Ivy Hill Therapeutic Equestrian Center (Ivy Hill Foundation, Inc.) earns GuideStar 2019 Platinum Seal of Transparency, putting them in the top 0.5 percent of Guidestar profiles.
GuideStar provides information that helps people make better decisions about nonprofits and the work they do. Each year, more than 10 million donors, nonprofit leaders, grantmakers, government officials, academic researchers, and journalists use GuideStar data to make intelligent decisions about the social sector.
Ivy Hill Foundation, Inc., dba Ivy Hill Therapeutic Equestrian Center (Ivy Hill) is a community-based non-profit 501 (c)(3) located in Perkasie, PA. Ivy Hill’s mission is to create therapeutic programs for individuals with cognitive, physical, emotional, behavioral and psychological needs utilizing the equine experience.
In the last 20 years, Ivy Hill has grown to serve a community of 153 program riders with 15 therapy horses, 28 staff and 168 volunteers who have contributed 5,674 of volunteer hours. In addition to equine-assisted therapies, Ivy Hill collaborates with several community partners to provide job training through specialized programs dedicated to an exponentially growing special needs population.
GuideStar maintains profiles on 2.7 million IRS-recognized nonprofits. These profiles contain information from the IRS and the nonprofits themselves. In addition, GuideStar data is seen on more than 200 philanthropic websites and applications. GuideStar is itself a 501(c)(3) public charity whose mission is “to revolutionize philanthropy by providing information that advances transparency, enables users to make better decisions, and encourages charitable giving.”
A 2018 report published in the Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance finds that nonprofits that proactively shared their organizational information with the public received substantially more in total contributions the following year than nonprofits that were less transparent. The report, “Determinants and Consequences of Nonprofit Transparency”, was based on data from 6,300 nonprofits in the GuideStar database.
The report found that organizations that voluntarily took action to improve their transparency and earned a GuideStar Seal of Transparency saw an average increase of 53 percent in their total contributions a year later while demonstrating stronger performance across a range of governance, financial, and operational dimensions. Authored by professors Erica Harris (Villanova University) and Daniel Neely (University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee), the report draws the conclusion that donors will demonstrate their appreciation for a nonprofit’s efforts to improve its transparency by increasing their funding for the organization.
Ivy Hill is one of only four equine-assisted therapy centers in Pennsylvania that have attained Platinum level, which is Guidestar’s highest category. At this level, the focus is on reporting of metrics, results and consistency of progress in an organization’s programs and mission. The reporting of metrics and outcomes is very important for charitable giving.
Chris Brockett, President of Ivy Hill Foundation, Inc. commented, “As stewards of the funds we raise for our clients, we hold ourselves to the highest standards of transparency and fiscal responsibilities and appreciate Guidestar’s acknowledgement of these efforts in this year’s rating.”
For more information about Ivy Hill visit our website at www.ivyhillequestrian.org or visit us on Guidestar