Partner with CRS

Photo by Karen Kasmauski for CRS

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CRS believes poverty and social injustice can only be solved by a concerted effort of private, public, and civil sector organizations working together and in concert with the poor. We forge partnerships to consistently deliver the most cost-efficient, highest quality responses to emergency and development challenges.

We enjoy trust and respect among our private donors and among the peer organizations, governments and government agencies, universities, foundations and corporations that partner with us.

Without ever compromising Catholic Church teachings or our core guiding principles, CRS works within the aid community as a reliable and effective collaborator and partner.

The Universal Catholic Church

Our first partnership is with the Universal Church and with local churches around the globe. These partnerships sustain, guide and direct our life-saving and life-enhancing work.

The ability to work within the context of cultural and religious differences further engenders trust among those we serve and the partners with whom we work side by side.

CRS is a member of Caritas Internationalis and works in many countries in close collaboration with local Caritas members. 

Public Donors

CRS is one of the most trusted aid organizations in the world. In fiscal year 2016, nearly 78% of our funding came from public donors such as the U.S. Government, foreign governments, and multilateral donors. It is a testament to our integrity and our management capacity that we are entrusted with millions of dollars each year to help vulnerable people worldwide. Learn More

Private Donors and Partnerships, and Impact Investing

CRS engages with a wide variety of private donors. In fiscal year 2016, foundations and corporations contributed more than $37 million towards our programs. Support from these private partners has increased more than ten-fold since 2004. This signifies the importance we place on our collaboration with private foundations and the corporate sector to help people transform their lives through sustainable development. 

CRS also collaborates with the private sector on impact investing – the concept that investments can and should generate positive, measurable social and environmental benefits in addition to a financial return. Partnering with impact investors is an effort to unlock enormous and growing pools of private sector capital to build scalable, sustainable businesses that can help alleviate poverty and better manage our planet’s resources.  Learn More

Local Partners

CRS believes that people and organizations should be active participants in their development rather than passive beneficiaries. Because of this belief, we work with a broad range of government and civil society entities – including both faith-based and secular organizations – in implementing our programs. Learn More

Sharing Knowledge

CRS’ global reach creates many opportunities for partners and staff to learn from innovative work around the world. By integrating partnership, capacity strengthening and new tools in information and communications technology for development (ICT4D) in our work, we are transforming how CRS and our partners share knowledge and learn from each other’s experiences.

To further increase our collective impact, other international relief and development organizations often partner with CRS. Lutheran World Relief, JHPIEGO, Save the Children, and Mercy Corps are a few of these organizations. Such partnerships are win-win because they allow for a more holistic approach to development, with each organization bringing their special expertise to ensure the best results.

To learn more about our CRS partnerships and capacity strengthening, contact [email protected].