Ten Thousand Villages

At Ten Thousand Villages, we believe that the driving factors keeping families within the cycle of poverty are low wages, exploitive trade, and poor working conditions. Alleviating poverty is an ambition. Calling out an ambition is an acknowledgement that there are realistic levers we can pull as a global community that would lead to significant economic and social improvements on a wide scale.

Many people don’t know that the organization's founder pioneered the Fair-Trade movement in the United States from Lancaster in 1946! As the concept of Fair Trade has evolved and gained widespread recognition over the past several decades, we are proud that Ten Thousand Villages continues to be at the forefront of the Fair-Trade industry.  

Where do donations go? Donations help Ten Thousand Villages strengthen its services, support artisans more effectively, and ensure that both the organization and artisans it works with can all continue to meet the diverse needs of our communities. Donations play a crucial role in the sustainability of Ten Thousand Villages for several reasons:

1. Artisan Development and Design: We collaborate with artisans in bringing their products to the U.S. market, providing support, training, market consultations, and more.
2. Investment in New Initiatives: The funding for new initiatives, research, or specialized objectives typically comes from donations. These are efforts that lead to improved artisan impacts, which would otherwise be unaffordable to fund.
3. Fair-Trade Model: As a nonprofit, artisan-first business, Ten Thousand Villages’ commitment to pay artisans 50% upfront means we accept the higher burden of risk and sometimes losses in order to prioritize financial stability for artisan groups. Traditional business models place the higher burden of risk on the supplier in order to prioritize and protect the business. Donations provide a buffer to ensure the viability of this model for the future.