator's review of Sea Shepherd can be viewed at: www.charitynavigator.org.

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