Holt International Receives $445,000 Murdock Trust Grant to Modernize Child Information Systems

Holt International is excited to announce that the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has awarded a $445,000 grant to help improve and modernize how Holt manages information about children in their global child sponsorship program. The new child management system is part of a larger technology modernization project at Holt International that will launch in July 2022.

“The Murdock Trust is helping to cover the cost of the new Child Management System (CMS), which is the system we use to capture important programmatic data, child information and progress about sponsored children in Holt programs around the world,” said Holt Vice President of Marketing and Development Rick Ericson, who has led the organization’s internal data conversion effort. “In addition to greater efficiencies for social workers and our staff overseas, the new CMS provides robust reporting capabilities for child sponsors here in the United States — a key to the financial health and growth of these programs overseas.”

Providing care, comfort, love, and support to vulnerable children is one of the most important responsibilities a community must shoulder. We are fortunate that organizations like Holt International work tirelessly to help connect loving families in the Pacific Northwest with children in need throughout the world.

Pauline Fong, program director, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust

Once operational, the new database will not only improve the quality of information that sponsors receive about the children they support — it will also provide a more efficient and effective system for Holt staff to gather information in the field, safeguard sensitive information about orphaned and vulnerable children, and strengthen Holt’s ability to report on the global impact of their programs. Ultimately, the new CMS will help protect the wellbeing of the thousands of children already in Holt programs and help grow Holt’s reach to thousands more children in need around the world.

“Providing care, comfort, love, and support to vulnerable children is one of the most important responsibilities a community must shoulder,” said Pauline Fong, program director, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. “We are fortunate that organizations like Holt International work tirelessly to help connect loving families in the Pacific Northwest with children in need throughout the world. We are grateful for the opportunity to help Holt International build stronger connections between their Pacific Northwest supporters and their team doing this critical work around the globe.”

The Murdock Trust’s grant for the new Child Management System was supported by 100% dedicated giving from Holt’s Board of Directors and generous matching multi-year pledged gifts provided by individual donors.

Previously, the Murdock Trust funded efforts to strengthen PCI compliance and data security at Holt, which is a critical aspect of the organization’s legacy of service to children, adoptive families, and adult adoptees. “Holt International has always upheld the highest standards when it comes to protecting and preserving information about children and maintaining strong data management systems is a key part of our commitment to the people we serve,” said Holt President & CEO Phil Littleton.

Holt’s new child management software is currently in later stages of development and testing, with an anticipated launch date of July 2022.

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