Simple, passionate, efficient: a solid global implementation of one of the cheapest irrevocable life-improvements (fixing cleft palates) modern medicine can offer. Smile Train is a remarkable charity.
They are fascinating on a few levels, from the clarity of their work and tactical training local doctors, their selection of spokespeople and Oscar-winning short documentary, to the controversy of their fundraising tactics, and the lingering drama of an early fork. If you haven’t heard of them before it’s worth taking ten minutes to find out what they do.
re: fundraising, when I got their ad in the mail the thing that seemed to differentiate them was their promise to never send another ad again if you gave money: a huge difference compared to all the other spam I get from charities (wm is, afaik, the lone exception). I should give them money just to see if they keep their promise.
Comment by phoebe 12.26.10 @ 1:27 pmand, dur, that is precisely what the article you linked is about… and relevant to my thinking about overhead for nonprofits.
Comment by phoebe 12.26.10 @ 1:29 pm