Having self-produced and promoted two CDs myself, I have some thoughts on this. In my case the total costs were just under $2,000 USD for each CD (500 pressed copies, printing and packaging, etc.). I underwrote the costs myself, although for the second one I received a few hundred $ in grant money. The first one took about a year and a half to break even, and the second one broke even in about 9 months. For me it was a labor of love (for the musicians involved) and an act of faith that I would get the money back. It was also a great learning experience. That's all I was interested in, and any profit will go towards the next CD project.

I would stay away from any record companies - you want to be in control. With yourself and any volunteer help you can get you should be able to produce and promote it for not much more than the cost of getting the CDs pressed and packaged. You should try to get small grants and advanced purchases to pay for as much of the up-front costs as possible. You can then work with the charities for promotion. And plan a gala CD release concert(s) to start off the promotion phase. That should generate a lot of sales. After that, the other big sales events should be festivals, gigs, and other events that the charities organize. If this really goes BIG, then people will be after you to get involved - you can then have more copies pressed (at a lower cost than initially) and you can be more in control.

So, if you really believe in this, then go for it. Good luck.

Cheers, S. in Seattle