Thorn
Until every child can simply be a kid.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The rise of the internet has done for child sexual abusers the exact same thing it has done for everyone else - made it easier to share images, and build a community. There is a small group of people abusing our children, and we are a large community standing in strong opposition. We believe that technology is a tool, one we can use for incredible good. Thorn is a team of issue experts, business leaders, and engineers who build technology to defend children from sexual abuse. We are dedicated to ending child sex trafficking and eliminating child sexual abuse from the internet, and we won’t stop until every child can simply be a kid.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Research
Research programs to better understand the role of technology in child sex trafficking.
Deterrence
Thorn runs the country’s most extensive online deterrence program, communicating directly with people searching for CSAM, disrupting their sense of anonymity and encouraging them to seek help.
Facilitating Industry Collaboration
In 2013, we published the first version of The Thorn Sound Practices Guide, which educates companies about proven practices, tools and resources that exist to identify, remove, report and prevent child sexual abuse material and abusive behavior on their platforms.
Law Enforcement Tools
Law enforcement doesn’t have enough time to navigate the online commercial sex market to find children and identify their traffickers. Our tools take massive amounts of data and turns it into an asset for law enforcement.
Where we work
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of customers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Facilitating Industry Collaboration
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our product Safer is the first holistic solution for tech companies to detect, remove, and report child sexual abuse material at scale.
Number of child sexual abuse material files identified, removed, and reported
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Law Enforcement Tools
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Viral child sexual abuse material is removed from the internet to end the cycle of trauma.
Number of children victims identified
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Law Enforcement Tools
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Abused children are identified and removed from harm and their abusers are held accountable. Numbers are to date since the launch of our tool in 2014.
Percentage of agents' investigation time saved
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Law Enforcement Tools
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our tool Spotlight accelerates law enforcement’s ability to identify victims of child sex trafficking.
Number of youth reached with our prevention program
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Deterrence
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our brand NoFiltr reaches youth directly with prevention and support messaging to help them better recognize online grooming.
Goals & Strategy
Learn 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?
Our work has three pillars and one guiding vision. To build the world we believe in, we know we must: 1) Accelerate Victim Identification 2) Make Digital Environments Safer and 3) Deter Predatory Behavior. We do all of this so every child can be safe, curious, and happy.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We are only one player in a critical ecosystem working on behalf of our children. Building is a core value that informs every strategy in our organization. We build products and tools, partnerships and communities, that support and accelerate the impact and intentions of many people who are dedicated to defending children from sexual abuse.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
In addition to a powerful team of experts, we work with the sharpest minds from tech, non-profit, government, and law enforcement to stop the spread of child sexual abuse material, stand up to child traffickers, and uncover new kinds of abuse. Half of our 26 person staff are engineers and product managers focused on technology innovation and deployment. Our products would not be successful without the partnership we receive from the law enforcement users in every state, at every level of government, and in 37 other countries who use our products, give us feedback, and work tirelessly to identify children.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In the last five years, we have reached more than 2.6 million people globally through our child pornography deterrence program. Our tools are currently used by over 8,000 law enforcement officers in 37 countries, resulting in the identification of 10,000+ child sex trafficking victims and 847+ victims of child sexual abuse material.
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.
Thorn
Board of directorsas of 08/08/2023
Ashton Kutcher
Thorn
Ashton Kutcher
Ray Chambers
Suzanne Bell
Ernie Allen
Vanessa Kanu
Neelie Kroes
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 ? Yes -
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? Not applicable -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Not applicable -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
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:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data