Mercy Corps

What Mercy Corps does

Mercy Corps is a 501(c)(3) humanitarian organization headquartered in Portland, Oregon, operating across more than 30-40 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Europe. Founded in 1979/1980, it employs 4,300+ team members globally (95% nationals of the countries where they work) and reached approximately 37 million people over the past year through roughly 300 active programs in 2022. The organization delivers five core program areas: Emergency Response, Food and Nutrition, Water/Sanitation/Hygiene (WASH), Climate and Environment, and Ventures (economic opportunity), alongside specialized initiatives such as the DREAMS poverty graduation program with Village Enterprise and the Jobtech Alliance with BFA Global.

Name

Mercy Corps

Legal name

Mercy Corps

Website

https://mercycorps.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Humanitarian Aid Services

NAICS

Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230), Civic and Social Organizations (8134), Community Food Services (624210)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus & Resilience Programming (BPADAEAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Humanitarian Health & Emergency Medical Relief NGOs (HLAJAKAE), WASH (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) Organizations (HLAJAKAI), Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) Emergency Services (BPAGAAAE)

Keywords

• Humanitarian aid services
• Emergency response programs
• Food security assistance
• Water sanitation hygiene
• Poverty graduation programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Mercy Corps receives donations from individual supporters through its website, monthly giving program, and legacy/planned giving. Tax-deductible contributions from donors in the US and internationally.
2. Foundation Grants: Major foundation funding including IKEA Foundation ($7.4 million for Ethiopia DREAMS program) and Conrad N. Hilton Foundation ($3.5 million for Uganda DREAMS program through 2029).
3. Government Grants and USAID Funding: Major government funding previously from USAID, including US-funded water, hygiene, and sanitation (WASH) projects. Organization navigated significant cuts to USAID funding in 2025 following dismantling of the agency.
4. Corporate Partnerships: Partnerships with companies like Ripple Labs for fintech solutions, Starbucks Foundation for 20-year partnership, Cisco for digitizing food voucher programming, Village Enterprise for DREAMS program implementation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Mercy Corps is a global 501(c)(3) humanitarian organization that delivers emergency relief and long-term development programs across more than 40 countries. It provides food, clean water, shelter, cash assistance, livelihoods support, climate adaptation, and economic opportunity programming through direct field operations and partnerships with local organizations, governments, and UN agencies.

Product overview

Mercy Corps is a global humanitarian organization (rebranding to Prosper Global in September 2026) that operates as a multi-program humanitarian agency rather than a single-product company. Its core work spans five interconnected focus areas: Emergency Response for immediate crisis relief, Food and Nutrition for food security, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for clean water access, Climate and Environment for climate resilience, and Ventures for economic opportunity. These programs are implemented alongside specialized initiatives including the DREAMS poverty graduation program, Jobtech Alliance for employment platforms, and solar irrigation programs, all supported by innovations in blockchain-based aid delivery and parametric insurance using stablecoins.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DREAMS (Delivering Resilient Enterprises and Market Systems): A poverty graduation and market systems development program implemented with Village Enterprise for refugees in Uganda and Ethiopia.
• Mercy Corps Ventures

Products and services

• Emergency Response
• Food and Nutrition
• Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)
• Climate and Environment
• Ventures (Economic Opportunity)
• DREAMS (Delivering Resilient Enterprises and Market Systems)
• Jobtech Alliance
• Solar Irrigation Programs

Quantifiable outcome

• 37 million people reached in the last year
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 June 2026Partnership for two-day capacity-building workshop in Katsina State, Nigeria training journalists on peacebuilding, ethical reporting, and conflict analysis under Conflict Prevention, Crisis Response and Resilience Project.
• International Organisation for Migration (IOM)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 June 2026Partner with CDD and Mercy Corps in workshop funded by European Union to strengthen social cohesion and community resilience in Nigeria's North-west region.
• Village EnterprisecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2026Implementation partner for DREAMS (Delivering Resilient Enterprises and Market Systems) poverty graduation program combining entrepreneurship training with market systems development. Two randomized controlled trials in Uganda and Ethiopia reached over 22,000 refugee households with 17% consumption gains in Uganda and 9% in Ethiopia.
• IDinsightcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 June 2026Independent evaluator that conducted two randomized controlled trials of the DREAMS program in Uganda and Ethiopia, providing rigorous evidence of program effectiveness.
• Abia State Government (Nigeria)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 May 2026Partnership for rehabilitation of Ubakala and Ariaria Water Schemes (N1.3 billion) and water infrastructure projects in Nigeria.
• UNEP-CCCminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 May 2026Partnership under Danida-funded ACTT project developing report on solar-powered irrigation benefits for Uganda's smallholder farmers.
• GGGI (Global Green Growth Institute)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 May 2026Partnership under ACTT project for report on solar irrigation showing economic and climate resilience benefits for Uganda farmers.
• FAOminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 May 2026Partnership under ACTT project for agricultural productivity report in Uganda.
• UNCDFminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 May 2026Partnership under ACTT project for report on solar irrigation investments in Uganda.
• Jobtech AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 March 2026Initiative steered by Mercy Corps and BFA Global providing venture support and investment to Twiva for scaling creator-led commerce platform in Kenya, and backing to Bumpa and Flowcart startups.
• HesabPaycoreTechnology or Integration · 24 January 2026Afghan fintech startup with blockchain-based payment system operating 650,000+ wallets processing $60 million monthly in stablecoins. Mercy Corps expanding technology to Syria and other conflict-affected regions.
• Ripple LabscoreTechnology or Integration · 30 October 2025Mercy Corps Ventures running RLUSD stablecoin pilots in Kenya for parametric insurance and emergency cash transfers using Ripple Payments platform, enabling faster and more transparent aid delivery compared to traditional banking.

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• CARE International: One of the world's largest humanitarian INGOs with a similar portfolio of emergency response, food security, WASH, women's economic empowerment, and resilience programs across 100+ countries. CARE is the most direct peer — overlapping donor base, similar program model, and previous employer of Mercy Corps CEO Tjada D'Oyen McKenna (former COO of CARE).
• Save the Children: Major INGO delivering emergency response, health, nutrition, education, and child-protection programs across 100+ countries with a similar scale of operations and donor-funded grant model. Comparable beneficiary count, country footprint, and program-mix overlap with Mercy Corps.
• Oxfam International: Global confederation of INGOs working on emergency response, food security, WASH, and economic justice across 80+ countries. Oxfam is comparable in program breadth, donor base, and advocacy positioning, and competes with Mercy Corps for the same institutional and government grants.
• International Rescue Committee (IRC): Responds to humanitarian crises — conflict, displacement, health, economic recovery — in 40+ countries with a similar operating model. IRC is closely comparable in country footprint (with strong overlap in Syria, DRC, Somalia, Afghanistan), beneficiary scale, and heavy reliance on government grants.
• World Vision: Faith-rooted INGO operating in 100+ countries with comparable child-and-family-focused humanitarian and development programming. World Vision is a comparable scale and donor-funded organization with overlapping emergency response, food security, and WASH portfolios.
• Catholic Relief Services: US-headquartered INGO delivering humanitarian aid and development programs in 100+ countries with similar scale and program categories (emergency, food security, WASH, livelihoods). CRS is a peer in fundraising channels (US Catholic donor base), government grant competition, and field operations.
• BRAC: Largest development NGO operating across humanitarian response, livelihoods, microfinance, and ultra-poor graduation programming in 11+ countries with significant Africa and Asia overlap. BRAC's ultra-poor graduation approach is directly comparable to Mercy Corps' DREAMS program, with similar RCT evidence base.

Broad incumbents

• Direct Relief: Large humanitarian medical-aid organization operating globally with substantial emergency-response capacity and donor base. While more focused on medical supplies than Mercy Corps' broader portfolio, Direct Relief competes for institutional donors and works in overlapping crisis geographies.

Emerging players

• WaterAid: International nonprofit focused specifically on WASH programming across 30+ countries. WaterAid overlaps meaningfully with Mercy Corps' WASH focus area and competes for foundation funding (including IKEA Foundation and similar funders) but operates in a narrower sub-sector.

Others

• USAID (US Agency for International Development): Not a peer but the largest historical institutional funder of Mercy Corps; included to reflect the funding-counterparty relationship. USAID awarded significant grants to Mercy Corps and was a primary vehicle through which Mercy Corps' WASH and emergency-response programs were financed before the 2025 dismantling.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mercycorps
• Facebookfacebook.com/mercycorps
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/prosper-global-org
• Instagraminstagram.com/mercycorps

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mercy Corps