2020 Platinum Seal of Transparency

---

PRESS RELEASE

“Beacon of Hope Crisis Center Earns GuideStar’s Highest Seal of Transparency”

Platinum Seal allows donors to focus on progress and results

(INDIANAPOLIS, IN – June 9, 2020) – Beacon of Hope Crisis Center has earned the 2020 Platinum Seal of Transparency, the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar, a service of Candid. By sharing metrics that highlight progress Beacon of Hope Crisis Center is making toward its mission, the organization enables donors to move beyond simplistic ways of nonprofit evaluation such as overhead ratios.
 
"We have long-held a passion and commitment to transparency in our work,” said Jacqueline Bowman, Board Spokesperson, “we are excited to convey our organization’s results in a user-friendly and highly visual manner. By updating our GuideStar Nonprofit Profile to the Platinum level, we can now easily share a wealth of up-to-date organizational metrics with our supporters as well as GuideStar's immense online audience, which includes donors, grant makers, our peers, and the media."
 
Beacon of Hope Crisis Center provides victim assistance and serves as a critical essential business during this national health crisis. Our advocates, counselors and administrators have worked tirelessly to serve increased demand while grappling with the unprecedented challenge of providing quick access to safety, when the public health crisis requires distance and separation. Every day, Beacon of Hope Crisis Center works to provide safety, education, and support to all victims of domestic violence and sexual assault while making sure rights and equality are top priority and ensuring equal access and opportunity to resources and services. Our staff and governing board, comprised of racially and ethnically diverse men and women, stand firm in our resolve to provide victims the tools they need to break free of violence.
 
“Reflected in our GuideStar Platinum Nonprofit Profile is the immense pride we share in knowing,” said Sandra Ziebold, CEO, “that we are an agency that serves ALL individuals facing domestic violence and sexual assault crisis regardless of religion, race, color, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, marital status, national origin, language capacity, or ability.”
 
Beacon of Hope Crisis Center recognizes that increased financial, health, civil justice and reform pressures have heightened the need for victim services. “Our passionate and diverse board and staff have been and will remain committed to life saving real change,” explained Ziebold. “We not only face this global health crisis, but also continue to address the need that emanates from the effects of centuries of systemic oppression and racism across our country. There is deep pain, outrage, and sadness in our souls. We must stand together, unite, and overcome as a nation that envelopes one another in equality and love.”
 
To reach the Platinum level, Beacon of Hope Crisis Center, added extensive information to its Nonprofit Profile on GuideStar: basic contact and organizational information; in-depth financial information; qualitative information about goals, strategies, and capabilities; and quantitative information about results and progress toward its mission. By providing this information, Beacon of Hope Crisis Center, puts into action its stated commitment to transparency and to giving donors and funders meaningful data to evaluate nonprofit performance.
 
We chose to display quantitative metrics such as positive outcomes in the lives of survivors to exemplify the substantial impact Beacon of Hope Crisis Center makes in working toward achieving our mission. It is important for our organization to share these outcomes with the community to show that together with quality service delivery and the help of donors we are eliciting positive change in people’s lives.
 
"I encourage you to visit Beacon of Hope Crisis Center’s profile on GuideStar to learn more about us," added Bowman. “We are thrilled that our GuideStar Platinum Nonprofit Profile and its associated benefits help us better communicate our organization’s exciting initiatives at a global scale."
 
###

About GuideStar Nonprofit Profiles
 
In February 2019, GuideStar joined forces with Foundation Center to form Candid, a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Today, GuideStar is a service of Candid. The GuideStar database contains a profile for every tax-exempt nonprofit registered with the IRS. The profiles are populated with information directly from nonprofits, the IRS, and other partners in the nonprofit sector. Candid encourages every nonprofit to claim and update its profile at no cost to the organization. Updating allows nonprofits to share a wealth of up-to-date information with the more than 13 million people who visit guidestar.org to learn more about nonprofit organizations each year. Updating also allows nonprofits to share information with the more than 200 philanthropic websites and applications that are powered by GuideStar data, such as AmazonSmile, Facebook, and Network for Good. To reach a given participation level, organizations must complete all required fields for that level. The GuideStar participation levels, acknowledged as symbols of transparency in the nonprofit sector, are displayed on all updated participants' profiles in the GuideStar database.
 
About Candid
 
Every year, millions of nonprofits spend trillions of dollars around the world. Candid finds out where that money comes from, where it goes, and why it matters. Through research, collaboration, and training, Candid connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to do it. Candid’s data tools on nonprofits, foundations, and grants are the most comprehensive in the world. Learn more at candid.org and on Twitter @CandidDotOrg.
 
About Beacon of Hope Crisis Center
 
Beacon of Hope Crisis Center a Christ-centered organization empowering victims of domestic violence and sexual assault to become self-sufficient by providing safety, support, and education. Serving Central Indiana since 2009. Beacon of Hope Crisis Center is a confidential and safe place where individuals who are or have been a victim of domestic violence and/or sexual assault can receive advocacy services and referrals.  Our advocates assist with safety planning and let victims know what is available for them within our agency or one of our agency partner service providers.  We assist in many ways, a few of those ways are helping with protective order filings, victim compensation and other paperwork, court accompaniment, helping to find a bed in a domestic violence shelter when that is needed, fostering pets while victim(s) are in shelter, helping with the healing process, counseling, steps toward independence and self-sufficiency for long-term improved quality of life. Beacon of Hope is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization located in Indianapolis, Indiana. More information can be found at https://beaconofhopeindy.org.