The Upper Etowah River Alliance has earned the 2026 Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid, the highest level of transparency the organization awards to nonprofits. It’s a milestone for a small, volunteer-powered group, and a way of saying thank you to the members, donors and partners who make our work possible.
What is Candid?
Candid, which was formerly known as GuideStar, runs the largest public database of U.S. nonprofits. Donors, foundations and corporate partners use it to learn about an organization before they give. Any registered nonprofit can claim a profile and share information about its work, and Candid recognizes the ones that share the most with four seal levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum.
What does Platinum mean?
Platinum is the top tier, and each level builds on the one before it. To earn it, an organization has to share the basics about who it is, along with its financial information, its goals and strategy, and recent results. It also asks the organization to share information about its board. The profile has to be kept current, and the seal is renewed with a yearly update.
In plain terms, the seal means anyone can look at UERA and see what we do, how we use our resources and what we have accomplished, without having to ask.
Why transparency matters for a river
The Upper Etowah River supplies drinking water to more than 500,000 people in north Georgia, and it is home to rare fish, like the Etowah darter, that are found nowhere else on Earth. Protecting it depends on the community’s trust. Every dollar given to UERA goes toward volunteer water testing, creek and river cleanups, and hands-on education for students and families, and you should be able to see exactly what that support makes possible.
Here is a snapshot of what our volunteers did in 2025:
- 12 monitoring groups tested 51 sites across 216 monitoring events.
- We held 11 training workshops and awarded 29 Georgia Adopt-A-Stream certificates.
- Volunteers took part in more than 45 events and gave over 1,200 service hours.
You can read more in our annual reports and on our water quality monitoring page.
See our Candid profile
You can view UERA’s full profile, including our mission, programs and financial information, on Candid: UERA on Candid. You will also see the Platinum seal in the footer of every page on this site.
Thank you
The seal belongs to everyone who has tested a stream, pulled trash from a creek bank, given a gift or told a neighbor about the river. Thank you for helping us do this work openly and well.
Keep the momentum going
- Become a member, starting at $25 a year.
- Make a gift to support monitoring, cleanups and education.
- Volunteer with us on the water or at an event.
- Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed.
