Christian Blind Mission / CBM 
The information on this page was last updated 5/30/2023. If you see errors or omissions, please email: [email protected]
Summary
CBM is a Christian international development organization, committed to improving the quality of life of people with disabilities in the poorest communities of the world irrespective of race, gender or religious belief.
Contact information
Mailing address:
Christian Blind Mission
PO Box 340
Wheaton, IL 60187-0340
Website: cbmus.org
Phone: 800-937-2264
Email: [email protected]
Organization details
EIN: 362959883
CEO/President: Dr. Peter Schiel
Chairman: Dr. Peter Schiel
Board size: 4
Founder: Mr Ernest Christoffel
Ruling year: 1978
Tax deductible: Yes
Fiscal year end: 06/30
Member of ECFA: Yes
Member of ECFA since: 1983
Purpose
Our Vision: An inclusive world in which all persons with disabilities enjoy their human rights and achieve their full potential.
Mission statement
Our Mission: CBM is an international Christian development organisation, committed to improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities in the poorest countries of the world.
Based on its Christian values and over 100 years of professional expertise, CBM addresses poverty as a cause, and a consequence, of disability, and works in partnership to create a society for all.
Statement of faith
Donor confidence score
Transparency grade
A
To understand our transparency grade, click here.
Financial efficiency ratings
Sector: Relief and Development
| Category | Rating | Overall rank | Sector rank |
| Overall efficiency rating | | 1070 of 1096 | 81 of 84 |
| Fund acquisition rating | | 991 of 1098 | 72 of 84 |
| Resource allocation rating | | 954 of 1098 | 73 of 84 |
| Asset utilization rating | | 953 of 1096 | 70 of 84 |
Financial ratios
| Funding ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Return on fundraising efforts Return on fundraising efforts = Fundraising expense / Total contributions | 5% | 13% | 2% | 2% | 0% | 0% |
Fundraising cost ratio Fundraising cost ratio = Fundraising expense / Total revenue | 5% | 12% | 2% | 2% | 0% | 0% |
Contributions reliance Contributions reliance = Total contributions / Total revenue | 99% | 90% | 97% | 99% | 100% | 100% |
Fundraising expense ratio Fundraising expense ratio = Fundraising expense / Total expenses | 5% | 12% | 2% | 2% | 0% | 0% |
Other revenue reliance Other revenue reliance = Total other revenue / Total revenue | 1% | 10% | 3% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
| Operating ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Program expense ratio Program expense ratio = Program services / Total expenses | 86% | 76% | 96% | 95% | 100% | 100% |
Spending ratio Spending ratio = Total expenses / Total revenue | 94% | 97% | 99% | 103% | 100% | 100% |
Program output ratio Program output ratio = Program services / Total revenue | 80% | 74% | 96% | 99% | 100% | 100% |
Savings ratio Savings ratio = Surplus (deficit) / Total revenue | 6% | 3% | 1% | -3% | 0% | 0% |
Reserve accumulation rate Reserve accumulation rate = Surplus (deficit) / Net assets | 12% | 1% | 1% | -5% | 0% | 8% |
General and admin ratio General and admin ratio = Management and general expense / Total expenses | 6% | 11% | 2% | 3% | 0% | 0% |
| Investing ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Total asset turnover Total asset turnover = Total expenses / Total assets | 1.59 | 0.21 | 1.10 | 1.47 | 22.97 | 34.48 |
Degree of long-term investment Degree of long-term investment = Total assets / Total current assets | 1.22 | 1.09 | 1.08 | 1.09 | 1.07 | 1.07 |
Current asset turnover Current asset turnover = Total expenses / Total current assets | 1.98 | 0.23 | 1.19 | 1.60 | 24.60 | 36.96 |
| Liquidity ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Current ratio Current ratio = Total current assets / Total current liabilities | 18.34 | 1450.53 | 1043.71 | 201.85 | 10.38 | 9.99 |
Current liabilities ratio Current liabilities ratio = Total current liabilities / Total current assets | 0.05 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.10 | 0.10 |
Liquid reserve level Liquid reserve level = (Total current assets - Total current liabilities) / (Total expenses / 12) | 5.64 | 51.77 | 10.09 | 7.45 | 0.44 | 0.29 |
| Solvency ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Liabilities ratio Liabilities ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets | 8% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 13% | 15% |
Debt ratio Debt ratio = Debt / Total assets | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Reserve coverage ratio Reserve coverage ratio = Net assets / Total expenses | 58% | 462% | 90% | 67% | 4% | 2% |
Financials
| Balance sheet | |||||
| Assets | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Cash | $162,361 | $188,599 | $217,624 | $753,764 | $685,089 |
| Receivables, inventories, prepaids | $345,483 | $77,259 | $5,539 | $359,478 | $503,149 |
| Short-term investments | $5,170,963 | $6,316,804 | $5,009,810 | $4,999,374 | $4,847,777 |
| Other current assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current assets | $5,678,807 | $6,582,662 | $5,232,973 | $6,112,616 | $6,036,015 |
| Long-term investments | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed assets | $0 | $50,974 | $50,974 | $0 | $0 |
| Other long-term assets | $486,346 | $461,774 | $437,653 | $432,810 | $432,810 |
| Total long-term assets | $486,346 | $512,748 | $488,627 | $432,810 | $432,810 |
| Total assets | $6,165,153 | $7,095,410 | $5,721,600 | $6,545,426 | $6,468,825 |
| Liabilities | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Payables and accrued expenses | $3,915 | $6,307 | $25,925 | $23,090 | $13,954 |
| Other current liabilities | $0 | $0 | $0 | $565,523 | $590,479 |
| Total current liabilities | $3,915 | $6,307 | $25,925 | $588,613 | $604,433 |
| Debt | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Due to (from) affiliates | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other long-term liabilities | $89,987 | $75,539 | $105,803 | $254,802 | $359,920 |
| Total long-term liabilities | $89,987 | $75,539 | $105,803 | $254,802 | $359,920 |
| Total liabilities | $93,902 | $81,846 | $131,728 | $843,415 | $964,353 |
| Net assets | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Without donor restrictions | $705,961 | $696,760 | $580,062 | $714,707 | $687,978 |
| With donor restrictions | $5,365,290 | $6,316,804 | $5,009,810 | $4,987,304 | $4,816,494 |
| Net assets | $6,071,251 | $7,013,564 | $5,589,872 | $5,702,011 | $5,504,472 |
| Revenues and expenses | |||||
| Revenue | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Total contributions | $1,217,744 | $7,650,515 | $7,988,155 | $150,209,301 | $223,423,342 |
| Program service revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Membership dues | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Investment income | $135,942 | $211,537 | $116,753 | $113,580 | $113,101 |
| Other revenue | $54 | $0 | $0 | $29,726 | $0 |
| Total other revenue | $135,996 | $211,537 | $116,753 | $143,306 | $113,101 |
| Total revenue | $1,353,740 | $7,862,052 | $8,104,908 | $150,352,607 | $223,536,443 |
| Expenses | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Program services | $1,004,651 | $7,513,783 | $7,983,421 | $149,776,684 | $222,423,387 |
| Management and general | $150,019 | $160,536 | $249,963 | $431,328 | $336,167 |
| Fundraising | $160,810 | $143,808 | $150,624 | $149,294 | $313,878 |
| Total expenses | $1,315,480 | $7,818,127 | $8,384,008 | $150,357,306 | $223,073,432 |
| Change in net assets | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Surplus (deficit) | $38,260 | $43,925 | ($279,100) | ($4,699) | $463,011 |
| Other changes in net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total change in net assets | $38,260 | $43,925 | ($279,100) | ($4,699) | $463,011 |
Compensation
| Name | Title | Compensation |
| Dr M Babar Qureshi | Secretary | $159,978 |
| Dr Peter Schiessl | CEO | $151,402 |
| Thorsten Schmidt | Treasurer | $141,606 |
Compensation data as of: 6/30/2022
Response from ministry
No response has been provided by this ministry.
The information below was provided to MinistryWatch by the ministry itself. It was last updated 5/30/2023. To update the information below, please email: [email protected]
History
Pastor Ernst J. Christoffel, born in 1876 in Rheydt/Rhineland, Germany, was CBM's founder and director for many years. Ernst Christoffel laid the foundations for CBM as a modern organisation working together with Partners to serve persons with disabilities.
The Beginning: Turkey
In 1908, Christoffel set out for Turkey and founded a home in Malatia for blind and otherwise disabled and orphaned children, with the support of only a handful of friends. The mission societies to which he had applied before saw no commission for helping the blind in the Orient.
World War I
Christoffel's work came to an end when the First World War broke out. In 1919, he was expelled and Turkey remained closed to him, as to all Germans.
From Turkey to Iran
As soon as the ban was lifted, Christoffel set out for Turkey again, but the house in Malatia was lost. Attempts to start again in Constantinople (later Istanbul) resulted in renewed prohibition, so Christoffel went to Iran. In 1925 and 1928, two homes were set up in Tabriz and Isfahan, respectively, for blind and otherwise disabled young people.
Persecution during World War II
The Second World War destroyed everything, and the threat of deportation was imminent. Christoffel did not want to leave his charges on their own. In 1943, he was arrested and spent three years behind barbed wire, but his will remained unbroken.
Return to Iran
As soon as he had access in 1951, Christoffel returned to Isfahan. Despite the fact that he was ailing and 70 years of age, he went on helping the disabled, poor, and abandoned in the name of Jesus Christ. Pastor Christoffel died on 23 April 1955. His tombstone in Isfahan names him the "Father of the Blind, Deaf-Mute, Physically Disabled and Orphans".
The commitment of Pastor Ernst Jakob Christoffel to the education and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities laid the foundation for an organisation that is today one of the leading international development organisations for persons with disabilities worldwide.
Over time, CBM's policy has widened from serving blind people to giving all persons with disabilities access to basic healthcare services. There are 600 million persons with disabilities in the world. Most of them live in developing countries. About 2.5% of these people- a target population of 10 million-are covered by CBM's programmes.
Program accomplishments
Needs
The ministry has several different projects in need of sponsorship. More information may be found on their website.