What Makes Us Different?
100% FOR-PURPOSE
PoP is guided by our revolutionary ?for-purpose? approach. Blending the head of a for-profit business with the heart of a humanitarian nonprofit, we rigorously measure the return on investment of every donor dollar we spend. Joy and passion are great, but results are what we?re all about.
100% DIRECT GIVING
Donors rarely know where their money goes, so we set out to change this. By covering our operational costs through private donors, events and companies, 100% of every dollar donated online goes directly into our programs to educate more children.
100% OPERATIONAL INTEGRITY
We don?t just build a school and move on, we monitor and evaluate every project we undertake. We have a proactive process to ensure every school we open is educating students.
Pencils of Promise, also known as PoP for short, is a non-profit organization that builds schools and increases educational opportunities in the developing world. Pencils of Promise was founded by Adam Braun in October 2008. It is a 501(c)(3) organization with education programs in Laos, Guatemala and Ghana. As of January 2015, the charity has provided 24.3 million education hours.[1] As of December 2016, the charity has served over 35,000 students and built 380 schools.[citation needed]
The name comes from an incident in India when Braun was visiting the country. He asked a poor street child what he wished to have most of all. The boy answered: "a pencil", so Braun gave him his pen, hence the name of the charity.[2] Realizing how important education was in many developing countries, Braun visited more than 50 countries distributing pencils to children wherever he went. In October 2008, he established the charity with the aim of providing quality education to children in some of the most underserved countries around the world.[3]
Mission
Pencils of Promise believes every child should have access to quality education. They create schools, programs, and global communities around the common goal of education for all.[4] Pencils of Promise focuses on building strong structures and sustainable education programs by forming long-lasting, collaborative relationships with communities. Sites are picked taking into account need, sustainability, cost efficiency, impact and commitment. The facilities are built with local labor and material. The charity also supports projects through ongoing teacher training, progression scholarships and WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) programming.
Support
The charity is supported by a number of celebrities and most prominently by Scooter Braun, a well-known entertainment manager, and elder brother of the founder. Also involved from the first days of the organization is one of Scooter Braun's biggest acts, Justin Bieber[5] who has lent his voice as an international celebrity spokesman for the organization[6] by running ads for the charity and its campaign Schools4All[7] and promising to visit schools that donate the most funds to the organization.[8] Bieber takes part in the charity's fund-raising galas and donates parts of proceeds of his concerts and line of fragrances "Someday"[9] and various merchandising to the charity.
DJ 3LAU is also a major supporter of the charity.[10] With the proceeds from his remix "Back to New", 3LAU raised $25,000 for the charity and helped to build Justo Rufino Primary School in Guatemala. For his most recent tour 3LAU raised over $10,000 towards building a second school for the charity.[11]
American podcaster Pat Flynn serves on the advisory board for Pencils of Promise.[12]
Pencils of Promise has a partnership with the bracelet company Lokai. On Giving Tuesday in 2014, Lokai donated funds for every tweet or Instagram post about Pencils of Promise shared, in total funding four schools that now educate over 400 Ghanaian students.[13]
NEW YORK, NY 10001-4203 | Tax-exempt since Feb. 2009
EIN: 26-3618722
Classification (NTEE) International Development, Relief Services (International, Foreign Affairs and National Security)
Nonprofit Tax Code Designation: 501(c)(3) Defined as: Organizations for any of the following purposes: religious, educational, charitable, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition (as long as it doesn’t provide athletic facilities or equipment), or the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.
Donations to this organization are tax deductible.
INTech Camp for Girls hosted its first event in April 2014 on the campus of UNC Charlotte with a one-day camp for middle school girls. As a result of the energy felt in the room from the scholars, the volunteers, and the parents, our Founder, Khalia, knew that this type of experience was needed in her community.
War Child is a non-governmental organisation founded in the UK in 1993 assisting children in areas experiencing conflict and the aftermath of conflict. The establishment of War Child UK was soon followed by organisations in Canada and the Netherlands.
