What is One World Children’s Fund, and what is the relationship to EYC?
If you have donated online to Empowering Youth in Cambodia (EYC) in the past, you probably have noticed that your donation is processed on the One World Children’s Fund site. Since this can sometimes cause confusion, we thought we would take a moment to explain the vital relationship between EYC and OWCF.
EYC is registered in Cambodia as a local NGO, and we receive fiscal sponsorship and tax-exempt donations as a member of One World Children’s Fund (OWCF), a US-based 501(c)(3). OWCF works with grassroots organizations around the world that focus on providing children with safety, healthcare, and education.
OWCF member organizations are vetted and monitored to determine whether they are serving their communities effectively, exercising responsible governance and financial management, actively participating in an information-sharing network, complying with local nonprofit registration requirements, and accepting donations in compliance with U.S. laws and grant obligations.
In order to allow international grass-root organizations to access U.S. philanthropy and save administrative/fundraising costs, OWCF receives, accounts for, and disburses fiscally sponsored funds, provides donation reports to member organizations, issues tax receipts to donors, and collects and reviews annual monitoring reports. Fiscally sponsored funds are made available to member organizations for disbursement quarterly or on an emergency basis.
OWCF’s financial statements are audited annually. In 2019, it received a continuing 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and a continuing Platinum rating from GuideStar.
In 2019, all of EYC’s US-based donations and approximately 80% of EYC’s total donations came through OWCF (>$300k via 290 transactions). For online donations, EYC pays processing fees of approximately 4%-5%. OWCF collects a low, 4% contribution for all other donations, but an EYC donor covers the costs of this 4% contribution.
We estimate that this service provides $15-25k of savings to EYC on an annual basis through cost savings of administering a 501(c)3, a US-based part-time accountant/ administrator, fees for an online fundraising platform, and annual audit. We are fortunate to have OWCF as a key partner.