NEW CANAAN, Conn., Dec. 4, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) announced today that for a fifth consecutive year, the organization has received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America's largest independent evaluator of charitable donations. This prestigious award recognizes the MMRF as a model of financial health that has consistently served as a responsible steward of its donors' funds.
To date, only three percent of the 5,000 charities rated annually by Charity Navigator have received five consecutive 4-star ratings. According to the premier site for intelligent giving, MMRF outperforms most charities in America in its efforts to operate in the most fiscally responsible way possible. This exceptional designation once again differentiates the MMRF from its peers and demonstrates to its donors that it is worthy of their trust.
The coveted 4-star rating, the highest honor Charity Navigator bestows, goes to organizations operating with exceptional fiscal responsibility. Spending only $3 to raise $100, the MMRF exceeds standards in cancer fundraising and outperforms most charities in America for responsible management and measuring results. More than 95 percent of dollars raised by MMRF goes toward research and related programming.
"This 4-star rating for the fifth consecutive year is a testament to the MMRF's success in both providing outstanding fiscal management to its donors and generating consistent trust among the greater public," said Scott Santarella, Executive Director, Chief Administrative Officer, MMRF. "To be one of only three percent of these charitable organizations to receive this designation is a clear signal that our philanthropic model is meeting the needs of today's increasingly discriminating non-profit sector with scrupulous accountability and measurable results."
For more information, visit www.charitynavigator.org
About Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator works to guide intelligent giving. We help charitable givers make intelligent giving decisions by providing information on over five thousand charities and by evaluating the financial health of each of these charities. We ensure our evaluations are widely used by making them easy to understand and available to the public free of charge. By guiding intelligent giving, we aim to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace, in which givers and the charities they support work in tandem to overcome our nation's most persistent challenges. Charity Navigator is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization under the Internal Revenue Code and does not accept any contributions from any charities we evaluate.
About Multiple Myeloma
Multiple myeloma is an incurable cancer of the plasma cell, with a five-year survival rate of only 32 percent -- one of the lowest of all cancers. Approximately 50,000 people in the United States are living with multiple myeloma and an estimated 16,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Although the peak age of onset of multiple myeloma is 65 to 70 years of age, recent statistics suggest that incidence is increasing and at an earlier age.
About the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF)
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) was established in 1998 as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization by twin sisters Karen Andrews and Kathy Giusti, a newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patient, with the unique mission of accelerating the search for a cure for multiple myeloma. Today, the MMRF is the largest non-profit foundation dedicated to the single mission of accelerating the search for a cure for multiple myeloma. As the world's number one funder of myeloma research, the MMRF has raised more than $87 million to fund more than 200 research grants at more than 70 research institutions around the globe. Currently, the MMRF is funding more than 30 new compounds and approaches -- in pre-clinical testing and Phase I, II and III clinical trials -- that show promise in treating patients at all stages of the disease. For more information about the MMRF, please visit www.multiplemyeloma.org.