A sponsorship program with personal support

Sponsorships are the most personal and reliable way to give children a future. Through a sponsorship, a child, their family, and the entire community receive comprehensive support, leading to lasting change. Furthermore, a sponsorship offers insights into other ways of life; it is meaningful and enriching—for everyone involved. A sponsorship opens up new perspectives—for you as well as for your sponsored child. You become part of the child’s life and, in doing so, get to know their country and environment. Through your support, the sponsored child feels valued, understands the importance of social responsibility from a young age, learns to express themselves, and is encouraged to pursue their own dreams. And what could be more fulfilling than taking a child by the hand and walking alongside them until they can stand on their own two feet?

We provide assistance that is optimally tailored to the needs of children and families in our project countries. To meet this standard, we always plan and implement our projects in close collaboration with local partner organizations, initiatives, and communities. The initiative to support a project can come from either us or our national and local partners. As a rule, we support existing village or neighborhood projects that are proposed to us and align with our principles and standards. Within the projects—for example, through elected parent committees—specific criteria are established for selecting sponsored children and their families. The project community therefore always has a say in which children should receive sponsorship and how the sponsorship contributions are used for the benefit of all. The criteria for identifying sponsored children include: The living conditions, needs, and support requirements of the potential sponsored child’s family: This includes the parents’ occupation and income, the health status of family members, any impairments such as disabilities among the children, the educational situation of the children in the family, and the family and parenting situation in general. The family’s place of residence: Accessibility to this location must be ensured by the staff of our local partner organizations. The age of the children: As a rule, the ChildFund sponsorship program primarily accepts younger children under the age of 10. This ensures long-term support from sponsors and fosters a lasting bond. Typically, only one child per family is supported through a sponsorship: The entire family is supported through the sponsorship, so that only in justified exceptions are two siblings supported by a single sponsorship.

Our goal is to support all sponsored children until they can shape their own futures independently—free from poverty and limitations. Good health, a quality education, vocational training or a college degree, and confidence in their own abilities are essential prerequisites for this. We continue to provide support until these conditions are met—often well beyond the age of majority. How long it takes a young person to stand on their own two feet varies greatly from person to person. Personal maturity, individual life circumstances, and conditions in the respective country play a major role in this. As a rule, however, a sponsorship ends as soon as the child’s education is completed—but no later than when the sponsored child turns 24. Sponsorships can also end much earlier—for example, if the project community no longer needs assistance or if a family’s situation has improved significantly and sustainably. A sponsored family’s move out of a project’s local catchment area can also be grounds for early termination. If this happens, we will inform you immediately about the end of your sponsorship and suggest another sponsored child to whom you can give a promising future with your support. Good to know: The life of a sponsored child is hardly comparable to that of children in Europe. This applies to daily life and culture, values—and, of course, personal development. Here, children are supported much earlier and more intensively, and the way schools operate is fundamentally different. Therefore, it is normal that sponsored children, for example, may not yet be able to write or draw very well. What matters most is that the sponsored child attends school, graduates, and receives a solid vocational education.

The minimum monthly donation for a sponsorship is 30 euros. You can make your sponsorship payment monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. In addition, you can adjust the amount to suit your needs or bring joy to your sponsored child with small gift donations. Would you like to do even more to give your sponsored child a better future? Every additional euro you donate as a ChildFund sponsor, combined with the contributions of other sponsors, strengthens the support we can provide on the ground—for the children, their families, and the entire project community.

Whether for Christmas, a birthday, the start of school, or any other occasion: small monetary gifts are very welcome as additional support for your sponsored child. However, these should not exceed our annual limit of 100 euros per sponsored child. This helps prevent inequalities within the project communities that could negatively impact community life. To ensure that monetary gifts arrive safely, you should always transfer the funds and under no circumstances include cash or a check in a letter. We recommend using our online form for this purpose (found under “Quick Links” at the bottom of the page). Please also refrain from sending your sponsored child material donations in packages. The high shipping costs and any customs fees that may apply make transferring smaller amounts far more sensible. This also applies to a potential visit to your sponsored child: It is better to go shopping together locally or visit the market—since the families often know best what they need and what makes sense for them.

If you want to provide long-term, reliable support with a personal connection, a ChildFund sponsorship is the perfect choice for you. With just a few clicks, you can apply for a sponsorship with us and become a sponsor (found under "Quick Links"). If you have a personal connection to a specific country—whether you’ve visited often or have a special affinity for it for other reasons—you can strengthen that bond by sponsoring a child in that country. You can also choose whether you’d prefer to support a girl or a boy on their journey. We’re happy to advise you on your decision and provide insights into which countries are currently in the greatest need of sponsorships. Once your sponsorship is set up, you’ll soon see the impact your help makes.

To ensure you always know how your sponsored child and their family are doing and what progress they’re making, you’ll receive an annual progress report from your sponsored child’s country. It typically includes information about the child’s health, school performance, and leisure activities, as well as the project activities they’re participating in. This gives you the assurance that your support is reaching its destination and making a difference. We also regularly share updates about our work through our channels, highlight individual projects and initiatives, and give a voice to the people behind ChildFund. In our annual report, on our website, in our newsletters, and on social media (Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube), we keep you informed about what’s making a difference—and what we’re achieving together. For specific information about our sponsorship program, we have a separate newsletter for all our sponsors. You will automatically receive the sponsor newsletter from us if you have an active sponsorship. If you no longer wish to receive it, you can unsubscribe from the newsletter yourself.