Our Standards
The Prison Education FoundationTM is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards in our operations. In all areas of our operations we work hard to adhere to the high standards established by independent rating organizations. These standards include, among other criteria, such requirements as having audited financial statements, an independent governing board and low operating overhead.
Although these organizations primarily provide ratings for the larger public charities in which there is a wide appeal, the Prison Education Foundation believes in the standards they espouse and works hard to adhere to them.
However, we also realize that the Prison Education Foundation may never actually receive a rating from some or all of these organizations due to our smaller size, and the sometimes unpopular mission of our organization – the education and rehabilitation of prisoners. Educating American's prison population is unpopular in some circles and may, therefore, never have the wide appeal and interest required in order to obtain an actual rating from all of the rating organizations.
For example, one rating organization, Charity Navigator, currently evaluates over 5,000 of the nations 501(c)(3) public charities – which is more than 10 times the number of evaluations provided by any other charity rating organization. Most organizations rate less than 500 public charities. Yet, today there are over 1 million public charities in the United States. Accordingly, the unfortunate fact is that the likelihood of the foundation actually receiving a rating is small.
To become familiar with the standards of the various rating organizations and other charity watchdog groups, and to compare how well the Prison Education Foundation is doing in adhering to those standards, as well as to learn tips for wise giving, we have listed the major organizations and groups below for your convenience. You may visit their websites by clicking the links below.
CharityNavigator.org
CharityWatch.org
Give.org
GuideStar.org