Monica Caison Founder of nonprofit CUE Center for Missing Persons
“Seven out of 10 nonprofit workers are women, while at Fortune 500 companies, 86 percent of corporate executives are men. The nonprofit sector is predominantly female; the private sector is mainly male.”
Community United Effort (CUE) Center for Missing Persons based in Wilmington, NC serves those who are missing and their families nationally with the help of State Outreach Coordinators and a large delegation of volunteers. Founded over 25 years ago by Monica Caison, her leadership stretches from the daily operations to organizing and participating in searches for the missing. One of few missing persons organizations that can make that claim.
According to national reports we have a silent epidemic with nearly 650,000 missing persons reported annually. CUE Center for Missing Persons aids in searching, educating the public, and advocating for families with a missing loved one. The organization has a solid track record of assisting well over 12,000 families since its inception in 1994.
Monica Caison’s organization is built from the public sector including business leaders, students, law enforcement, victim advocates, professionally trained field search teams, certified K9s, and missing person experts. There are currently over 15,000 volunteers from across the nation assisting with requests that come in to the organization. There are no paid employees, or board members, including Caison who receives no salary.
It is reported that the average number of nonprofit volunteer hours per person rose from 130 to 137 from 2008 to 2017. Mathematically, this works out to just 11.5 hours per month. Also reported was that only 7.5 percent of all nonprofit executive staffs are women.
Furthermore, the vast majority of nonprofits consists of small organizations spending less than $500,000 annually. Overall, 80 cents of every dollar of nonprofit revenue in the United States comes from government grants or contracts and fees for services. Only about 10 percent of overall nonprofit funding comes from individual donations and another 4 percent from foundations.
Additionally, data reveals that women managing nonprofits is primarily confined to serving women’s issues including focusing on body image, marginalized women, breast cancer; camps for kids, and the exploitation of women through domestic violence and sexual assault.
CUE Center for Missing Persons serves people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds. Acceptance, cooperation, and teamwork are hallmarks in carrying out the mission to assist those who request help.
“I offer myself to those who have nowhere else to turn. These desperate people who ask for my help have unique situations. Yet, however unique, they are bound together with the commonality of being the loved one of a missing person.”
-Monica Caison