CISV International

What CISV International does

CISV International is a UK-registered charity founded in 1950 by Dr. Doris T. Allen that delivers peace education programmes for children and youth aged 11 to 17. The organization operates through 62 Member Associations across 69 countries and 204 towns/cities, supported by 45,792 individual members and volunteers. In 2024, 4,551 young people participated in its international programmes, including the Village, Step Up, Youth Meeting, Seminar Camp, Interchange, International People's Project (IPP), and Mosaic offerings, all built around experiential cross-cultural learning and the organization's 75-year pedagogical heritage in peace education.

CISV is funded through a mix of participant programme fees, membership dues, and donations collected via its federated Member Associations, with a community-led, volunteer-driven go-to-market model and no direct B2B or B2C sales motion. Its technology stack is conventional and Microsoft-centric: the myCISV participant platform, CISV Central back-office, and CISV Learn learning management system (an LMS built on Moodle hosted by HowToMoodle) run on ASP.NET and EasySite infrastructure. There is no disclosed use of artificial intelligence or machine learning, no named AI/ML hires, and no proprietary model development. The organization has sustained long-running research partnerships with universities studying the developmental impact of its programmes, held a Global Forum in 2024 in Veldhoven, Netherlands, and is engaged with the UK Charity Commission on safeguarding reform through 2026.

As a registered charity in England and Wales (charity number 1073308) and a company limited by guarantee (company number 3672838), CISV files statutory accounts but does not publicly disclose revenue. The organization derives no material enterprise customer concentration; its participant and donor base is distributed across 69 countries, which structurally diversifies revenue but limits per-country scalability.

Name

CISV International

Legal name

CISV International Ltd

Website

https://cisv.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1950

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CISV International is a UK-registered charity founded in 1950 that delivers peace education programmes for youth aged 11-17 through 62 Member Associations across 69 countries, supported by the myCISV platform and CISV Learn LMS.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Peace Education and International Exchange

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Pre-Departure Orientation, Re-Entry & Intercultural Training for Study Abroad (EDAIAAAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

In-Country Placement, Homestay & On-Ground Coordination Services (EDAIAGAM)

Keywords

• Youth peace education
• International youth programmes
• Cross-cultural exchange camps
• Global citizenship education
• Intercultural learning programmes

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Programme Participation Fees: Fees charged for participation in international programmes. Families pay for their children to attend CISV camps and programmes. Specific fees vary by programme and National Association.
2. Donations: Charitable donations from individuals, families, and supporters to support CISV's educational mission and programmes.
3. Membership Fees: Fees may be charged for membership of CISV Affiliated Organisations (National Associations/Chapters) for participation in certain CISV programmes and initiatives.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CISV International delivers non-formal peace education programmes for children and youth aged 11-17 through international camps, regional youth meetings, bilateral exchanges, volunteer projects, and community-based Mosaic activities. Programmes are delivered by trained volunteer staff through a global network of 62 National Associations and Chapters across 69 countries, with a portfolio including Village (flagship 28-day camp for 11-year-olds), Youth Meeting, Step Up, Seminar Camp, Interchange, and International People's Project. The organisation operates supporting digital platforms (myCISV, CISV Learn, CISV Central) to manage registrations, training, and community engagement.

Product overview

CISV International operates a multi-platform digital ecosystem centered on its mission to educate and inspire children and youth for a more peaceful world. The core product portfolio consists of: myCISV (participant management and community portal), CISV Central (organizational resource hub), and CISV Learn (learning management system for eLearning). These platforms support a portfolio of international youth programmes including Village (flagship camp for age 11), Youth Meeting (regional camps for 12-13), Step Up (camp for 14-15), Seminar Camp (for 16-17), Interchange (bilateral exchanges), International People's Project (volunteer projects), Mosaic (community-based activities), and National Programmes. The organization also provides educational resources including training materials packages and research publications through its web platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Village CISV's flagship international camp programme for children aged 11, lasting 28 days. The original CISV programme built on developmental psychology principles to reduce cultural stereotypes in children through cross-cultural living experience.
• Youth Meeting

Quantifiable outcome

• Participants develop increased intercultural sensitivity and global citizenship awareness
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

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

• Northumbria UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership with Professor Matt Baillie Smith and Dr Darryl Humble from the Department of Social Sciences. They share interest in global citizenship and how organizations like CISV provide spaces for practicing global citizenship. Current project: 'The production of Global Citizenship' - an ethnographic study into how global citizenship is produced in non-formal education environments.
• Birkbeck, University of LondonmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership with Professor Zhu Hua who teaches applied linguistics and communication. Has carried out multiple research projects on interculturality and lingua franca communication in CISV programmes.
• University of Modena and Reggio EmiliamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Professor Claudio Baraldi, director of the Research Centre on Peace and Sustainability. Research has studied peace education, intercultural communication, and conflict resolution with focus on children.
• Newcastle UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHistoric research partner for studies on intercultural understanding and youth development in CISV programmes.
• University of OhiominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHistoric research partner contributing to CISV's research on international education.
• University of CincinnatiminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHistoric research partner contributing to CISV's research initiatives.
• Ideagen Software LtdcoreTechnology or IntegrationService provider that hosts and maintains CISV's website and myCISV platform in the UK on behalf of CISV International.
• HowToMoodlecoreTechnology or IntegrationHosts and maintains CISV's Learning Management System (CISV Learn) in the UK.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• AFS Intercultural Programs: AFS is a direct peer running global youth intercultural exchange programmes built on a similar volunteer-driven National Chapter model. Both organizations target high-school-age participants for multi-week homestay and camp experiences, making AFS the most structurally comparable organization to CISV.
• Experiment in International Living (World Learning): Part of World Learning, the Experiment runs group intercultural homestay programmes for high-school students across many countries. It overlaps directly with CISV's Village and Youth Meeting formats and competes for the same experiential-learning segment.
• AIESEC: AIESEC is a youth-led global network operating international volunteer and internship exchanges across 100+ countries. It is comparable to CISV in its volunteer-driven delivery model and global youth mission, though it skews older (university-age) and toward professional rather than peace-education outcomes.
• Youth For Understanding (YFU): YFU is a direct peer specializing in long-term high-school student exchanges across more than 60 countries. It mirrors CISV's age range, homestay-and-camp delivery, and global Chapter network, competing for the same families seeking international experience for teens.
• United World Colleges (UWC): UWC is a direct peer running 18 international schools and short programmes that bring together 16-19 year-olds from across the world for peace-focused education. It shares CISV's mission of building intercultural understanding among youth and competes for the same globally-minded families.
• Rotary Youth Exchange: Rotary's Youth Exchange programme places thousands of high-school students in year-long international homestays through a global Rotary Club network. It competes with CISV for the same families and overlaps in mission, though it operates as a service-line within the larger Rotary organization rather than as a standalone NGO.

Emerging players

• Global Citizen Year: Global Citizen Year runs gap-year and bridge-year programmes for high-school graduates focused on intercultural immersion and leadership. It overlaps with the older end of CISV's Seminar Camp audience and Mosaic community programmes but at a more recent, smaller scale.
• Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organisations: The Alliance coordinates short-term international voluntary service projects for young people across European and partner countries. It overlaps with CISV's International People's Project and Mosaic programmes in mission and youth volunteer framing, though with shorter project durations.

Broad incumbents

• Fulbright Program: Fulbright is a broader, government-funded incumbent in international educational and cultural exchange. While it operates at the post-secondary level, it shares the diplomatic and peace-building framing of CISV's mission and indirectly competes for institutional and donor mindshare in international education.
• EF Education First (EF High School Exchange Year): EF is a broad incumbent in language and cultural education that operates a high-school exchange-year programme competing directly with CISV's longer programmes. While EF is much larger and commercial, its exchange product targets the same family segment with similar experiential-learning positioning.

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cisv-international

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about CISV International