Every Child applies data, digital marketing – and most of all, empathy – to recruit and support foster families – Microsoft Source

When Ben Sand began trying to recruit foster parents in his home state of Oregon more than a decade ago, it wasn’t just akin to finding a needle in a haystack, but in an entire field of them.
Sand set up booths at county fairs and farmers markets, gave presentations at churches and Rotary clubs, arranged countless coffee meetings – so much coffee – and planted lawn signs across communities, with little success.
“It was not very effective at all,” Sand says. “We spent a lot of years just trying to figure out what works.”
That changed in 2019, when The Contingent, the Portland-based nonprofit organization Sand founded, collaborated with Microsoft to build a solution that uses data and targeted digital marketing to recruit volunteers and foster families.  
The impact was striking. That year, inquiries from prospective foster families increased by more than 53% over the previous year, according to the organization’s data, and have remained higher ever since. The diversity of interested families also grew, with more non‑white families and families hoping to care for LGBTQ youth stepping forward.
Over the past five years, the organization’s flagship program, Every Child, has mobilized over 10,000 prospective foster parents across three states, along with more than 40,000 volunteers who support foster families in a variety of ways.
“In 2019, the whole world shifted for so many reasons,” Sand says, “and most of them are rooted in what Microsoft gave us the capability to do.”
A critical need 
Across the United States, there are roughly 350,000 children in foster care but only about 200,000 licensed foster homes, a persistent shortfall that has long strained child welfare systems. A 2023 study in Oregon found that only 5% of people surveyed said they were likely to ever become foster parents.
“The state is responsible for caring for kids experiencing abuse and neglect,” Sand says. “But they are dependent on the community to help find safe placements for children. They needed an intermediary to step in and call the community to action. And that’s what we offered to do.”
Billy Cordero, resource family retention and recruitment program manager for Oregon’s child welfare office, says Every Child is able to connect with communities in ways that can be difficult for government.
It was the community empathy that was being developed that then influenced our ability to recognize the ways technology could amplify community empathy at scale.
“It is a challenge that we are one extension of a government agency that assesses families for abuse and neglect, yet we’re asking families to step in and be part of the solution,” Cordero says. “I think that is tough to reconcile for our communities.
“And Every Child – their brand, their tone, their approach, their ability to engage – was something that resonated and still does resonate well with Oregonians,” he says. “They are a community organization that understands the framework, culture and narrative in the communities in which they’re working.”
A pivotal moment 
The foster care system wasn’t initially Sand’s focus when he launched The Contingent in 2008 as the Portland Leadership Foundation. The organization provided college scholarships, but Sand’s aspirations were broader. Growing up in Spokane, Washington, with a single mother and five siblings, Sand encountered both adversity and the stabilizing influence of caring adults, experiences that shaped his desire to help children facing similar challenges.
After earning an English degree from Eastern Washington University, Sand launched his nonprofit with the goal of developing innovative solutions to systemic challenges. A few years later, he met foster parents Luke and Jillana Goble through his church and was deeply moved by their experiences.
Jillana told Sand about her project of creating welcome boxes for children arriving at child welfare offices after being taken into foster care. The boxes, filled with items like socks, water bottles, games and encouraging notes, were designed to comfort children waiting in child welfare offices after being removed from their homes.
Learning about the project, Sand realized he had no idea what went on in child welfare offices. Jillana gave him a tour of her local office, and for Sand, it was a pivotal moment.
“I’ll never forget after that tour, staying in the parking lot and just sobbing and realizing that people who work in child welfare are first responders,” Sand recalls. “In that moment, simultaneously, it felt like my heart was broken and I needed to do something personally.”
Mobilizing the community 
A couple of weeks later, Sand organized a barbecue to thank the office’s staff. He loaded a rusty grill into his Volvo station wagon, stocked up on sausages from Trader Joe’s and set up in the parking lot unannounced.
“The first response from the front desk lady was like, call the police. Who’s this psychopath that just started a barbecue in our parking lot?” Sand says, laughing.
The mood quickly shifted. One longtime employee accepted a hot dog from Sand, tears streaming down her face. “I’ve been working for DHS for 30 years and this is the first time that anyone from the community has ever said thank you,” she told him.
The event crystallized Sand’s vision. Inspired by the welcome box initiative, he began reaching out to community groups in 2013 to rally support for foster families and children. Those efforts evolved into a larger strategy focused on foster parent recruitment and volunteer mobilization.
“The idea was to invite the community to step into a relationship with the state agency at scale,” Sand says. “It was rooted in offering hospitality to the people and kids and families who are impacted by the system.”
It is a small community of people who are all working together. It helped to know that you’re not just out on your own island.
When the pandemic hit Oregon, Every Child Oregon launched My NeighbOR, a program for community members to meet needs directly expressed by foster parents, from baby equipment and clothing to groceries and furniture. Oregonians were eager to help.
“We got so much response, so many volunteers and donations and people interested in becoming foster parents during that time,” says Luke Goble, The Contingent’s vice president of research and insight. “It just skyrocketed.”
By 2019, Every Child Oregon was receiving roughly half of all fostering and adoption inquiries statewide. Recognizing its effectiveness, the state’s child welfare department formalized its partnership with Every Child, shifting a significant portion of its outreach and community mobilization work to the nonprofit.
But the organization needed a more effective approach to recruiting, Sand realized. Late one night, he came across a story in The Atlantic titled “When the Nerds Go Marching In,” about an elite team of tech engineers that built a data-driven infrastructure for President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.
As Sand read, an idea took shape: What if Every Child could use data and technology in a similar way – not to reach voters, but to find prospective foster parents and volunteers?
Amplifying empathy at scale 
Through a connection with a friend, Sand was introduced to Microsoft, which helped Every Child develop a solution that combined data, analytics and targeted digital marketing to identify and recruit potential foster parents and volunteers.
Using Power BI, Every Child Oregon brings together data on children in care – including geographic location, sibling groups and specific behavioral or medical needs – and compares it with the available foster homes by county and zip code. The dashboard helps identify gaps so the organization can focus outreach where it’s needed most.
Every Child also analyzes characteristics of successful foster families, such as income level, education and number of children in the home. That information informs digital outreach through text messages, emails and social media ads that are complemented with on-the-ground efforts in places like libraries, PTA meetings and community gatherings.
When prospective foster parents reach out, Every Child shares that information with state agencies and recruitment partners through a Microsoft Power Apps portal. Volunteers then follow up, answering questions and helping families assess their readiness to take the next step.
Every Child’s technical tools and on-the-ground efforts work in tandem, and Sand says the years of outreach were a critical component of the organization’s approach.
“If we had started with some kind of technical solution, I don’t think we would have had the impact,” he says. “It was the community empathy that was being developed that then influenced our ability to recognize the ways technology could amplify community empathy at scale.”
Taking the leap 
After launching Every Child, Sand himself became a foster parent and adopted his son. But he’s quick to note that fostering isn’t feasible for everyone, which is why the organization offers many ways to support foster parents and children. Behind Every Child’s “continuum of engagement” model is a simple idea: People may start with small acts of service, but deeper engagement can follow.
“The more you get involved, the more questions you ask and the more exposure you have to foster care, the more you realize, oh my gosh, there’s so much more opportunity to serve my neighbor,” Sand says.
That was the case for Garrett and Mindy Smith, who live in Corvallis, Oregon. With five children of their own and up to three international college students staying in their home at a time, fostering seemed like a distant possibility, something they might pursue when their children were older. They didn’t know any other foster parents, and Mindy worried about lacking family support nearby.
Still, they wanted to support Every Child Oregon, so Mindy reached out to ask about volunteering. Through the organization, she connected with foster families and employees, and seeing the support Every Child provided helped allay her concerns.
“It is a small community of people who are all working together,” Mindy says. “It helped to know that you’re not just out on your own island.”
In April 2025, the Smiths became foster parents to two girls, a 9-year-old and a 2-month-old baby. They were supported by Every Child’s My Community initiative, which matches teams of volunteers with new foster families for at least a year. The volunteers brought meals and diapers, dropped off treats for the Smiths’ children and arranged to take the family out for dinner after a stressful court date for one of the foster children.
“That court date was something the whole family was a little stressed about,” says Garrett, who works as the Corvallis homestay director for USA Homestays. “That thoughtfulness meant more than I thought it would. They’ve been very thoughtful and kind and generous.”
A ‘one-stop shop’ 
Every Child now employs about 60 people and operates in all 36 counties in Oregon. The organization expanded to Arkansas in 2023 and Tennessee the following year.
In Arkansas, Every Child works through a public-private partnership of more than 20 organizations, including state agencies and nonprofit groups, to drive recruitment through data-focused campaigns. In Tennessee, the effort is led in a partnership between the Governor’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative and the Department of Children’s Services.
“We do have an ongoing need for additional foster parents, and we are grateful for our ongoing and productive relationship with Every Child Arkansas to recruit more homes for children who enter our care,” says Beki Dunagan, a program administrator at the Arkansas Department of Human Services.
Every Child hopes to expand to around six more states over the next three years, depending on funding. In the meantime, Sand wants communities to understand that “it’s not just be a foster parent or do nothing.” There are many ways to help, from making welcome boxes to delivering supplies, sprucing up DHS offices or volunteering at Foster Parents’ Night Out events.
“There happens to be these state agencies involving children and families, and they’re all trying to figure it out,” Sand says. “What they need is the community to love them well while they’re trying to figure it out. The need for volunteerism is just as high as the need for foster family recruitment.”
The organization acts as what Sand calls “a one-stop shop,” a platform that enables communities to step in and help.
“I think what Every Child represents is a new paradigm,” he says. “The state historically has not been able to provide onramps for community members to get involved if they’re not a foster parent. That’s a systemic problem that we’re solving – everyone can get involved.”
Top photo: Savana, left, was reunited with her daughter Ari, right, after years of adversity and instability. Learn more about their story here. (Photo courtesy of The Contingent)
Deborah Bach writes about the transformative ways organizations and people are using technology, and is also a writer for The Monthly Tech-In, Microsoft’s LinkedIn newsletter with 10 million-plus organic subscribers. A native of British Columbia, Deborah was previously a newspaper reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Baltimore Sun. Her work has been published in outlets including the New York Times, Vancouver Sun and TODAY.com, among others. You can reach Deborah on LinkedIn.

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