This organization focuses on providing medicines to church-based short term missions groups traveling abroad to serve the desperately poor.
(Updated October 2018)
A smaller organization than others in this sector, Blessings Int’l has been “serving the servants” since 1981 by providing pharmaceuticals to short-term missions groups, Christian missions operating licensed hospitals or clinics overseas, and disaster response teams. Operating under a innovative model, Blessings purchases strategic pharmaceuticals (often overseas) at a deep discount, then passes these savings along to the missions groups taking them overseas (139 countries in the last five years) to serve the poor and suffering.
In response to recent concerns about industry valuation practices, Blessings uses the actual price it pays for its pharmaceuticals to value its inventory and program expenses. Additionally, it has pioneered the use of a new method to estimate the impact of the medicines it provides which uses firm measures of treatments provided instead of arbitrary (and often misleading) dollar amounts. For details, see http://www.blessing.org/thenews/how-much-is-a-life-worth/. Not surprisingly, Guidestar has ranked Blessings Int’l among the top 2% (“Platinum Star”) of charities for transparency and accountability.
Operating on cash donations of less than $300,000, Blessings is an extraordinarily lean and efficient organization. Program fees from operations handle overhead and fundraising expenses, so that 100% of cash donations go straight to providing subsidized medicines. The end-impact is enormous, with over 41 million patients served over the last five years.
Small, innovative, and lean, Blessings Int’l was recognized on Charity Navigators 2013 short-list of “10 Top Notch Charities” – if you prefer to support smaller organizations making an outsized impact, Blessings Int’l deserves a look.
Primary Sector: Medical
Organization Size: Emerging — programs are supported by cash contributions totaling
less than $1,000,000 annually
Key Webpages:
Overview: https://www.blessing.org/about/
Five-Year Impact: https://vimeo.com/282850534
Special Funds: https://www.blessing.org/world-impact/#funds
Annual Report: https://www.blessing.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BlessingsAR-2017-web-26Feb-1.pdf
Financial Statements: https://www.blessing.org/transparency/#downloads
Contact Information: visit https://www.blessing.org/, contact http://www.blessing.org/contact/
| More information (program and financial) about Blessings Int’l is available from the following organizations: |
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| X Charity Navigator * | Charity Watch / AIP (fee) |
| X Guidestar ** | BBB / Wise Giving Alliance |
| X Ministry Watch | X ACCORD Network member |
| Intelligent Philanthropy (fee) | X ECFA |
| * Listed on “10 Top-Notch Charities” list, February 2013 ** Platinum Star, 2017 |
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