Smile Train, Inc.

I saw a mini documentary on the plight of people with cleft palates in the Third World and was very moved. I was anxious to donate but like always, I did some investigating. The president of Smile Train makes nearly double the salary of the president of the American Red Cross. This is important because the American Red Cross has revenues many many times more than the Smile Train. I donated my money to UNICEF instead.

I was waiting in the doctor’s office for my appointment and came across a magazine article for Smiletrain. I was so touched I wanted to donate right away. I just wanted to quickly make sure it was a legitimate charity. After finding out how much the CEO makes a year it was actually possible that I could have over looked it . However I then read a review from someone that was actually trying to make possible donators like me feel guilty by downplaying that Hugh CEO salary and quilting me by stories such as - "what If I where the next child in line for the surgery but the donations ran out". And then thankfully that stupid review snapped me out of my crazy thought process. Because If I where the next child in line for surgery and the donations ran out from people like me that make $28K a year I would have been heartbroken and crushed by a greedy evil CEO. I will continue my search for a charity that is just that a charity.

We must not discontinue our support of this incredible charity because of the CEO'S salary increase. I assure you the way he built up smile train, he deserves it. But think of it this way.....even if we assume (and there always are) that there is greed and waste within the charity, what if you were the next child in line to recieve this surgery and were told "Thats it until next year as all our funds are now allocated." What if because you held back your donation, a child is left in disgerace, deformaty and despair. Look, every charity has questionable things about it. But we KNOW for sure this charity saves lives. I will continue to donate $250 each year even if they were to use 50% of that money in expenses! Why? Because every time a person holds back money, somewhere a child suffers. There will be greed and misuse of funds wherever you donate. I personally would rather be dead than to live in a third world country looking deformed and being kept in the house like an animal. We educated people must help. period! And if you dont trust them financially, find out how you can volunteer one summer and perhaps work in one of their offices or hospitals. I am unemployed and feel if I can change one life with my donation, my life will have truly counted. And no I have no affiliation with Smile train. If you dont like this group, "The Heifers" who give money to starving villagers to buy small animals is the next best IMHO. My only beef with this charity is they dont stop soliciting. Too pushy. I donate via check and leave my address off and request they dont mail me anything. I wonder why they do that? Who benefits? Do they own the marketing agency that does the mailings? Still....we must help these forgotten children of the world. I also do this in memory of my mother who passed recently and she donated only to this charity every year.

Is smile train aware that someone is calling and not saying anything then hanging up? i am getting these calls once a week and if they dont stop i am going to the better business . the reason i know it s mile train is because i tried calling the numbers back. there is no reason to do this except to give the smile train a bad name. the numbers are 1-866-223-6830 and 1-866-223-7166.

There has been a "shake up" at Smile Train, and their highly paid director is gone. (I don't know what his replacement makes.) In the past, Smile Train has claimed that ALL administrative expenses were paid by wealthy board members, and that NONE of the donated funds went to administrative expense. I assumed that was true. I asked them for a project to fund with my Mom's life savings which I inherited. They came up with a project in India which built an addition to a hospital they use, added a radiology department (including purchasing x-ray machine) outfitted a blood bank and hematology department, and outfitted a pathology department. This was done for $85,000. I thought that was a huge amount to do for that cost. I bet you couldn't buy the x-ray machine here alone for that. Some of the equipment purchased is now the only such equipment in a state of India with 35 million people. I have found their field personnel to be outstanding, and good stewards of funds.

I'm an RN, and I have worked with newborns with cleft lips and palates. Most often, this defect is a complete surprise. There are often feeding issues, so it's a difficult time for the families The first surgery in this country is usually done at 3 months of age, and I am always amazed how good the kids look after just one surgery. Luckily kids in this country are treated, not the case in third world countries. I understand that this is not just a genetic defect, but is also related to poor diet. I totally agree that the CEO salary is ridiculous, but the work that is done is essential. I don't know how they manage to perform the kind of work that they do at so little cost. Just imagine how many more surgeries could be done if he cut his salary!

I have supported Smile Train at the request of my childern for over 5 years with an annual donation of $250 for one surgery annually in honor of my kids. While I agree that mailings are out of hand and should be reduced, overall the mission is noble and the organzation does a LOT OF GOOD. As a scientist, I concur with an earlier post that indicates that this may be an exercise in futility due to genetics; however, the fact remains that the affected children will lead extremely difficult lives without the corrective surgery. As far as the outrageous salary of the former director - he is the FORMER director. Take a look at the spread of money under the new leadership - 82.2% goes directly to the progam execution, 16.9% to fundraising/advertising (I think this could be reduced if they elimanate the unwanted mailings), and 0.9% to management and overhead. That is actually quite good when compared to other charities - even Heifer International has a fundraising/advertising percentage of over 20.3%. This is once again a solid charitable organization doinf good things worldwide.

The seemingly endless supply of children with clefts is because the cleft is most often caused by a defective gene that is passed from generation to generation. Until steps are taken to prevent the passing forward of the gene by the same people who are being COSMETICALLY repaired the whole project is an exercise in futility. I cannot contribute to such a business until an ultimate solution to the problem is presented and implemented.

Well I dont see the CEO being paid $640,000. But I do question why if they raise over 100 million they can only give away 35 million. Their expeses seem to be way out of line. Thats only my thought.

I do support their mission for these unfortunate kids.

I am the Prevention Coordinator at Central Park East Middle school located in East Harlem. One of our students saw an infomercial and wanted to help. After getting permission from the Principal she then recruited her Board of Directors (advisors as well as other service learning students (Peer leaders) whose job it is to do monthly community service activities to assist her in her endeavor. All parties involved never expected to raise the funds they did but with the inspiration from one student it became contagious that she had the entire school community involved. Her board held dress down days. Healthy snack sales a book fair and a Valentine's Day sweetheart drive. One of our big contributers was Common Cents (Penny harvest) and with the other various service activities we were able to raise a nice amount of money to the SMILE TRAIN organization. It was also an honor to have two representatives from SMILETRAIN to actually come to our school to pick up the check at our Check Ceremony and to also hear how the students got involved in the service activities. It was a great learning experience for all.

I love kids and I donate to St. Jude and Feed the Children. I was shocked and heartbroken to find out that the co-founder & President takes home over $640,000 per year. I can't donate to pay for his lavish salary. It's too bad that he is so greedy.

I have read the various comments, and a lot of them criticize the large amount of advertising The Smile Train does and also that its executives are highly paid. I also saw comments that the Funding Donors pay all the expenses so that 100 percent of what is raised goes toward performing the operations. That's what the organization says and if indeed this is true, the criticisms of the organization are unwarranted. I agree, however, that Smile Train sends out an awfully lot of mail. I cannot give them something every month so I think they should be grateful for a donation even if it is once or twice a year.

My granddaughter recently visited my home and watched the "Smile Pinki" video that Smile Train had sent me. She was born with a cleft in her soft palate. She is now almost 8 years old. She was so intrigued with the story, especially how many children had the problem of a cleft lip and palate. She was so happy when Pinki could smile and go to school. Thanks to Smile Train for sending me that video that opened the conversation with my granddaughter about clefts. And thanks to Smile Train for helping the children.

We are so happy to have found the Smile Train organisation. This is one of the few charities where you will be updated on the spot and really can SEE how we can help a child to have a brighter future. I admire all people involved and whom are working with/for Smile Train. We will continue to support them with our whole heart. Thank you for giving US the opportunity to be part of your Smile Train.

I've travelled to several of the countries that Smile Train does a lot of its work and heard first hand from people in those countries the positive effects their efforts have in the lives of children. That's more than enough for me.

After a few years of having a spot reserved in my heart for SmileTrain, I worked up the courage and finally became a donor. After visiting the site, reading the stories, seeing the staff and credentials, I felt quite reassured that SileTrain was legit. 'Part' of what did it for me was the celebrity endorsements. With how they must be persistently inundated with charitable solicitations and they all settle for SmileTrain, I was led to believe that SmileTrain was the right place. I look forward to doing more with SmileTrain in the future.

Smile Train's $250.00 per cleft reconstructive surgery has become my standard for measuring non-essential purchases. I ask myself "How many children could have their cleft repaired for the cost of that?" Smile Train has not only put a smile on many childrens' faces; it has put one on mine. Although I consider several other non-profits to be worthy of my annual donations, Smile Train heads my list. I know of no other organization that does so much good for so many children and for so little money per child.

I worked with non-profit child welfare agencies prior to retirement. I have seen the transformation of babies born with a cleft after only one surgery. If a child is born with a cleft palate in this country and their parents have good health insurance, medical treatment and corrective surgery is begun in infancy. For an adopted infant this was considered a pre-existing condition by some insurance companies and the expense uncovered, yet the local Shriner's Hospitals usually come to the aid of adoptive families to assist in providing the needed corrective surgery and care.

However parents of a child born with a cleft palate in parts of the world where medical facilities are severly limited and inadequately staffed have limited resources at best to assist them in caring for their baby, who often is prone to serious chronic infection and malnourishment caused by the condidtion. Those who survive infancy have ahead of them psychological stress and social stigma to confront for the rest of their lives.

Thus, it was with great joy that I learned of the fantastically effective service provided by Smile Train for these children! This agency does not swoop into an area, perform a surgery and just leave. Rather it sends in surgeons to train local doctors in the delicate proceedures of cleft repair. Throughout the world children's lives have been saved and their desperation has been turned to joy. Thank you, Smile Train!

Smiletrain is always rated as one of the top charities in the US for the percentage of funds that actually go towards helping people. I became aware of them through a campaign for another non-profit Medical Missions for Children where I actually got to watch video of the before and after of these operations taking place in the Phillipines. MMC receives much of their support from Smile Train. I can't think of a better place to send my money - through this relatively inexpensive surgery, the lives of children are completely transformed. I am thrilled to contribute when I can.

My daughter is 8 years old now and was born with a cleft lip and palate. I can only thank God that she was born in the United States where we have access to great doctors and medical care, I can only imagine what her life would have been like had she been born in another country with her birth defect. My husband and I contribute annually to the Smile Train, you have no idea how this surgery can change a child's life and I am reminded of this every time I look at my beautiful daughter.

I used to donate to this orgainization, but the CEO salary went from below $200K to now $640K in just a few years. Percentage-wise it is not too much, but it just seems he is in it for the money for his salary to be that high out of donate money.

I originally signed up for the smile of the month club with this charity after reading the BBB report on them. It looked very good. But after looking into it more in depth at www.GiveWell.org, I found they really have no method of tracking where their funds are actually used. They 'invest' a ton of their proceeds, and their employees are grossly overpaid. This is the bottom line of the GiveWell report (in which this charity received zero start out of a possible three star rating.) "We do not have the information we would need to be confident in the effectiveness of Smile Train's programs, particularly regarding quality control of surgeries and education in the developing world. We also do not have a clear breakdown of how funding is spent by program (as over 30% of program expenses are spent on a program that we can't identify a description for). We have contacted Smile Train for clarification, but have not spoken with them as of yet."

My spouse & I have both donated to this organization so we ended up getting 2 solicitations regularly from them. I finally convinced them to send only 1 at a time. But later I told them that I could donate when I wanted to online, that no amount of wasted paper, postage, & time would make me give any more. Instead of DECREASING the number of times they mailed me stuff, they INCREASED it dramatically - sometimes 2 & 3 pieces of mail a week. Each time I e-mail the person who promised to take me off their mailing lists, but no one responds & it just keeps coming. I've told them I will NEVER donate again since they don't abide by my wishes but it does no good. Joanne Siegla

Rarely am I motivated to search out the source of web advertising, but smile train's ads are intrusive and obnoxious. It doesn't surprise me in the least to read that the org is 'greedy', ie. only interested in generating profits for itself.

Another charity that spends considerable funds advertising - and then sits on the money they rake in. The most recent IRS 990 certainly makes interesting reading. In 2007 their gross receipts were $130.6 million. Their investments totaled $107.1 million at year end. Service provider disbursements [Part II Other Grants] totaled a mere $14.03 million that year, or a minuscule 10.74% of gross receipts. They disguise their $23.6 million marketing expenditures as "public education." Another phony charity in my view.

you have no idea how this deformity can ruin a child's life. the smile train has helped over 600,000 children have a life. no other charity can make this claim. it could not be done without advertising.

marianne is right Form 990 for 2008 part II line 38 Printing and publications $32,242,254 Also salaries and consultant fees were interesting reading

The amount of money this organization spends on advertising in major publications, local newspapers and in direct mail is appalling. There could not possibly be enough recipients in the world to justify the fund raising this organization does. It needs to be investigated.

When seeing the solicitation in Boating Magazine I wanted to contribute. I generally give between $100 to $2500 and I contributed to over 30 different orgs last year. I now only give to those that show a very high % to the cause through the internet vrs fund raising and overhead cost. Smile train clearly does not qualify as a honest organization. If they got rid of those NYC apts and high saleries, I would give a minimum of $2500.

After some not inconsiderable reseach a few years ago on where one's charity could make the most difference "for the buck", Smile Train came out well ahead of anything else. Not only in terms of all donated funds ending up where they should, but in terms of the impact on pimproving the quality of people's lives per $. I have been an avid supported evr since and intend on increasing this through wider corporate engagement. I have absolutely no reservations in commending what Smile Train is doing, how it is doing it and the dedication and vision it reflects. If only governments and supra-national organisations had the humility to learn from the model being applied here, the world could both easily become a much better place, and could do so without the need for much more additional funding.

SmileTrain (www.smiletrain.org) 100% of donations help kids because the Founding Supporters pay all the overhead! The Smile Train is a Better Business Bureau Accredited Charity. 686 Smile Train partner hospitals and clinics around the world provide free cleft repair surgery. The 2009 projection...111,900 surgeries- a lot of new smiles for kids who have never smiled before.

Just got done sitting in the hospital here in Brazil with a teenage girl who lives at an orphanage that I volunteer with. She had her cleft palate repaired this weekend, no cost to the non-profit orphanage and was given good care by the smile train staff. Her life will never be the same thanks to operation smile! i am pleased to see their positive impact, way to go!

These people are making huge profits for themselves through the abuse of gruesome photographs of poor, maimed children like the recent advertisement in U.S. News & World Report. I am outraged and you should be too.

DeLois Greenwood, VP of Smile Train is paid in excess of $310,000 per year. She is also provided an apartment in New York City paid for by Smile Train. Several other employees earn in excess or close to the $200,000 per year amount. Why are these employees earning so much money working for a not for profit charity? Why isn't the public made aware that these enormous salaries are being paid? It seems these people are willing to help kids but only if their pockets are stuffed with cash first.