Lamb Institute

What Lamb Institute does

Lamb Institute is a US-incorporated 501(c)(3) Christian nonprofit (EIN 57-1086826) founded in 1999 in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, that operates a network of Christ-centered ministries in Tegucigalpa and San Buenaventura, Honduras. Its core programs include the God's Littlest Lambs Children's Home (residential care for 60+ children, newborn to age 17), God's Littlest Lambs' School (K-11), God's Littlest Lambs' Daycare (expanded in 2025 to 32 children in a four-story facility), JOY Christian Academy (bilingual school, ~120 students, pre-K to grade 9), Youth in Action (~220 weekly participants, gang prevention), the Transition Program (18 young adults supported in 2023-2024), Mirada de Jesus (permanent home for adults with special needs, opened 2023), and Holistic Community Development (savings-based microenterprise support).

The organization is funded exclusively through donations: recurring monthly Shepherd's Staff giving (no minimum), Child Sponsorship at a default $250/month per child against a stated true cost above $900/month per child, one-time gifts, the annual Party With A Purpose fundraising event, Sister Schools partnerships with three South Carolina schools, and fees from mission teams that stay at the Casa LAMB guest house in Honduras. Donor acquisition is community-led and word-of-mouth driven; the US office in Mount Pleasant, SC handles donor relations, mission team coordination, communications, and board governance under US Executive Director Margaret Merritt, while operations in Honduras are led by Honduran Executive Director Elsa Ortiz.

No proprietary technology is developed or deployed; the only material technology dependency is the third-party Harness Giving donation platform. The organization holds ECFA accreditation for financial accountability and has no parent company, subsidiaries, disclosed funding rounds, or institutional investors, operating as an independent faith-based ministry.

Name

Lamb Institute

Legal name

Lamb Institute

Website

https://lambinstitute.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Faith-Based Nonprofit Child Welfare and Education Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (624120), Continuing Care Retirement Communities and Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly (62331)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Child Day Care Services (8351), Services-Nursing & Personal Care Facilities (8050)

akta.pro primary industry

Elder Services & Aging Support (BPAGAEAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Senior Social Clubs & Community-Based Day Programs (Non-Clinical) (HSABANAK)

Keywords

• Faith-based nonprofit ministry
• Children's residential care
• Christian education services
• Child sponsorship programs
• Community development Honduras

Headquarters

HQ city

Mount Pleasant

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Shepherd's Staff (Monthly Giving): Monthly recurring donations from individual donors who support LAMB's general operating fund. Monthly donors are called the 'Shepherd's Staff' and there is no minimum commitment required. These gifts support where-needed-most needs including unexpected medical costs, major maintenance, and program growth.
2. Child Sponsorship: Monthly recurring donations specifically designated to support individual children at the Children's Home. Sponsors commit to a monthly amount; the actual cost to care for each child is stated as more than $900/month on average. Sponsors build relational connections with their sponsored child including prayer support, cards, gifts, and occasional video messages.
3. One-Time Gifts: Single, non-recurring donations made by individuals, churches, or organizations. These gifts are used to impact lives in Honduras and support the ministry's general operations.
4. Event-Based Fundraising: The annual Party With A Purpose fundraising event brings together supporters, sponsors, and the community to celebrate and raise funds for LAMB's ministries.
5. Mission Team Participation Fees: Groups and individuals visit Honduras on mission trips (building projects, medical brigades, evangelism, etc.) coordinated through the Visit page. LAMB's guest house, Casa LAMB, provides accommodation for teams, with profits supporting ministry operations.
6. Guest House Revenue: Casa LAMB, a guest house opened in 2008, provides accommodation for visiting mission teams. Profits from guest house operations help fund LAMB's ministries, contributing to early self-sustainability efforts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels10 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Lamb Institute is a Christ-centered, multifaceted nonprofit ministry based in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, delivering residential care, education, daycare, youth development, transition support for aging-out young adults, permanent care for adults with special needs, and community economic development programs. It is supported by US-based donor programs including child sponsorship, monthly giving, mission trips, and the Casa LAMB guest house.

Product overview

Lamb Institute is a Christ-centered, multifaceted ministry organization offering a comprehensive portfolio of interconnected programs serving vulnerable children and communities in Honduras. The core offerings include a Children's Home (God's Littlest Lambs) providing residential care for over 60 children, multiple educational programs (God's Littlest Lambs' School K-11th grade, JOY Christian Academy bilingual school), early childhood development (Daycare expanded in 2025 to serve 32 children), and youth development programs (Youth in Action with 220+ weekly participants). Supporting programs include Transition Program for young adults aging out of care, Mirada de Jesus permanent residence for adults with special needs, Holistic Community Development microbusiness support, and engagement programs including Child Sponsorship, monthly giving (Shepherd's Staff), mission trips, Sister Schools partnerships, and volunteer teams. These programs work together to provide holistic care addressing physical, educational, emotional, and spiritual needs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Children's Home (God's Littlest Lambs) A 24/7 residential home in San Buenaventura, Honduras providing physical, emotional, spiritual, and educational care for over 60 children from newborn to 17 years old who have experienced abuse, neglect, or abandonment. Delivered to vulnerable children in Honduras free of charge via donor funding.
• God's Littlest Lambs' School Christ-centered K-11 education program (the final grade of high school in Honduras) for children in Flor del Campo, one of Tegucigalpa's poorest and most violent neighborhoods, providing education, tutoring, school supplies, and meals. Delivered free to students.
• God's Littlest Lambs' Daycare Daycare facility for babies and toddlers (0-3 years) of working single mothers in Flor del Campo, providing safe early childhood care and enabling mothers to provide for their families. Expanded in 2025 to a four-story facility serving 32 children.
• JOY Christian Academy Bilingual Christ-centered school in San Buenaventura serving approximately 120 students from pre-k to grade 9, primarily serving Children's Home children and the local community. Grew from 48 to 81 students in 2023-2024.
• Youth in Action After-school and Saturday gang-prevention and youth development program in Flor del Campo serving approximately 220 youth weekly, offering tutoring, arts and crafts, music, Christian life lessons, life skills, and soccer.
• Transition Program Program supporting young adults who age out of the Children's Home at 18 with university or trade school funding, safe housing, oversight, and gradually increasing independence in exchange for weekly service hours.
• Mirada de Jesus A 'forever home' residence in Honduras providing permanent residential care for adults with special needs (blindness, cerebral palsy, degenerative disease) who have aged out of the Children's Home and who are often marginalized in Honduran society.
• Holistic Community Development Economic development program serving microbusiness owners in Flor del Campo with business management training, savings-based microfinance, literacy programs, and spiritual and psychological support. Examples include tortilla makers, nut roasters, shoe sellers, and coat hanger makers.
• Child Sponsorship Program Donor engagement program providing financial, relational, and prayerful support for individual children in the Children's Home. Sponsors commit to monthly giving, prayer coverage, and relationship building (cards, gifts, occasional video messages) with their sponsored child.
• Shepherd's Staff Monthly Giving Recurring monthly giving program for general operating fund support with no minimum commitment. Funds where-needed-most needs including unexpected medical costs, major maintenance, and program growth; LAMB's stated goal is to secure an additional $10,000/monthly through this program.
• Mission Trips and Team Coordination Organized short-term mission trip opportunities for individuals and teams to serve in Honduras through building projects, medical brigades, evangelism, and other service activities. Teams stay at the Casa LAMB guest house with profits supporting ministry operations.
• Sister Schools Program School partnership program connecting US schools (currently HIS School in Sullivan's Island SC, St. Paul's in Greenville SC, and Lowcountry Language Academy in Charleston SC) with LAMB's students in Honduras, teaching students about global missions and fundraising through activities such as annual Fun Runs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Expanded daycare capacity from 10 to 32 babies and toddlers in 2025
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers4 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

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Teresa and Guy TarrantcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2023Long-time partners and faithful supporters of LAMB who responded to the vision for Mirada de Jesus (Gaze of Jesus), a forever home for adults with special needs. Teresa received an inheritance she sought to invest in the Kingdom, and the Tarrants became instrumental in making Mirada de Jesus a reality through their financial partnership and prayers.
• ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability)minorOthers · 1 January 2023ECFA provides accreditation to Christian nonprofit organizations that demonstrate compliance with standards for financial accountability, transparency, fundraising, and board governance. LAMB is accredited by ECFA and displays the ECFA seal on its website and donation pages.
• Jack and Pam CallahancoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2010Jack and Pam Callahan from Charleston, SC helped start the Holistic Community Development program in August 2010, providing initial support and vision for the economic development initiative within the Flor del Campo community.
• Discovery Service Projects (DSP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2002DSP, led by Barbara and Rowland Carlson, built a school for LAMB in Flor del Campo in 2002, putting 'brick and mortar to the dream that God had given Suzy' McCall. DSP returned in December 2004 to build the daycare and school facility completed in February 2005. DSP played a foundational role in establishing LAMB's physical presence.
• SAMS (Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders)coreOthers · 1 January 1990SAMS is the missionary agency through which Suzy McCall was sent to Honduras in 1990 as part of a church planting team. Several missionaries affiliated with LAMB (Steve and Debbie Buckner, Amanda Scott, Cate Waddell) are also supported through SAMS.
• HIS School (Sullivan's Island, SC)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerA Sister School partner that teaches students about missions, global citizenship, and empathy. Students engage in fundraising efforts such as annual Fun Runs for LAMB's students in Honduras. This is one of three Sister Schools partnered with LAMB.
• St. Paul's (Greenville, SC)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerA Sister School partner engaging students in learning about being a good neighbor through missions. Students participate in fundraising for LAMB's children in Honduras.
• Lowcountry Language Academy (Charleston, SC)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerA Sister School partner engaging students in missions education and fundraising for LAMB's students in Honduras.
• New InternationalcoreOthersA missionary sending organization through which supporters can give to Suzy McCall's personal support. Suzy was originally sent to Honduras through this or a similar organization.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• World Vision: Large faith-based child sponsorship and community development organization with active Honduras programming. Highly comparable in donor model, child welfare focus, and Christ-centered framing, though operating globally at much greater scale.
• Compassion International: Global Christian child sponsorship organization operating in Honduras with a comparable sponsor-to-child model and church partnership network. Closest peer in scale and donor engagement mechanics, though much larger and operating in many countries.
• Bright Hope: Christian nonprofit supporting extreme poverty alleviation through partnerships with local ministries in Honduras and other countries. Comparable in faith-based, locally-led partnership model and holistic community development focus.
• Food for the Hungry: Christian child development NGO operating in Honduras through sponsorship, education, and community development. Comparable in faith-based child sponsorship, school construction, and graduation-style transition programs for vulnerable children.
• ChildFund International: Child sponsorship organization with longstanding Honduras presence serving vulnerable children and youth. Directly comparable in the sponsored-child-to-donor model and Latin American community development focus.
• Back2Back Ministries: Faith-based organization providing residential children's home care, schools, and missions in Mexico with US donor base. Most structurally comparable peer - similar residential care, dependent care, school, and youth programming for at-risk children.
• Cross International: Christian nonprofit that channels US donor funding to vetted in-country ministries serving orphans, vulnerable children, and families. Comparable in fund-raising/grant-pass-through role and faith-based donor base supporting residential and educational care.
• Lifesong for Orphans: Faith-based nonprofit funding orphan care, children's homes, education, and transition-to-adulthood programs internationally. Comparable in residential children's care, education sponsorship, and transition programs for aging-out youth.
• Latin America Mission: Evangelical mission organization with deep Honduras and Central America roots, sending missionaries and supporting local ministries. Closest geographic and theological peer for cross-border US-Honduras ministry operations.
• Holt International: Faith-rooted child welfare organization operating children's homes, adoption, and family-strengthening programs in Latin America including Honduras. Comparable in residential care for vulnerable children and transition-to-independence programming.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubevimeo.com/user8965735
• Facebookfacebook.com/lambinstitutehonduras
• Instagraminstagram.com/lambinstitute?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Xx.com/lambinstitute
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lamb-insitute

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles20 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Lamb Institute