Plan USA

History and development

Plan was founded in 1937 by British journalist John Langdon-Davies and refugee worker Eric Muggeridge. Originally named “Foster Parents Plan for Children in Spain,” the aim was to provide food, accommodation and education to children whose lives had been disrupted by the Spanish Civil War. During the Second World War, under the name "Foster Parents Plan for War Children," the organization expanded to work with displaced children throughout war-torn Europe. By the 1970s, Plan gradually began working with children throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. 1970s

Plan International USA, was originally incorporated as "Foster Parents Plan, Inc.," in 1939 in New York to help connect U.S. donors to a continuously growing number of sponsored children in developing countries. It was one of the first Plan International federation members. By 2010, Plan’s donor countries had increased to 21.

Name Change

In 1974, the international parent organization Foster Parents Plan shortened its name to become simply Plan International. In the 1990s the U.S. organization followed suit, with a name change to “Childreach/Plan International” to avoid the program confused with local foster care programs, and then simply to "Plan USA."

Finances

Plan International USA is a publicly funded American non-profit charitable organization, deriving its income from a combination of individual contributions and private and federal grants. It is exempt from both United States federal and Rhode Island state income tax. The total operating revenue in 2010 for the organization was approximately $63 million. 77% of the organization’s funding was reported to go to programs, while 23% was reported as support for programming through fundraising and administrative expenses.

Programs

In coordination with Plan International and its other chapters, in 2010 Plan International USA helped fund and organize the following combined international programs and activities:

U.S. programs

YUGA, Youth United in Global Action, is a program sponsored by Plan International USA. YUGA aims to educate and involve young people in the United States in issues that affect children and youth around the world. The program’s main focus areas are: climate change, global poverty, HIV and AIDS, child rights and child exploitation, and gender equality.

Child sponsorship

The child sponsorship program links each sponsor to an individual child in one of the 48 countries where Plan International works. Sponsors contribute money and have an opportunity to correspond with the child and his or her family. Donations are not given directly to the child but are used to support projects for entire communities. Along with microloans, direct sponsorship projects have been described to be an option for people interested in contributing to a do it yourself style of foreign aid.

Board of Directors

Plan International USA employs 97 staff and has a separate governing body and Executive Team from Plan International. As of 2010, the members of the Board of Directors include:

Tessie San Martin, Ph.D. is the current President/CEO.

Notable associations

Laurie Metcalf, actress known for playing “Jackie Harris” on ‘’Roseanne’’, is a spokesperson for Plan International USA and a child sponsor through the organization. Other notable persons who have publicly given their support for Plan International USA include Jacqueline Kennedy, who was honorary chairwoman during Plan's Silver Jubilee, David Elliot, Beau Bridges, Dina Eastwood, Scott Bakula, and Nicholas D. Kristof, also a child sponsor.

In Popular Culture

The organization was featured in the 2002 film About Schmidt.