Organization Overview
We have set out to serve one million children by the year 2010. Today, Big Brothers Big Sisters serves over 200,000 children, ages 6 through 18, in 5,000 communities across all 50 states.
Big Brothers Big Sisters one-to-one mentoring makes a huge difference for the youth it serves. Research consistently demonstrates Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring helps at-risk youth overcome many challenges they face. The most compelling evidence was found by Public/Private Ventures (P/PV)1, showing that Little Brothers and Little Sisters are:
- 46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs
- 27% less likely to begin using alcohol
- 52% less likely to skip school
- 37% less likely to skip class
- More confident in their schoolwork performance
- Able to get along better with their families
In its annual survey of the 200 largest charities, Big Brothers Big Sisters was selected by Forbes Magazine as one of its top ten charities, making the publication's "gold star list of charities which it believes are worthy of donor consideration. The magazine surveyed 200 non-profits and rated them on how efficiently they collect and distribute dollars. Forbes looked at three categories: charitable commitment, fundraising efficiency, and donor dependency. Big Brothers Big Sisters has an annual budget of ~$205M of which $15M represents the national office budget.
1Tierney, J.P., Grossman, J.B., and Resch, N.L. (1995) Making a Difference: An Impact Study of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Philadelphia: Public/Private Ventures
