CLOWNS WITHOUT BORDERS INC
Resilience Through Laughter
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Laughter is vital. Researchers are gaining a deeper understanding of the effects trauma can have on a children’s development, especially in recent years with the rise of crises around the globe. It is estimated that 175 million children will be exposed to a major disaster by the end of the decade. We know that children are naturally resilient. We can enable their resilience and affect their growth and development through laughter and play. Studies have shown that initial symptoms of post-traumatic stress in children can decrease over the span of 8 to 20 months if they are able to return to their normal life as it existed before the trauma. However ongoing conflict can delay this time of healing. Displacement, for example to a refugee camp, is an overwhelming stress that significantly impedes healing from trauma. Children need healthy environments to explore and expand their growing relationship with people, places, and experiences.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Social Circus
Clowns Without Borders tours with small teams of professional circus artists to perform for displaced people. Performances are always free for the audience.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total number of free performances given
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Social Circus
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
CWB's performances are always free of charge for refugee, migrant, indigenous populations or those who impacted by natural disaster. In 2020 and 2022 we adapted our programming.
Number of training workshops
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Social Circus
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
In 2017, shifted the focus of its workshop audience to professional artists, psychologists, social workers, and students. These workshops are free of charge.
Number of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Social Circus
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We have only included in person events. In 2020 and 2021 the majority of our programs were online.
Number of Facebook followers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Laughter is a human right.
Resource scarcity is an all-too common reality for recipients of humanitarian aid. In places where all other resources are scarce, laughter, can -- and should--be abundant.
Playing and socializing help children learn to build human relationships, trust, and empathy. Community violence can frustrate this process by restricting a children’s environment and limiting the range of social and intellectual experiences available.Children in areas of crisis need safe outlets for expression and emotional relief. Laughter and humor provide social, emotional, physical and cognitive benefits. Laughter is contagious, and being surrounded by an emotionally positive atmosphere generates a greater sense of human connection.
Clowns Without Borders aims to offer laughter and joy to people who have experienced the trauma of displacement or natural disaster.
We aim to make sure that refugees and displaced people are offered the same human rights -- including the right to laughter, education, and play, as other humans.
"How do we make sure that migrants are treated like regular people?” That’s what the clown does all the time! It’s accomplished by playing together with the children, as equals. There's such diversity in what it means to be a migrant. You may be a refugee, an economic migrant, a migrant by choice, or by force. It’s so easy to say “the migrants.” But the term is so big. And to talk about it is so big, too.
Something we often forget is that the shows give people living in a camp something else to talk about. Instead of talking about what they have lost, or what separates them, it’s a chance to talk about what is shared.
As one audience member, in a Displaced Persons Camp in Myanmar said, “The show is very important for the camp because even though the violence happened in 2011, people are constantly reminded of the trauma they faced from bombings and being pushed out of their homes. The laughter is healing and necessary for relief from this trauma. It’s a way to move on.”
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
1 - Respond to diverse types of displacement:
What do you think of when you think “refugee?” A camp with tents? A group of people who all look the same? A certain continent? Displacement is complex. CWB – USA tries to respond to many different types of displacement. Maybe that means communities experiencing generations of internal displacement, within their own country. Or maybe it means people who have survived an environmental disaster or epidemic. Or people who are displaced because of war, politics, and economics.
2 - Build Diverse Performing Teams
It is important that our performing teams—and organization as a whole—reflect the diversity of our audiences and the world. Part of the strategy for this year is to always work with local artists, actively recruit and support new artists, and collaborate with other chapters from Clowns Without Borders International.
3 - Work in collaboration with local and national organizations.
Clowns Without Borders only goes where invited. We always work in collaboration to with local artists, stakeholders, and organizers.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Since 1993, Clowns Without Borders has been performing in refugee camps, conflict zones, and sites of disaster.
In 1993, a group of Spanish students received a letter from their Yugoslavian pen pals living in a Croatian refugee camp who said, “We’re OK, you know we have everything that we need, water and food, and we are safe for now. But what we really miss is having fun. We’d really like some clowns or something to come.” Their physiological and safety needs had been met, now they were looking to fulfill their psychological needs. The Spanish students contacted Tortell Paltrona, a famous Spanish clown raised during the Spanish Civil War. The clown got in his car and drove to the camp
Paltrona attracted more than 700 children to watch his performance and realized that there was a need for entertainment and humor in crisis situations. He founded “Payasos sin Fronteras” to psychologically support communities and children that have suffered trauma (Dobbs 2011). In an interview with the UNHCR, he addressed the concerns of critics.
“When we started, it might have seemed like a joke to some people. An NGO with clowns in the middle of a war! It was surreal. At first we wondered what we were doing, but after the first experience it was such a powerful and emotional feeling. There was a very warm welcome and the visit was very helpful for the children.”
CWB performs for over 47,000 people annually. The organization has over 20 years experience working in collaboration with vulnerable communities
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Clowns Without Borders performs for over 20,000 displaced people a year, on a budget of $200,000
It maintains its grassroots ethos, while also employing a part-time staff of two, to better support the programming.
CWB has partnered with Doctors Without Borders, UNHCR, Terres Des Hommes, Mercy Corps, Unicef, Mines Advisory Group and is a consultative partner of UNESCO.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time, It is hard to come up with good questions to ask people, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
CLOWNS WITHOUT BORDERS INC
Board of directorsas of 01/05/2024
Erin Crites
Amrita Dhaliwal
Timothy Cunningham
Amrita Dhaliwal
Eric Rubin
Meredith Gordon
David Rosenthal
Michael Jakob
Victoria Moore
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Not applicable -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 12/26/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.