November 5, 1998 | Read Time: 2 minutes
THE PHILANTHROPY 400 – No. 138
(Table of Contents)
Year founded: 1964
What it does: The interfaith Christian charity operates 75 programs that provide services to poor people in Appalachia. Many of its programs involve distributing products — ranging from books to building materials — that have been provided by companies for use by the poor.
Number of staff members: 270
Spending on fund raising: $7.3-million
Largest single gift in 1997: $1,350,000 in cash from the estate of a donor
Location: Lancaster, Ky.
World-Wide Web: http://www.chrisapp.org
How Christian Appalachian Project reached the top: Because the majority of contributions to the Christian Appalachian Project are donated goods, the charity has worked hard to develop good relations with the more than 75 corporations and organizations that provide those goods, and to insure that the goods reach the people who need them most. Officials at the Christian Appalachian Project also attribute the charity’s success to its commitment to provide a wide variety of services to Appalachian residents of all ages — from day care and summer camp for kids to home repair for the elderly.
Biggest fund-raising challenge: Officials at the Christian Appalachian Project say the biggest challenge is the competition from a growing number of charities that need to raise money to take care of people who can no longer depend on state or federal welfare programs.
Fund-raising climate for human-services groups: All but one of the human-services groups on the Philanthropy 400 list saw increases in contributions in 1997, and such groups showed an overall increase of 16.7 per cent. Many fund raisers for human-services groups say that as federal and state governments have greatly reduced or stopped financing services for the poor, donors have stepped in to help fill the gap. They say donors have been especially responsive to programs that aid the poor in the donors’ own towns and cities. In addition, fund raisers say, as donors have become more educated and more choosy about where they give money, human-services groups have begun to do a better job of publicizing their efforts and their successes to attract those donors.
Reputation Helps Win Donations
“We have a concentrated effort in acquiring worthwhile, useful products, and we’re very selective. We only acquire the kinds of goods that we would normally use in one of our own programs. It’s that reputation that we have built that makes people respond to our request for donations.”
— William A. Begley, Vice-President
