Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit, self-supporting alternative trading organization (ATO). ATOs are non-governmental organizations designed to benefit artisans, not to maximize profits.

They market products from handicraft and agricultural organizations based in low-income countries. They provide consumers around the world with products that have been fairly purchased from sustainable sources.

Ten Thousand Villages is a member of the International Fair Trade Association, (IFAT), a coalition of Third World handicraft and agricultural organizations and ATOs from both the North and the South.

ATOs put fair trade into practice and campaign for more equitable terms of trade for artisans from low-income countries.