Sponsoring a child.....

[~Ari~]

Tithes, offering, and giving is very important to my husband and me. We decided that once we have children of our own that we would like to sponsor other children. Our thoughts were for every child we have (we have 1 right now, but are thinking 3) that we would support a child through Compassion International. We have researched a little, but just haven't made the next step to do so.  By sponsoring, we would help children in need in other countries get the education the deserve and health care they need.   Does anyone here have experience with this? What are your thoughts on doing something like this? Are there any other organizations that you would recommend going through?

[lsl129]

We do this through compassion international. We sponsor 2 children in different areas of the world and have done this for many years. It is nice to receive letters from them to hear about what the money is going toward. Its sometimes nice to look for one that is roughly the same age as your children or shares a birthday or something but ours don't. Occasionally if a family moves or drops out they will reassign you another child randomly, but that is OK with us. I would recommend it, especially as your kids get older it really solidifies the concept of helping others and they learn about what life is like for kids around the world.

[Eggman111]

We sponsor 1 child through Compassion as well and we are happy with the organisation. We have a 6-month old now and when he gets old enough to understand we are planning to sponsor another around the same age to have a bit of a connection. I think it's a great way to teach kids about how many people live around the world.

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[jan62]

I sponsored several children at Kasese Humanist School in Uganda,(secular education) they do amazing work and its a great organisation having added an orphanage to the school over the last year.
http://kasesehumanistschool.webs.com/sponsorachildatkhps.htm

[MandalayVA]

I sponsor a child through Haitian Families First, an organization created by two young women from Pittsburgh who run an orphanage in Haiti.  My donation pays for his schooling, including supplies and food.  Best $240 a year I've ever spent.

http://www.haitianfamiliesfirst.org/feature/education-sponsorship-campaign/

[ender]

We sponsor a child through Compassion.

[Secretly Saving]

This is on my list to look into.  I want to find a charity that is well rated and that is supporting education as well.  I am hoping that this will be another way for our own children to understand how truly lucky they already are.   

[Kaspian]

I've done it through World Vision for a decade and it's worked pretty.  The only annoying thing is every time there's a flood, earthquake, famine, tsunami, or some other big-ticket news item, they call and bug the crap out of me for more money.  They always get a "nope," in reply.

[JustTrying]

I am lazy so the extra time associated with sponsoring a child (writing letters, etc) has turned me off from it. However, I have a baby due this summer and I've always planned that we'll have her sponsor a child her age when she gets older so that she is in charge of the correspondence (and I'll be more willing to actually do the correspondence if I feel like it's teaching her generosity and compassion). I think Compassion Int'l is a fine choice. I'll be sponsoring through World Vision but it's a local charity for me (I live in WA State), so I know and trust them.

[meandmyfamily]

One of our children was adopted internationally.  We sponsor a child the same age and gender as her as well as from the same country.  We hope to go back to her country several times and we hope to see our sponsored child as well.  We go through Compassion as well.  I highly recommend it.

[shelivesthedream]

I sponsor a child through SOS Children's Villages. I get one letter and photo a year letting me know how they are doing, written by a regional manager from the charity, not the child, and usually one other letter a year thanking me for sponsoring and asking me if I'd like to give money to a special project they are doing. I always ignore the latter letters and have never bothered to write to the child I am sponsoring. The charity doesn't encourage it but you're allowed to if you want to. I've been doing it for about four years now and have got through three children as two of them have been reunited with someone from their biological family so they allocated me another child. It's just the right amount of interaction for me - one update a year, if the child doesn't need help any more they automatically allocated me another one. I don't need to be hugely involved with the child, or for them to feel like they have to write to their sponsor all the time because they owe me something. I'm happy just to send the money, know I'm helping, and let the child get on with their life.

[Kaydedid]

We sponsor 2 kids through Gospel for Asia (Christian program).  We receive and send letters 3-4 a year, which is optional.  It's a lot of fun!

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[SilveradoBojangles]

I sponsor a child through Children International. I don't write letters or anything like that, as I'm not interested in a personal relationship with a child. But I do like knowing that this kid has school fees paid and access to vaccines, as well as shoes and other things she needs. It costs me less than 1% of our yearly spending.

[elaine amj]

I have sponsored 2 kids through Compassion for almost 17 years. Everything has gone smoothly.


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[startingsmall]

We sponsor three kids through Food for the Hungry.

We initially chose that group because the church we were attending at the time partners with them to basically sponsor a village. Every year, a group from the church goes down there to help with projects in that village. Many members of the church sponsor kids through Food for the Hungry and all the kids are form that same community. I liked the idea of partnering with that community in more ways than just the sponsorship. Even though I never personally went on the mission trip, I'm still friends with members of that church and it's fun to look for 'our kids' in the photos they post after their trip every year.

[Nangirl17]

We sponsor two children through Compassion, and provide monetary support in other ways too. We've been very happy with the charity and the people that we have met - genuinely caring people.

[southern granny]

We did this for many years.  But when the child aged out just a few years before we were going to retire, we stopped.  I enjoyed the letters from our sponsored children.  We had three (one at a time).

[FLBiker]

Thanks for posting this!  I love this idea and wasn't familiar with any of these organizations.

[2Birds1Stone]

Wow I never thought of this and would LOVE to start.

[laserlady]

I sponsor six kids and two elderly people through Unbound (formerly known as the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging).  It's a great organization.  Last year I went to Kenya and Uganda to meet the three kids I sponsor there.  I met their families, saw their living conditions, met their social workers, checked out their files (which includes an accounting of how they've used all of the sponsorship funds), and so forth.  I was really impressed with everything I saw.  I highly recommend it.

[James]

We sponsor a couple through Compassion, one in Rwanda and one in India. I'm not a fan of all the religious aspects, but otherwise it has been good.

[Magpie]

We've sponsored a child thru Compassion International for almost two years now.  My children were involved in picking out the child and we found a boy who shared my son's birthday.  The shared birthday really did help my kids realize we are assisting a real person, not just a photo.  My kids enjoy getting letters from this child and they write in return and draw him pictures.  This relationship has been a wonderful opportunity for my children to learn about another country and see that not everyone is as fortunate as we are.  I think very highly of the Compassion International organization and am confident that our donations are making a difference in this child's life. 

[deadlymonkey]

We sponsor a couple through Compassion, one in Rwanda and one in India. I'm not a fan of all the religious aspects, but otherwise it has been good.

Are there any good organizations that are not religious based?  I'm not comfortable with the idea of pushing religion but would like to help.  We traveled to Tanzania one year and linked up with a local orphanage and brought a lot of supplies for them, but nothing recurring.

[jan62]

kasese humanist school is secular, I posted a link above.

[laserlady]

Are there any good organizations that are not religious based?  I'm not comfortable with the idea of pushing religion but would like to help.  We traveled to Tanzania one year and linked up with a local orphanage and brought a lot of supplies for them, but nothing recurring.

Unbound was founded by some Catholics, but it doesn't push religion at all.  The sponsored individuals come from all religious backgrounds (or no religion), and there's no element of religious education tied to the benefits, unlike with Compassion.

[FLBiker]

Are there any good organizations that are not religious based?  I'm not comfortable with the idea of pushing religion but would like to help.  We traveled to Tanzania one year and linked up with a local orphanage and brought a lot of supplies for them, but nothing recurring.

Unbound was founded by some Catholics, but it doesn't push religion at all.  The sponsored individuals come from all religious backgrounds (or no religion), and there's no element of religious education tied to the benefits, unlike with Compassion.

Thanks for this.  That looks like a great organization.

And if anyone is looking for a Buddhist flavor, I found this: http://tibetfund.org/sponsorships/

[DMoney]

I'd like to start doing this.  You have all inspired me and it's something I've been meaning to do for a long time.  I love the idea of sponsoring one child for each of our kids, similar age, so thanks for that.

I've also been meaning to start a Donor Advised Fund for the tax deductible advantage as discussed in this jlcollins article: http://jlcollinsnh.com/2012/02/08/how-to-give-like-a-billionaire/

Has anyone done child sponsoring this way?  It looks like the minimum grant with a Vanguard DAF is $500.  Unbound will obviously take $500/donations, but not sure if they want the monthly contribution for the child relationship piece.

thanks in advance

[~Ari~]

What a great Mustachian community!  I love that there is such drive to help others while we are looking out for our own futures.  I haven't done a foreign sponsorship but love our local Shriners Hospital as our go-to charitable giving.  Children are innocent and deserve whatever we can spare.  I hope to volunteer either as a baby-cuddler or similar once RE.  Salve for the soul.

I agree! I know the mustachian community would come through for me with this question! So thanks everyone for that - it's greatly appreciated! In the past, I use to live a block away from a Shriner's hospital and volunteered in their Child Development department every week - Basically I got to hang out and make cool projects with them. It was a lot of fun! :)

[MBot]

I've done it through World Vision for a decade and it's worked pretty.  The only annoying thing is every time there's a flood, earthquake, famine, tsunami, or some other big-ticket news item, they call and bug the crap out of me for more money.  They always get a "nope," in reply.

This has been my exact experience with world vision in over 10 years of sponsorship.

ERDO Canada is another organization you can sponsor through that consistently gets excellent ratings for efficient %s and management of the funds

[brooklynmoney]

I did this through Save the Children for years.