| Founder(s) | J. Calvitt Clarke |
|---|---|
| Type | Charitable organization |
| Founded | 1938[1] |
| Location | 2821 Emerywood Parkway Richmond, Virginia |
| Area served | United States, South America, Africa, Asia[2] |
| Focus | Children |
| Motto | "Dedicated to helping children in need" |
| Formerly called | Christian Children's Fund (1951–2009)[1] China's Children Fund (1938–1951)[1][3] |
ChildFund, formerly known as Christian Children's Fund[4] and China's Children Fund, is an international child sponsorship group based in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It provides assistance to deprived, excluded and vulnerable children in 30 developing countries, including the United States.[5]
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ChildFund's mission is centered on its belief that the well-being of all children leads to the well-being of the world. The organization works to empower children to thrive throughout all stages of life and become leaders of enduring change. ChildFund provides services to children, most funded by individual contributors, in the form of monthly child sponsorships. In addition, ChildFund says it receives grants and donations that support vocational training, literacy training, food distribution, educational programs, early childhood development, health and immunization programs, nutritional programs, water and sanitation development, and emergency relief in both man-made and natural disasters.
The organization is known for its TV commercials [6] on major networks in the United States.[7][8] The commercials include photographs and videos of impoverished children in developing countries, and often feature actor Alan Sader. A previous long-running series of advertisements had featured actress Sally Struthers as spokeswoman, and its print ads around that time also had All in the Family co-star Rob Reiner.
ChildFund was founded on 6 October 1938 as China's Children Fund by Presbyterian minister Dr. J. Calvitt Clarke to aid Chinese children displaced by the Second Sino-Japanese War. As the mission expanded to other countries, the name was changed on 6 February 1951 to Christian Children's Fund.[3]
On 1 July 2009, Christian Children's Fund changed its name to ChildFund International.[9]
In June 2002, ChildFund International and 11 other international child sponsorship organizations founded a worldwide network, ChildFund Alliance.The ChildFund Alliance comprises twelve organizations that partner to improve the lives of children and their families in 55 countries. Alliance members meet organizational standards of governance, fundraising and fiscal responsibility. The partnership fosters opportunities for pooled resources and collaborative activities to reach more children in need. The ChildFund Alliance includes the following members:
Individual sponsors contribute funds on a monthly basis. Sponsor funds are combined to benefit an entire community.[10] ChildFund encourages sponsors to correspond with children in the sponsored community through letters and photographs.
Since 1985, ChildFund International has been providing child-sponsorship in Sri Lanka.[11] Despite its primary focus which is targeted on children, it has also provided much assistance in many other areas such as providing safe water storage containers for more than 3000 families after the tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka.[12] Child Centered Spaces (CCS) were built and located in tsunami areas and area with much conflicts and instability so as to provide an avenue for children to turn to and to provide them with a formal education system.[12] In addition, they have reached out to more than a thousand children, providing them with many opportunities in areas such as education, sports, health and nutrition.[12]
They also provide trainings to women and teachers so as to give them a proper understanding of the right way to take care and to educate children.[12] This is extremely important because they both play a very crucial role in influencing child’s decision to receive education. There are also child protection policies which helped to prevent children from discrimination, exploitation, prostitution, sex trafficking, abuse and neglect.[12] These factors are highly relevant to child labour as they affect the inducement of children to work at young ages. The most recent campaign brought up by the ChildFund International would be the "Children First" programme which was launched in April 2007 and aimed to further equipped the children in Sri Lanka with better protection and rights.[12] Better protection is one of the effective ways to curb child labour. All these are done to educate the children of other the better alternatives to child labour and how they can protect themselves from further exploitation.
Charity Navigator[13] gives ChildFund a rating of two out of four stars. For 2009, ChildFund allocated its $217,412,844 in revenue[14] as follows:
Charity Navigator lists ChildFund having $50,478,141 in assets. ChildFund's President, Anne Lynam Goddard, received $255,824 in compensation in 2009.[15]
ChildFund releases a number of publications every quarter to six months. It has three: ChildWorld magazine, ChildWire e-newsletter, and an annual report. The newsletter is sent to subscribers every month via e-mail.
In May 2004, ChildFund (then known as Christian Children's Fund, or CCF) became the subject of some contention when Christian charity watchdog group Wall Watchers sent a "donor alert" via e-mail to about 2,500 subscribers, informing them that the name of the charity—Christian Children's Fund—was designed to intentionally mislead its donors into thinking it was a faith-based missionary group.[16] Howard Leonard, a chief executive of Wall Watchers, was quoted by a magazine as saying, "It isn't Christian in the way we look at it. If you're going to be bringing help to these children, you should be bringing the Gospel." A spokesperson for the group said that the organization does not proselytize any person to a faith, rather its name is derived from its founder, a Presbyterian minister who believed in "Christian principles," such as "love thy neighbor as thyself."
In 2008, CCF was reported to have turned down a $17,398 donation from GenCon Live Game Auction, which took place in August at Gen Con, a role-playing and board games convention.[17] The donation was made in honor of Gary Gygax, who died in 2008, and who was a frequent donor to CCF.[18] Some individuals within the gaming community expressed disappointment about the decision; prominent author and game designer Rich Burlew, for example, called it "insulting,"[19] and the response by gamers led both the CCF and Gen Con to issue official statements explaining what had happened.[20] When questioned, the CCF replied that reasons for the rejection included "the possible misinterpretation of CCF’s role in regard to the event." ... "The information presented to us gave the appearance that CCF (the organization) was an endorser or supporter of the event instead of a beneficiary."[21] A later statement issued by a representative of Gen Con explained that Gen Con had contacted CCF before the convention was held in August, and asked permission to use CCF promotional materials, which they believed CCF declined to provide because of Gen Con's association with the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons; after that, according to the statement, Gen Con chose to support a different charity in 2008 before becoming clear of the charity's actual position; at which point it was too late to change.[18]