John

Your donations provide your sponsored child with critically needed services. These vary from community to community, because we work directly with local organizations and parent committees to identify and offer the services that address the most pressing needs of that community. Typically, interventions include family-oriented projects that promote access to health care, safe water, nutrition, education and training programs. You'll learn the specifics of our work in your sponsored child's community through annual progress reports and direct communication from your child. And remember, your child is not the only one to benefit. ChildFund combines donations from all sponsors to benefit children, their families and their communities.

Absolutely, as long as you continue to contribute. Once you're matched with a child, he or she is no longer visible on our public website.

If you selected a child online, you will also receive an email confirmation that includes a photo and a brief description of this child, normally within 24-48 hours. (The delay is due to the time necessary for processing your first donation.)

In all the countries ChildFund serves, we work through local organizations. These local partners seek out the most vulnerable children in their communities ― those who are not already receiving assistance from another organization ― and then they try to saturate the area by assisting as many families as possible. To prevent discrimination or preferential treatment, our local partners post eligibility requirements publicly. And they involve parents in the enrollment process. Parents must consent to their child's active participation in ChildFund's programs. As our local partners conduct area assessments to determine the number of vulnerable families in their communities, they evaluate potential children based on ...

• economic need (defined in monetary terms, amount of possessions or access to essential services).
• age (children must be no older than 13 at the time of enrollment).
• proximity to the program sites (to ensure full participation in ChildFund's activities).
• family integration into the local community (to ensure commitment and retention).
• level of impact from HIV and AIDS, such as AIDS orphans or children of HIV+ parents.

Children cannot be discriminated against based on religion, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, language, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, age or political conviction.

ChildFund pools sponsorship donations and uses them to operate community-based programs implemented by our local partner organizations. ChildFund has chosen to work through local partners because we believe local ownership of change is fundamental to the social change process. Local partners are responsible for delivering the programs and services that children need at different stages of their lives, and the pooled funds allow them to serve children, families and their communities most effectively. Through these partnerships, ChildFund reaches children directly while also involving parents, teachers, local governments and larger systems in upholding children’s rights to health, nutrition, safety, education and more.

Your sponsored child will write to you ― and we hope you'll write back! Each year, you'll also receive a Child Progress Report from our local partner organization that works directly with your child and his or her family. Every six months, these local partner organizations check in with each enrolled child to make sure he or she is still living in the community and participating in our programs. They also check on the child’s health and education status.

If you have questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact our Supporter Care team at 1-800-776-6767 ― or submit your question online to questions@childfund.org, and we can assist you in getting answers about your sponsored child. Please allow 3-4 weeks for a reply from the country office, as time is needed to relay information to and from the local community and for any necessary translation, and some projects are located far from the supervising country office.