LOS ANGELES (Sep. 9, 2016)  — The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) has announced its launch of a special 20th anniversary sponsorship drive, in hopes of raising some much needed funding.

Founded in 1996, ASACP is a non-profit organization dedicated to online child protection that offers free educational and other resources and tools that help digital media companies keep children out of and away from age-restricted materials. These include market specific Best Practices and a Code of Ethics to help guide businesses, app- and website operators.

According to ASACP Executive Director Tim Henning, summer has always been the association’s most difficult time financially, but this year the need for increased support is greater than ever before.

“ASACP is currently facing decreasing financial industry support and we need critical help to cover vital operational expenses,” Henning told XBIZ. “ASACP has implemented as many cost-cutting measures over the past couple of years as is possible, without effecting vital services, but it is proving not to be enough.”

Henning says that if further cuts are necessary, they will seriously impact mission-critical functions such as the operation of ASACP’s globally recognized sexual child exploitation tipline that has processed well over one million reports of suspected CP since its inception; as well as support for the award-winning Restricted To Adults (RTA) meta labeling and age verification system, which the association provides free to all websites as a proven means of preventing access by minors.

These vital services are heavily utilized by the industry and the public alike, and have very significant and positive real world impacts for children and the industry globally.

Unfortunately, providing these services do not come free of charge, and today the association has to cope with increasing demands in the face of decreasing revenues. This has been caused in part by consolidation within the industry, where companies that once sponsored ASACP have been acquired by larger entities that may have only maintained a single sponsorship under a parent organization — or none at all. In addition, other sponsors have decreased their level of support, in part due to the overall decline in industry revenues.

The current list of ASACP Sponsors can be seen here.

“With a drastically shrinking and consolidating industry, especially over the past two years, to support our mission I must utilize every avenue if ASACP is to survive and continue to provide the vital services it does to the industry, children and parents,” Henning explains. “I am asking that every company that can afford to support this crucial mission step up and do their part to avoid the disastrous consequences of not having such a vital trade organization protecting children and the rights of the digital media and online adult entertainment industry.”

It is a plea that some industry leaders are beginning to heed.

For example, online billing specialist SegPay recently stepped up its level of support for ASACP, while the association’s newest sponsors, YourPaysitePartner and YNOT Group as well as donations to the ASACP Foundation from; Jonathan Todd (JT) $2,000, Vince Charlton-Pay4.XXX $2,000, Todd Glider- Badoink $1,000, Adam McDonald-Humboldt Merchant Services $1,000, Shirley-Chaturbate.com $1,000, and Shannon Brewster- Millennium TGA $700, Colin Rowntree-Wasteland.com $50 recurring monthly, is helping to sustain operations — but much more help is needed — and it is needed today.

Comprised of the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection, a social welfare organization providing child protection resources to members and the public; and the ASACP Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that funds the association’s CE tipline and Restricted To Adults (RTA) program, ASACP has long been able to do much with little, but that task is now becoming impossible due to a shortage of funding.

“Please help us to avoid our 20th anniversary year being the one where we lose ground in this ongoing and essential fight to protect children from sexual exploitation, report child sexual exploitation crimes, protect children in their digital lives and protect your business and industry,” Henning concludes, noting that all help will be greatly appreciated. “You can also support us through a tax deductible donation to the ASACP Foundation.”

For more information on how your company can help protect itself by protecting children, email tim@asacp.org.

About ASACP

Founded in 1996, ASACP is a non-profit organization dedicated to online child protection.
ASACP is comprised of two separate corporate entities, the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection and the ASACP Foundation. The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) is a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. ASACP manages a membership program that provides resources to companies in order to help them protect children online. The ASACP Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. The ASACP Foundation battles child pornography through its CP Reporting Hotline and helps parents prevent children from viewing age-restricted material online with its Restricted To Adults (RTA) website label (www.rtalabel.org). ASACP has invested 19 years in developing progressive programs to protect children, and its relationship in assisting the adult industry’s child protection efforts is unparalleled. For more information, visit www.asacp.org.