This has happened for a couple of reasons: Just two years ago, we were experiencing rapid growth only to be hit by a sudden shift in the economy. Children we were going to move into the program quickly have been placed on the waiting list where they’ve now remained for far longer than we could imagine or want. And while we would like to move them up the list, we first have to honor our commitment to the children who, for one reason or another, lose their sponsors. Because, once a child officially enters the sponsorship program they continue to receive benefits…whether they have a contributing sponsor or not.
The blog gives us a way to provide you with insider and extra information on sponsorship and what goes on behind the scenes. This is a particularly hard situation for us to wrestle with. It just kills us to know there are so many children who are so close to receiving the life changing help they need, yet they desperately wait.
So we’re going to introduce a few of these children to you over the next several weeks. If you were already thinking about sponsoring another child, maybe one of these will appeal to you or even someone you know. If you’re already maxed out, and many of us are, feel free to give us your thoughts or ideas.
And now we’d like to introduce you to Amilkar, from Rural Guatemala. He’s 4-years-old and will turn 5 in May. Click on the family record to read more about him. Can you help find him a sponsor? If so, email us at blog@children.org. We’ll personally handle the arrangements and make sure he starts receiving benefits immediately.
I know we ask a lot from you, but I hope you, or someone you know, can help.
7 comments:
i dont know if it is feasible, but perhaps if you offered a "discount rate" only to current sponsors if they sponsor other children who you are providing services for that lost their sponsors, so at least SOME money is coming in for them and the services you are providing. I know the $22 a month is incredibly low for all the things CI provides, but $10 or $11 is better than nothing for those children who are in the program without sponsors. just an idea.
i would love to sponsor 6 more, but the 6 i have now is my limit for the time being, but for $11 a month i would be seriously tempted to take on a 7th :)
I agree with Dana, if it’s feasible a discount for current sponsors may help. That way you’d be getting some money and the kids who were sponsored would have someone who cared about them and loved them.
me too... im in for $11......
if an org offered a discount to sponsors who had more thn say 4 kids.. tht might help too......
I would be willing to share sponsorship with someone for 1 or 2 children, basically paying the difference in cost. So, if you obtained a discounted rate of $11 or half the current monthly fee. I would pay the $11 difference so that CI receives the full $22. The only thing I would ask in return would be occasionally obtaining photos or letters of the child (copies would be fine). I currently sponsor 8 children, and was planning to add two more children later this year. The only other thing I would ask is that I try to provide extra things for the children I sponsor...clothing, furniture, etc. When I can swing it financially, I would like to do the same for these children as well. The main reason I can't spring for a lot extra right now is because I'm helping to buy a house for one of my sponsored children. If this would be something that CI is open to, they can contact me directly.
sadly due to financial changes i recently had to let some of my kids go...i had 14 kids!!
and had bought a house for one of my families ....and it broke my heart to hve to let thm go....
if CI cld offer a discount i cld perhaps have found a way to keep them on, is this something that cld have been possible?
When I began sponsoring for the first time the year before last, I saw that the older sister of the little girl I was sponsoring was also on the website so I talked my sister into sponsoring her. Now my sister is sponsoring 3 children although she got laid off last year so I hope she finds a new job soon. I sponsor 2 children now and really enjoy it. Honestly I get so much out of it! As for encouraging friends to sponsor via CI, the problem I run into is that most of my friends have a "nobody helped me, why should I help anyone else" type of attitude. (Although if you closely question their life stories you usually find lots of instances where somebody or some organization really did help them get where they are today.) Also with our economy missing so many jobs due to outsourcing...it's not always an easy sell to ask someone to help people from the countries that might have gained those jobs. None of this is the attitude I have but it sure makes it tough to recruit friends to CI when you face these negative overall attitudes. Maybe what would help is assistance with what things could I say to these types of jaded friends that might make them see sponsoring in another light?
I have a wild idea, and I don't know if it'd work or not, but with all these people talking about sponsoring over a dozen kids or building a house for one of their kids' families -- well, what about all-at-once sponsorship?
For people who have enough money to make major gifts or sponsor multiple kids, maybe they could pay upfront to sponsor a child for the rest of their youth. They'd get all the normal interaction of sponsorship and have a chance to make holiday gifts and extra gifts, but there would be no chance of that child losing her sponsor because the $22 a month would be paid for up front. If a child graduates from the program upon turning age 19, sponsoring a just-turned-9-year-old upfront would be about $2640.
Just an idea I'm throwing out!
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