Learn about World Vision Child Sponsorship
What Is Child Sponsorship?
Child sponsorship pairs one caring sponsor with one child in need in a mutually rewarding connection. When you sponsor a child, you help their community establish long-term access to essentials like clean water, nutrition, education, and more, according to the community’s needs. You’re also able to connect with your sponsored child through letters, photos, small packages, and your prayers for them. Our programs are Christ-centered, child-focused, and community-based.
Sponsoring a child is the most personal, effective way to fight poverty – and help children build better lives and futures.
Yes! Multiple independent studies have proven the long-term effectiveness of sponsoring a child and child sponsorship programs in general. Independent university research evaluating World Vision’s programs specifically shows that participation leads to multiple improvements in children’s lives such as:
• Being happier and more hopeful
• Enjoying good health
• Having higher levels of school attendance
Teen participation in World Vision activities was associated with higher levels of social support, resilience, and life satisfaction.
The research also found that World Vision’s child sponsorship programs foster collaboration and build bridges that strengthen communities. Across the five area programs that were evaluated, sponsorship was successful in involving vulnerable and marginalized groups as well as including communities of both Christian and non-Christian faiths.
When you sponsor children in need, you build special relationships and encourage them with hope for the future. Plus, your donations join forces with other sponsors to lift your child, their community, and other vulnerable children out of poverty for good.
For PhP750 a month, you’ll help empower a child — and children in their community — to overcome poverty for good. You’ll show God’s love and meet practical needs by helping their community get sustainable access to essentials like clean water, education, healthcare, and more.
The best organization to sponsor children through depends on what’s most important to you. There are several reputable child sponsorship organizations with different but effective approaches. The World Vision difference stems from what we’re trying to achieve – life in all its fullness for children, especially the most vulnerable. We value every child as a precious gift from God, made in His image and valuable in His sight. We value them as whole people and seek to support their entire well-being: physical, emotional, social, and spiritual. This shapes our approach to helping children become all God meant them to be in body, mind, and spirit. If these values resonate with you, then you’re likely to agree that World Vision will be the best organization for you to sponsor through.
How does World Vision child sponsorship work?
World Vision works with the poorest communities in the Philippines. We partner with local staff and families to identify areas of greatest need. The community selects children from these areas and nominates them for sponsorship. We then ask the children’s families if they want to be part of the sponsorship program and explain how sponsorship works.
World Vision’s Sponsorship program is a demonstration of God’s love for all children in a community—not just those fortunate to be sponsored. The children who are registered in our Sponsorship program are the most vulnerable children in the community and are considered representatives of all children in the broader community. Children either wait for a sponsor to choose them, or they get to choose their own sponsor at a choosing event. Kids in the community who aren’t sponsored yet still benefit from sponsorship-funded community improvements in areas like clean water, healthcare, education, job opportunities, and more.
Although our goal is to help all children in a community, sponsored children can significantly benefit from the personal relationship they build with their sponsors. The cards, letters, and prayers they receive from their sponsors are a great source of encouragement. They help children build self-esteem and realize their self-worth in a world where poverty tells them that they don’t matter.
Your monthly sponsorship gift is combined with other donations to invest in locally tailored solutions — ensuring long-term access to essentials for your sponsored child, their community, and other kids in need. World Vision staff connect with local leaders and parents to determine their needs, then partner with them on lasting solutions. Our aim is to equip people with the tools and knowledge they need to build better futures for themselves.
Everything we do has one aim – fullness of life for every child. Your support helps ensure the physical, emotional, spiritual, and social well-being of vulnerable children. Sponsorship tells a child that you believe in them and their God-given potential, all while establishing lasting access to basics like clean water, nutrition, education, and more.
World Vision’s solutions are focused on communities. For every child helped, four more children benefit, too! Your love, prayers, letters, and donations result in real, lasting change for your sponsored child, their family, and their community.
Each child is matched with only one sponsor, and yes – they’re real children with real stories. You can get to know your sponsored child through letters and emails, photos, progress updates, and more. You will receive your sponsored child’s picture and profile in a welcome pack that we send soon after receiving your first donation. This comes with a handwritten thank-you note from your sponsored child. You may choose to respond to this first letter and keep the conversation going throughout your journey.
As COVID-19 travel restrictions ease, you can even visit your sponsored child and see firsthand how your donation is helping to transform their community.
Sponsored children do not receive direct cash benefits. Instead, your monthly donation is pooled with other donations to fund development programs that benefit your sponsored child and their whole community, as well as other kids in need – ensuring you have maximum impact. And it works! Because of our community-focused solutions, for every child you help, four more children benefit, too.
To maximize your monthly gifts, we combine them with other donations to fund programs that create long-term access to essential resources for your sponsored child, their community, and other vulnerable kids. Everywhere we work, our aim is to strengthen and empower the entire community, so all children have the chance to experience the fullness of life.
In 2021, we used 86 percent of our total operating expenses for programs that benefit children, families, and communities. Your monthly sponsorship gift is combined with other sponsors’ donations and leveraged with public grants and corporate donations. All these help deliver resources that empower your sponsored child and their whole community — as well as other kids in need — to improve their own lives for the long term.
World Vision children, families, and communities receive
- Access to education, healthcare, and values formation
- Initiatives for children’s participation and protection
- Leadership and livelihood training
Other community-based development interventions
What child sponsorship is not
As a child sponsor, your help goes further than giving a child access to education.
At World Vision, we try to build a world where each child experiences the fullness of life. We identify the specific, underlying causes of poverty in each community and work alongside our beneficiaries to implement long-term solutions that respond to their specific circumstances. Rather than specializing in providing education, World Vision works to bring about change in every aspect of community life. Our holistic approach—which can include digging wells, teaching new farming skills, and training community leaders—makes the difference between short-term fixes and long-term self-sufficiency.
The well-being of children is the focus of World Vision, and our work centers on improving the lives of vulnerable children without removing them from their local community. We strive to empower their families and build sustainable communities to enable these children to thrive.
Because the well-being of a child is tied to the well-being of their family and community, we work to meet the challenges that their community has identified. Many of our programs are directed towards developing the skills and capabilities of their parents, governments, and/or communities, with the ultimate goal of improving the lives of children.
True community development is not about providing money or even services. It lies in helping people discover their God-given potential as human beings, and working together to realize that potential. Fundamental to this is a spiritual transformation that brings about hope for the future.
Technical help and funding in areas like health, agriculture, water resources, sanitation, nutrition, and income generation are important, but the underlying foundation of community development work is motivation and community organization—something a simple cash handout can’t provide.
Child sponsorship is a long-term commitment comprised of monthly contributions that are used toward the sustainable development of a community in need. The ideal length of each sponsorship depends on the needs of the child and their community. Your child’s age of independence or circumstances will vary.
What can I expect upon sponsoring a child?
We’re delighted that you’d like to sponsor a child with World Vision! In compliance with DSWD’s revised guidelines, we can only provide his/her photo after we have received your initial pledge donation of Php 750/child a month.
Your sponsorship is an ongoing commitment that helps your sponsored child and their community overcome poverty in the long term. We partner with communities, typically for 10 to 15 years, until they can sustain improvements on their own. Your ongoing sponsorship allows you to witness the progress firsthand, for as long as you’re able.WHAT
Your sponsorship may last for several months up to several years depending on circumstances. Sometimes, your sponsored child may leave the program for the following reasons:
- The community’s capacity and development have become sustainable. The goal of sponsorship is to help break the cycle of poverty so children and families grow beyond their current circumstances. When sustainability goals are met, projects are phased out and we move on to serve children in need in other communities. This is a time for celebration!
- Your child becomes self-sufficient. In many cases, children are sponsored until they finish school, reach the age of independence in their community, and are able to support themselves, or marry.
- The family has moved to a different community. When a child’s family moves out of the community to an area where World Vision sponsorship is not available, a child must leave the program.
No matter how long your sponsorship lasts, your gift of love is sure to change your sponsored child’s life forever. Should any of these circumstances occur, we will let you know and give you the opportunity to sponsor another child who needs your help.
We understand that sometimes your budget gets a little tight, so let us know when there is a problem. If we do not receive your monthly pledge or hear from you for a while, we will get in touch through a letter or by phone. We will, however, ensure that assistance to your sponsored child continues.
We depend on your regular sponsorship pledges to carry on our work with children and their communities. When a sponsor decides to cancel his/her support, World Vision starts looking for another sponsor. Please do call our Donor Care Team at 8372-77-77 so we can discuss other options for continuing child sponsorship.
When you sponsor children through World Vision, you’ll get instant access to information about your sponsored child and their community through a My World Vision account. In your account, you can see the latest updates, view photos, and videos, read community progress reports, and more. You can also send your sponsored child a message right from the app. Your new sponsored child can respond through the internet as well, or by mail.
As a World Vision Child Sponsor, you can make a unique double impact – on a child and their community – so both can thrive. Because of our community-focused solutions, for every child you help, four more children benefit too.
What are the steps in sponsoring a child?
We’re so glad you’re considering taking this step in providing a better future for a child in need. Here are the steps to get started –
- Go to World Vision’s child sponsorship page and select one of the locations or communities where a child in need lives. We will show you a short profile of a child awaiting sponsorship on the next page. He or she will be your future sponsored child.
- Provide your details. We’ll add you to our sponsor database and send you updates on your sponsored child via email.
- Send your help. Choose the most convenient way for you to send your monthly support. You will receive a confirmation email as soon as we receive your donation. You can check our page on ways to give to complete your sponsorship pledge.
Once you’re done, we will send you a welcome package with more information on your sponsored child and how you can make the most of your new journey.
Child sponsorship with World Vision in the Philippines only costs Php30 a day or Php900 per month*. With that amount, you help lift both your sponsored child and his or her entire community out of poverty.
*To keep up with the higher cost of implementing the programs, World Vision's child sponsorship rate has been updated from Php 25/day to Php 30/day or Php900 per month starting October 1, 2024.
The easiest way to make your regular sponsorship pledges is to have them deducted automatically from your credit card. This method saves you time and effort and helps World Vision save more of your money for needy children.
You may choose to send your sponsorship pledges on an annual, quarterly, or monthly basis, whichever is most suitable and convenient for you. Different payment modes are outlined in the link below.
How do I connect with the child I’m sponsoring?
You can send your sponsored child a message through your World Vision account online, or by post through the World Vision office. Your sponsored child can likewise respond through the internet or by mail. You may also email your letter to wv_phil@wvi.org and we’ll deliver a printed copy of your email to your sponsored child.
Your sponsored child and family would love to hear from you. It lets them know and feel that somebody cares for them. Through your letters, you can motivate them to do well in school or share anecdotes about what you have experienced. Impart simple lessons they can treasure as they grow up. Talk about your family members, your friends, your interests, and anything pleasant they can relate to.
You may ask simple questions about his/her studies, favorites, hobbies, family, and friends.
Be sensitive when writing or asking about religious beliefs or church membership of the child’s family. World Vision is a multi-denominational Christian organization that helps people regardless of their religious beliefs. We hope people will see our faith by the way we work and respect one another through our relationships.
Do not try to cover too much ground in the first few letters. Over a period of time, you should be able to learn quite a lot about your sponsored child.
Try not to place emphasis on your personal possessions. To your sponsored child’s family, you will seem to be extremely wealthy. It is more important that you get to know each other in a meaningful way.
You should receive a response from your sponsored child within two months, considering the distance of the rural communities from the city. If you haven’t heard anything after two months, please contact us and we shall look into it for you.
You will also receive two (2) cards in a year – Christmas Card and an Annual Progress Report to keep track of your child’s state.
The number of letters you receive may depend on the number of letters you send, that is why we encourage you to correspond more. However, you also have to take into consideration the limitations of postal services in these remote areas. Letter translations take time as well. Should letters need to be translated, you will receive the original letter along with the translation.
If your sponsored child is unable to read or write, someone will help him or her read your letter and respond. This may be a teacher, a family member, or a World Vision staff member. Usually, they write on behalf of your child.
Be patient as your child may still be developing literacy skills. Your letters and their writing is also a great way for them to exercise and improve their writing abilities. This is already your personal way of supporting their education!
Finally, do not forget to let us know when you change your mailing address and contact information.
Some sponsors want to express their love for their sponsored child by sending gifts during special occasions. Well-intended gifts can also be an added cost when there is a need to pay the delivery cost, especially for big parcels.
The best way to help your sponsored child is through your monthly sponsorship. This, together with your messages of support and encouragement, will definitely show that you care.
Should you still want to send a gift to your sponsored child, you may do so through our Donor Service. The sponsor shall shoulder additional costs for shipment/delivery. For the coordination and sending of your gift to your sponsored child, you will need to call our Donor Service at 8372-7777/ Smart mobile: #0998 844 3091/ Globe mobile: #0917 859 4126 or e-mail wv_phil@wvi.org
Yes, you can meet and visit your sponsored child. If you want to meet your sponsored child in person, we will make the necessary visit arrangements. You may contact the Donor Care Team at 8372-7777/ Smart mobile: #0998 844 3091/ Globe mobile: #0917 859 4126.
After its confirmation and approval, Guidelines on Sponsorship Visit and Behavior Protocols will be sent for your review and reference.
It is very important that you contact us at least one month in advance. This will allow us enough time to make all the arrangements. Communications take a lot longer, especially in remote areas.
A member of the World Vision staff will accompany you throughout the meeting in order to help overcome possible language barriers, as well as fulfilling the various expectations of the meeting. We want the event to be a pleasant and memorable experience for you, and for your sponsored child.
Based on World Vision’s Child Protection Policy, we discourage sponsors from visiting the home of their sponsored child. (A copy of the Child Protection Policy is available upon request) Aside from arousing jealousy in the community, this might also cause anxiety and discomfort on the part of the family due to their extreme poverty.
We also want to prevent possible attempts of additional solicitation that might put pressure on the sponsor. Instead, arrangements can be made for you to meet the child with their guardian at another location. You will cover all costs associated with bringing your sponsored child to meet you. Sponsors who have taken the time to meet their sponsored child have found the experience very rewarding.
Child Sponsorship is about building relationships – bringing your world and theirs closer together.
The sponsor-child will become more meaningful as time goes by. You will receive letters and updates from your sponsored child and community. At the same time, you can write, send gifts, and visit your sponsored child by coordinating with us.
