History
Founded in 1936, Children International began as Holy Land Christian Mission. Initially, it focused on assisting children with physical handicaps and single mothers. However, in 1980, the organization responded to the expansion of extreme poverty by dropping its religious affiliation, changing its name to Children International, and becoming a secular NGO.
That same year, the organization opened its first centers in India, the Philippines and Guatemala. Since 1980, the number of sponsored children has grown from 2,300 to 335,000.
As of 2012, the organization continues to recruit sponsors through its website, television ad campaigns, and hiring grassroots fundraising firm Dialogue Direct. It has seventeen active centers in eleven countries, with a high fundraising efficiency of eighty-one cents to the dollar.
The organization continues to recruit sponsors through its website, television ad campaigns, and hiring grassroots fundraising firm Dialogue Direct. It has seventeen active centers in eleven countries, with a high fundraising efficiency of eighty-one cents to the dollar.
Singer and longtime CI supporter Debbie Gibson, was featured as a contestant on the 2012 season of The Celebrity Apprentice on NBC. From the show, she raised $50,000 for CI and her winnings went towards the construction of a community center to serve 5,000 poor children in New Delhi, India. The community center will include a medical and dental clinic, pharmacy, library, computer lab and playground. The center will allow impoverished children to receive much-needed health care and educational support they would not otherwise have.
In addition to Debbie Gibson, Children International has a dedicated base of celebrity supporters who have graciously agreed to lend their names and faces in support of bringing real and lasting change to families around the world. The list of names includes Edie Falco, Drew Carey, Christian Finnegan, Heather Graham, Helio Castroneves, Miranda Kerr, Hannah Teter and Neil Patrick Harris.
Charity Watch rated Children International a "B" grade.
Great_Nonprofits rated Children International with a 4 out of 5 star rating.
In 2012, Consumers Digest named Children International one of their "top-rated charities."
Read more about this topic: Children International
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