Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Charitable organization" in English language version.
Through the middle decades of the eighteenth century, a slew of new-style charities were created. They were directed at specific social problems (foundling children, prostitutes, venereal disease), funded by subscription, dependent on public support, and organized as associations of the living.
The result was the first children's charity in the country and one that 'set the pattern for incorporated associational charities' in general (McClure 248).