Which one, and has it been a good experience for you?
I want to do it, but hubby had a bad experience with something similar some years back. It seemed to him that agreeing to the monthly pledge only served to open the door to a never ending stream of additional requests and appeals. Lots of guilt tripping – Don’t you think little Manny should have a warm coat? School fees have gone up. We’re asking everyone to chip in XX so they can dig a new well for the village. Etc.
All good things, I’m sure, the child may need them. But instead of feeling good because you’re paying the $25 or whatever it is a month, instead you can feel harassed and taken advantage OR guilty, depending on if you can come up with additional money…
Anyway, he proposes simply donating the sum to a worthy charity and forgoing the ‘link with a particular child’ aspect. Me, I think I would enjoy the link, and probably doing some extra stuff for him.
I can say from personal experience that Childreach/Plan USA doesn’t guilt trip you much. They do make it easy for you to send a fun gift to your sponsored child at least once a year, and to write to the kid and his/her family regularly.
I know I post this every time this topic comes up, but it’s still true: I know some of the people who’ve worked for Orphan Sponsorship, and I know for a fact that they do some great work for children who really need it. I think some Dopers sponsor kids though them, maybe they’d like to chime in?
I use Compassion International and sponsor two kids. This one is a Christian organization, but are totally up front about it. A high percentage of the money gets to the kids, too.
We get no additional guilt trip material at all and we get letters from our kids pretty often(we write back too).
We always need funds. We have an annual child sponsorship drive every year in December for the next year. We ask $50, which buys the kids a set of uniforms with shoes (required to go to school - many do not go because they don’t have uniforms), school supplies, and helps support the lunch program that they use. In July we ask for $25 IF the kids write you, are doing well in school, and are staying out of trouble. The $25 helps replace uniform parts that have been outgrown and to buy more school supplies.
We need money NOW! 100% of your contribution goes to help the kids. We have no overhead. Any costs are absorbed by volunteers.
We go there twice a year, so if you want, you can join us and visit your kids!
In January we had a group of kids at a store in San Jose buying school uniforms and one boy looked at me and said, “Why are you doing this for me?” I said “Because you are awesome and I love you!”
If you are interested, send me a private note and I can tell you more.
If you are looking for a comprimise with your husband, you might look into the Peace Corps Partnership. Peace Corps volunteers spend much of their service living as part of their community and getting to know their community’s real needs. Then they can work with organizations that are already doing good work in their community to seek funding for projects using Peace Corps Partnership.
Money you donate goes directly to the volunteer to carry out the project (of course, it’s use is monitored and every dollar is accounted for.) It never pays for overhead, salaries, bribes, etc. If you donate a hundred bucks to build a well, all of that money goes towards building the well. And you can be sure that the village really does need that well. I believe doners get a report when the project is finished. When I did it we gave them a nice book with photographs and everything, though I’m not sure how common that kind of feedback is.
Anyway, this could be a good way to make sure your donation is being used in an accountable way that truly helps people while still keeping a personal touch on it.
I donated to one of those programs when I was a kid. I think it was called Children International. I remember my step-dad implying it was a scam, but it was my allowance, so I did what I wanted with it. I still think it was a good program. I got a picture of the little girl when I signed up. After about a year we got a letter from my child with her handprint traced on the back, thanking me for my sponsorship. I didn’t get a ton of mail as a result, but I don’t know if it was in my name, so I can’t be sure. I don’t remember actually terminating it, but I assume step-dad took care of it when my mom and I moved out…
We sponsor an Indonesian child through World Vision Canada. When we first started sponsoring him (5 years ago), we thought that World Vision was a non-religious organization, which was ideal, because we just wanted to help a child, not proselytize. We’ve since discovered they do a lot more proselytizing than makes us comfortable.
They send us a lot of little things (paper birthday hats, stickers, booklets, etc.) we’re supposed to buy and then send, via their organization, to our child. We haven’t yet purchased these things, and probably won’t. I’d love to send treats to him, but I just don’t think a paper birthday hat is going to be particularly exciting for a 14 year old. I’d prefer to send him something useful, as well as fun. Unfortunately, we are not permitted to do so, nor are we permitted to be in direct contact with our child. Any contact must go through them.
We get a fair bit of mail from them, and the majority of it is asking for further donations on top of our regular monthly donation. They do send a relatively interesting magazine, but, frankly, I would prefer to read it online, and have them put the money used for the magazine’s publication and postage towards something more directly related to the children.
I don’t think they’re a bad group, mind you. They seem to be helping a lot of children and their families. They’re just not an ideal match for us. That being said, although we find them irritating, we have no intention of stopping our sponsorship. I would feel as if we abandoned our child, and I’m not willing to do that. When he reaches the age limit in 4 years, we will probably switch to a different organization, but until then, we’re kind of stuck with them.
I do thought the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging. It seems to be a good organization. Reports say that 95% of funds go the the person sponsored. It is obviously a relgious orginazation. You can either sponsor a child or an elderly person.
I regularly get letters from the girl I sponsor telling me what is going on and I can write her. The money gives her an education and better food and housing for her family. I can send more money into a special birthday/Christmas fund that is divided evenly amongst all those sponsored, but I’ve never been asked to do so beyond the first communication telling me it existed. I can, if I like, send small presents. There are also trips arranged to the various countries every so often so I could go me the girl I sponsor if I wished.
I have donated every so often to Children Walking Tall, an organization working out of India. I have not sponsored a child with them but am considering it. Here is the link: http://www.childrenwalkingtall.com/Child-Sponsorship.htm
I would like to sponsor a child through them since it provides the child with the necessities to go to school such as uniforms, school supplies, health care, and daily food. Since this is not their main focus (they run a day center for needy children), the sponsorship is not as programmed as with others. However, what I like about this chartiy is that in the 4 years since I have started sending money, I have only received the newsletter every other month. They’ve never asked for more money or contacted me except to send the newsletter.
We did also several years ago. Actually, as each kid grew up and “graduated” to getting a job, we then picked another one. We sponsored three different kids over several years. It was a great experience, we corresponded with the kids, got pictures and progress reports.
When we finally had to stop, we got a few solicitations, but when we asked to have them stopped, they immediately complied.
The outfits that rate charities listed them as having a very high percentage (I think it ws around 85 percent) that goes direrctly to help the kids, and very low administrative and advertising budgets.
Another vote here for CFCA, mainly for the high percentage of funds going directly to aid. A few years back, I asked for kids that had the same birthday month and year as my kids, in hopes of my children writing to them as well. It happens on occasion, but I usually write and read letters to/from them.
I have sponsored several native American children through FUTURES FOR CHILDREN. It is a very good organization, with an excellent track record. I write to my sponsored child several times a month, and I think it has made a positive change in her outlook.
100% of your contribution goes to help the kids. We have no overhead. Any costs are absorbed by volunteers.