Schools for the Children of the World

What Schools for the Children of the World does

Schools for the Children of the World (SCW) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Avon, Colorado, that designs, builds, and equips school facilities for underserved communities in developing countries. Founded in 1997, the organization has executed more than 130 school building projects across five countries — Honduras (anchor country since 2004), Haiti, Canada (since 2005), Nigeria, and Tonga — and serves approximately 21,128 students annually. The core service is end-to-end school construction: site selection, architectural design, community engagement, volunteer mobilization, construction oversight, and final handover, typically delivered within a 12-month build window per project. Co-founders Bill DeJong and Chuck Newman remain operationally involved.

The organization's technical specialty is disaster-resilient construction, using a metal roof system combined with reinforced concrete walls engineered to withstand hurricanes and earthquakes common in its operating geographies. SCW has codified proprietary design guidelines for this approach, refined across 130+ builds. Beyond infrastructure, the nonprofit provides curriculum support including Montessori methodology and has extended its model into secondary education through the 3er Ciclo program in Honduras, indicating deliberate vertical expansion beyond primary schooling.

SCW operates a hybrid nonprofit revenue model combining individual donations, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, and volunteer-paid expedition fees. Volunteer trips are priced at approximately $2,300 for Honduras and $2,000 plus a $500 mandatory donation for Haiti, functioning as both a fundraising channel and a donor-acquisition funnel. Funding partners include the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, A4LE (Association for Learning Environments), Model School Network, School the World, the Spanish Red Cross, Friends of Tonga, and Rotary Club. Total platform donations exceed $1.08 million from 2,133 donors (average gift ~$509), with operations currently managed by one part-time US-based staff member — indicating a highly leveraged model dependent on in-country partners and volunteer labor.

Name

Schools for the Children of the World

Legal name

Schools for the Children of the World

Website

https://schoolsforchildren.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Schools for the Children of the World is a Colorado-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that designs and builds hurricane- and earthquake-resistant schools in underserved communities across Honduras, Haiti, Nigeria, Tonga, and Canada, serving over 21,000 students annually.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International School Construction and Nonprofit Education Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (6117), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

International Development & Donor-Funded Education Programs (EDADALAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

K–12 Support & School Improvement Nonprofits (BPAGADAB), Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

Keywords

• School construction services
• Disaster-resistant building
• Nonprofit education programs
• Volunteer trip programs
• Online fundraising platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Avon

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: General donations and project-specific contributions from individuals. The organization operates with minimal overhead and leverages donations by partnering with local volunteers and organizations that match or complete funding.
2. Corporate Partnerships: Corporate service trips where companies send employees. Companies pay for trip costs and optional donations. IMG has sent employees on 7 corporate service trips.
3. Foundation Grants: W.K. Kellogg Foundation funded the Haiti Model School Network study and design guidelines.
4. Volunteer Contributions: Volunteers contribute labor during construction trips. Communities provide volunteer hours for construction and post-construction maintenance.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Schools for the Children of the World designs, builds, and renovates earthquake- and hurricane-resistant school facilities in underdeveloped countries, partnering with local communities, municipalities, and ministries of education. The organization also runs paid volunteer construction trips and operates an online donation platform that funds specific school projects, with subsidiary programs in Honduras and Canada overseeing in-country work.

Product overview

Schools for the Children of the World (SCW) is a non-profit organization that operates as a unified mission-driven entity rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering is school construction services in developing countries, supplemented by volunteer trip programs and an online fundraising/donation platform. SCW's work spans multiple country-specific programs including Honduras, Haiti, and Nigeria, with projects ranging from primary school construction to secondary education expansion and Montessori education initiatives. The organization leverages the Hopsie platform for its online fundraising functionality and partners with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for the Haiti Model School Network program. All projects follow SCW's design standards for disaster-resistant construction.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• School Construction Services Core service offering that constructs disaster-resistant school buildings in developing countries with spacious ventilated classrooms, clean water and sanitation systems, disability-accessible design, and recycled-material playgrounds, delivered in partnership with local communities, municipalities, and ministries of education.
• Volunteer Trip Programs Group travel programs for individuals and corporate groups to participate in school construction, landscaping, playground building, and educational activities in Haiti and Honduras, with Honduras trips priced at $2,300 and Haiti trips at $2,000 plus an optional $500 donation.
• Online Fundraising Platform Online donation website operated for SCW, allowing donors to support specific school projects in Honduras, Nigeria, and other countries; create personal or team fundraising pages; make one-time or recurring donations; and track project impact, with a $5 minimum donation and an average gift of $509.
• Haiti Model School Network Program Research and design program, supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, that studied 191 Haitian schools, documented deficiencies, developed minimum facility design guidelines, created a budget database for school improvements, and produced a maintenance manual for sustainable school facilities.

Quantifiable outcome

• 21,128 students served annually through 130+ completed school projects
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Model School Network (MSN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHaitian education network of 191 schools. SCW collected data on each school, documented conditions and deficiencies, and developed design guidelines for the network's future school improvement projects.
• Spanish Red CrossmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with SCW to construct 10 schools in El Balin, Honduras following earthquake damage, including an all-girls school and eight primary schools.
• Association for Learning Environments (A4LE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTeamed up following January 2010 Haiti earthquake to help with school reconstruction efforts in Haiti.
• School the WorldmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerNonprofit partner for corporate service trips. IMG partnered with School the World for 7 corporate service trips to Guatemala where participants helped build schools and playgrounds.
• Friends of TongamajorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnered with SCW to fund weather-resistant kindergarten in Tonga's village of Tu'anuku on the northern island. Project involved NFL player Gio Manu and rugby star Charles Piutau.
• Rotary Club of San Pedro SulaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerIn Honduras, partnered with Rotary clubs for project funding and support. Durham School Services donated a bus to support health care transportation.
• Municipality of El NegritocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing collaboration with local government for school construction. SCW has completed nearly 17 classrooms in the area through partnership with local government and community.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• W.K. Kellogg Foundation: Major US foundation that funded SCW's 191-school Haiti Model School Network study and design guidelines. Functions as a funder and ecosystem participant rather than a competitor, but is a critical reference point for understanding SCW's institutional positioning.
• Association for Learning Environments (A4LE): Professional association specializing in educational facility planning and design. Direct SCW partner following the 2010 Haiti earthquake; operates as an enabling/technical partner in SCW's school design methodology rather than a competitor.

Direct peers

• Room to Read: Major international education nonprofit operating across Asia and Africa with school construction, literacy, and girls' education programs. Comparable target geography and beneficiary population, though larger in scale and scope.
• School the World: Nonprofit that builds schools in Latin America and partners with corporations on volunteer service trips. SCW and School the World have directly partnered on IMG corporate trips to Guatemala, indicating closely aligned mission, model, and partner mix.
• buildOn: Nonprofit that builds schools in developing countries and runs service-immersion trips for US students and adults. Comparable in school construction mission, volunteer-trip revenue model, and community-partnership approach.
• Pencils of Promise: Nonprofit that builds primary schools and supports teacher training in developing countries (Guatemala, Ghana, Laos, Nicaragua). Closely comparable in school-construction focus, donor-driven funding model, and developing-country footprint.

Broad incumbents

• World Vision: Large faith-based international NGO with child sponsorship, school construction, and WASH programs across developing countries. Operates a similar school-building-plus-clean-water model in overlapping geographies.
• Plan International: International development NGO focused on children's rights and equality for girls, with school infrastructure and education programming in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Comparable donor base, beneficiary focus, and country footprint.
• UNICEF: Global UN agency funding and operating school infrastructure and education programs across more than 190 countries. Massive incumbent in the same international education space; competes for the same bilateral and foundation funding pools.
• Save the Children: Large international NGO with extensive education programming including school construction and disaster response in developing countries. Overlaps with SCW's disaster-recovery school work in Haiti and Honduras at far greater scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/schoolsforchild

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries2 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 Schools for the Children of the World