New Research to Understand and Shift Donor Support from Orphanages to Family-Based Care
Martin James Foundation (MJF) is pleased to announce a new partnership with Faith to Action to support a six-month market research project in collaboration with Barna Group.
The national survey will explore how Christian donors in the United States perceive and support efforts to provide care for orphaned and vulnerable children, and whether these perspectives and practices have changed since the original survey in 2020.
About Faith to Action
The Faith to Action Initiative serves as a resource for Christian organisations, churches, and individuals who seek to respond to the needs of orphaned and vulnerable children around the world. Faith to Action promotes best practices in the care of orphaned and vulnerable children among the U.S. Christian community and upholds the vital importance of family and community in the life of every child. They carry out this role through programmes that raise awareness about the limitations of orphanages, help individuals and ministries strengthen family care, and share innovative ways to take action.
Project Focus
In 2020, Faith to Action and Barna Group released a landmark study that revealed US Christians were giving an estimated $2.5 billion each year to residential care for children. This figure represented the first clear baseline of funding from faith-based donors to orphanages worldwide. The findings were shared widely, reaching major media outlets, policymakers, and international organisations working in child protection.
Since that time, Faith to Action has led sustained communication efforts to shift donor attitudes and behaviour, emphasising the long-term harms of institutional care and the benefits of family-based solutions. This new study will assess the impact of those efforts and provide up-to-date insights into how US Christians engage with these issues.
Conducted by Barna Group, the research will explore current perceptions, funding patterns, and what types of messaging are most effective in encouraging faith-based donors to support family care. It will also offer strategic recommendations for how to further shift donor engagement towards sustainable, community-based responses for children.
The findings will be used to inform ongoing advocacy and engagement efforts across the sector, with the potential to influence funding flows and strengthen the global movement towards family-based care.
“Christians in the US and other contexts have supported orphaned and vulnerable children throughout the world for decades. They have consistently responded with determination and compassion to the challenges children face. When given the opportunity to learn how to support these children even more effectively, we anticipate that these donors will shift and grow in generosity and compassion, just as they have consistently done. We are delighted to partner with Faith to Action and Barna to learn more about how to support and facilitate this shift, and we cannot wait to see what we’ll learn together.”
“Christians in the United States have long played a unique and vital role in shaping how children around the world are cared for and protected. Driven by a deep sense of calling and a scriptural mandate, they have generously funded care for millions of children over the decades—often with great self-sacrifice. However, misconceptions about the needs and circumstances of these children, combined with limited awareness of more effective alternatives, have led to the support of care models that conflict with global best practices. An updated study aims to identify the underlying mindsets and assumptions that contribute to these misinformed interventions, providing a path to correct them. Our experience has shown that when U.S. Christians are mobilized to support family-based care solutions, they can significantly strengthen local efforts—supporting families, expanding alternative family care options, and advancing national care reform initiatives.”
Conclusion
This project reflects a shared commitment to addressing one of the underlying drivers of institutional care: donor misperception. By providing clear, current data on donor attitudes and behaviours, the study will help guide future efforts to build support for care reform and ensure that more children can grow up in safe, nurturing families.
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