Easier Said Than Done: When success is the charitable goal

I received an intriguing donation request in the mail recently. Printed on the envelope from the charity was the message: “Send us a donation to help a child suffering with clubfoot and we’ll never ask you for another one.”

Now, that’s an interesting offer.

If you’ve ever made a donation to a national charity you can be sure of one thing — they will contact you again and again. Even acknowledging that is what charities must do, it can be annoying.

So, as intriguing as that offer is I thought it best to check the “First Step” charity out like I would any other.

I discovered they are a brand new charity, but they do have a track record — it’s the work of the Smile Train charity that repairs cleft palate deformities all over the world.

The Smile Train record speaks volumes. Brian Mullaney is the co-founder and CEO of the Smile Train, which in 13 years has paid for cleft palate surgeries for more than 750,000 people in 87 countries; mostly children. In 2012 122,500 surgeries were performed.

This charity was called by the New York Times “…one of the most productive charities, dollar for deed, of the world.”

If fact, for both Smile Train and FirstStep, Mullaney’s mission has been to be the most well-managed and cost effective charity in the world. For Smile Train, 81.8 percent of all contributions go to program expenses (treatment and training), 17 percent to fundraising and only 1.2 percent to management oversight; I think it’s easy to see he has developed a winning approach.

Specifically that approach is to run a charity like a business and to “…treat donors like shareholders and their donations like investments and to track how every dollar is spent and how every donation helps change a child’s life.”

This is the focus and tested practices Mullaney and others are bringing to bear now on clubfoot and other children’s medical needs under the branding of WonderWork Charity Programs (a 501( c)3 charity, which is taking on the challenge of providing miracle surgeries for children with clubfoot deformities, burns, Hole in the Heart birth defect, Water on the Brain birth defect and blindness.

The achievements are impressive. I like to say that you can’t go wrong helping children — they are the innocent. And, in countries where life is already so difficult, any defect or disadvantage can spell tragedy for a child’s whole life.

I can’t think of anything more sad than that.

The enclosed appeal from FirstStep says “Millions of children in the world who are suffering with clubfoot could be saved through a miracle cure that costs just $250. The only reason these children haven’t been helped is because they are so poor, they cannot afford the $250 cure that would change their life.”

This cure is called The Ponseti method and is a non-surgical treatment where the clubfoot is manipulated and placed in a series of casts to maintain the corrected position. In just six to eight weeks the process gradually straightens the bones, tendons, and muscles into proper alignment. This is followed by the use of a brace and some physical therapy and teaching parents exercises to keep the child’s foot strong and flexible.

The method, which is 95 percent effective, is particularly suited for developing countries where there are few orthopedic surgeons. Instead of sending American doctors on missions, FirstStep empowers local doctors through free training, equipment and crucial financial support. Mullaney believes this is the smartest, most cost-effective way to deliver treatment in developing countries and the only way to help very poor but proud communities become self-sufficient.

I will make a donation to FirstStep, but I think I will mark the box for “please do not ask me for another donation.” But there’s nothing to stop me from making another one or two — in appreciation of a charity whose goal is success.

Go to smiletrain.org, wonderwork.org, or 1ststep.org for more information.

PAT WICK is assistant general manager of the Herald/Review. She can be reached at 458-9440, Ext. 604, or by email pat.wick@wickcommunications.com. Look for her column each Friday in the Herald/Review.