Samaritan's Purse

Overview

Founded in 1970 by Bob Pierce and later taken over by Franklin Graham, Samaritan's Purse is a nondenominational evangelical charity headquartered in Boone, North Carolina. Graham, the son of Billy Graham, also leads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and the two entities share leadership and infrastructure. The organization generates revenue almost entirely from private donations, with no single wealth origin or endowment corpus defining its capital base. The organization's direct-execution model spans several asset classes and ministries. Its International Crisis Response unit deploys medical teams, water filtration, and temporary shelter to conflict and disaster zones. U.S. Disaster Relief rebuilds homes after hurricanes and tornadoes. Operation Christmas Child, its highest-volume program, shipped gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 100 countries in 2023 alongside a discipleship curriculum called The Greatest Journey. World Medical Mission places physicians in mission hospitals globally. The organization also operates Children's Heart Project, which arranges life-saving cardiac surgery, and Operation Heal Our Patriots, a marriage-retreat program for wounded veterans at its Samaritan Lodge Alaska property. Samaritan's Purse controls substantial operational assets rather than managing a traditional financial portfolio. Its air fleet includes a Boeing 767-300 freighter, a 757-200 freighter, a Gulfstream G550, and multiple turboprops and a helicopter, operating from an Airlift Response Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. The organization maintains industrial processing centers in Maryland and Texas and a training and conference center in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Chief Operating Officer Edward Graham, Franklin's son, represents the family's operational succession presence. Recent activity includes long-term home construction in western North Carolina following Hurricane Helene in 2024. The structural differentiator is its posture as a direct-response operator rather than a donor-advised grantmaker. Where most large American Christian foundations fund partner NGOs, Samaritan's Purse maintains its own logistics chain, medical units, aircraft, and construction teams, giving it operational control and the ability to claim a physical presence in a disaster zone within hours. This hybrid model of relief agency and evangelistic ministry creates a distinct accountability calculus: the organization measures deployment speed and gospel presentations alongside traditional financial efficiency ratios.