Save the Children Federation, Inc.
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April 13, 2012
I trust Save the Children and have always been confident that my donations are going to help children around the world. I will be a donor for life.
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Was your donation impactful?
Definitely
How likely is it that you would recommend that a friend donate to this group?
Definitely
How likely are you to donate to this group again?
Definitely
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2011
April 12, 2012
I donate $28.00 per month and support their. Don't like CEO compensation. Excessive. Neither do I like being continuously bombarded with their paper based repeat mailings. I find the frequency of their mailings intrusively obnoxious.Save a few trees and reallocate the dollars to more effectively their mission.
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Was your donation impactful?
Unsure
How likely is it that you would recommend that a friend donate to this group?
Likely
How likely are you to donate to this group again?
Likely
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2012
April 11, 2012
I've contributed to Save the Children on a few occasions, and recently decided to become a child sponsor. $28/month is about my financial limit. World poverty and inequality are enormous issues that aren't going to be solved by NGOs, but until the world community decides to end poverty, I'll be supporting Save the Children. $.90 of every dollar I give to them goes to the field. The remaining $.10 helps ensure that those dollars are used in the most efficient, responsible, and sustainable way. I highly recommend Save the Children and encourage anyone to become a child sponsor or donor. You will not regret it.
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Was your donation impactful?
Definitely
How likely is it that you would recommend that a friend donate to this group?
Definitely
How likely are you to donate to this group again?
Definitely
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2012
March 14, 2012
I was very disappointed in my experience with STC. I became a donor in 2010 and chose a girl in Bangladesh as "my" child. I looked forward to hearing about her life there, and had visions of my son and she writing back and forth. Not too long after I joined I received a copy of a picture she drew. I sent a letter to her praising the picture, asking to tell me about her day, etc. A couple of months later I got a very brief, 5-7 line letter from her. And.......nothing else since then. I sent her another letter about a year ago, a birthday card last fall, and an e-mail in December. Nothing. I emailed SAT in Connecticut, but got a standard "We can reduce the number of communications to you if you want (i.e. their pitches for more money), but no response to my question of why I was getting no mail from my sponsored child. I sent a snail mail to Connecticut in January asking them to stop charging my credit card (and explaining why). The letter was never acknowledged, and the charge showed up on my Feb. bill. I called their main office, and the lady I spoke to was sympathetic, but did not know why I had received no response from my sponsored child in over a year. I'll know in a few days if she cancelled the monthly charge like she said she would. To this day I've never received a response to my snail mail. What happened to it I wonder? It's too bad because they *appear* to do good work.
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Was your donation impactful?
Unsure
How likely is it that you would recommend that a friend donate to this group?
Unlikely
How likely are you to donate to this group again?
Unlikely
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2012
March 2, 2012
I have been very happy overall with Save the Children. I sponsor 4 children through them currently, in 3 different countries, although 3 of those are rather new, and I don't have data on them yet. But I've sponsored a child continuously through them for about 18 years (4 different children). They are great about sending regular updates, and handwritten letters and drawings from the sponsored children. I have sponsored the girl in Nepal the longest, and it gives me an immeasurable joy to see how she has progressed over the years... when I first started sponsoring her she looked frightened and probably didn't have much of a future, being a girl in a culture that favors male children, and being an Untouchable (Dalit) in a poverty-stricken community. I am able to send her small gifts, which the STE country coordinator emails me about promptly, to say what was received. In the past, I've even received photos of my sponsored child with my gifts! So I know they arrived, and that she got them. I actually love to write to the children, and I have read a statistic somewhere that sponsored children who receive letters from their sponsors (even just one letter a year) do significantly better (some 30% or so) academically than children who do not receive letters. I can't change the whole world, but maybe I can help a few people out there. And Save The Children makes that possible. I traveled to Nepal a few years ago, and while I wasn't able to make it to the far-flung region where my sponsored child is, I was able to meet with the STE country coordinator in Kathmandu. She was great -- she made time to meet with me and she was incredibly kind and thoughtful even though I'm not a big donor to STE. I really like the STE website which allows donors to login, see photos of their sponsored children, and see what is being done in their specific communities. Also, their website (after you've logged in) allows you to send an email message to your child. This is a great feature! The only negative thing I have to say about STE are that if a child moves out of STE's impact area (something over which STE has no control) they will give you a new child to sponsor. That has happened to me twice, and it makes me sad....because of course you want to see the child grow and flourish. I think that when kids turn 18 in the STE program, they are "done" and at that point you get another child. But I don't see how STE can do much about whether or not a child moves out of their impact area. I have heard people complain a about being bombarded by mail from STE, but that hasn't happened to me or anyone I know. I get regular (but not overboard) mailings from STE, just enough to keep me informed. I do wish there was a way for me to continue sponsoring my child for longer. I know that the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging allows donors to sponsor the children through their twenties (for university or trade school or whatever) for the same cost as sponsoring a child in grade school or high school ($30/mo). I wish that Save the Children offered a similar program.
More feedback...
Was your donation impactful?
Definitely
How likely is it that you would recommend that a friend donate to this group?
Definitely
How likely are you to donate to this group again?
Definitely
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2012
February 25, 2012
CEO 2009 compensation $365,130 (source: Charity Navigator). I donate about $350 per year to STC. 1,042 donations of $350 are required to pay just the CEO's salary. Does that seem a bit excessive to anyone other than me? I am considering re-directing my money to another organization where the CEO's salary is more reasonable. Any suggestions?
More feedback...
Was your donation impactful?
Unsure
How likely is it that you would recommend that a friend donate to this group?
Unsure
How likely are you to donate to this group again?
Unsure
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2012
December 16, 2011
I wanted to support STC's midwifery training program. I had a list of specific questions about the program that were answered via email by the Acting Associate Director of Operations for the Newborn and Child Survival Campaign. It has been my experience that other charities do not offer such one-on-one communication. When I have a question a representative guides me back to their website.
More feedback...
Was your donation impactful?
Definitely
How likely is it that you would recommend that a friend donate to this group?
Likely
How likely are you to donate to this group again?
Definitely
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2011
August 10, 2011
Five members of my family made one-time donations in memory of a loved one two years ago. SInce then we have ALL been inundated with STC mailings and emails despite numerous calls, letters, and emails from each one of us requesting that we be taken off their lists. It is a total waste of money that could be used to help children! It has changed the way I think of STC, and that's a shame.
I could not find an "unsubscribe" link on their website, nor is that an option to check on the printed donor forms. When I emailed (again) last year and requested to be taken off all lists, I got a response back that said I would receive (and I quote) "a reduction in volume of communications from us". That was a first - not "you have been unsubscribed from all communications from us". Reduction in volume? I have personally received 5 mailed solicitations in the last 4 weeks!
All 5 of us have tried repeatedly with no success to be removed.
It has gotten to the point that when any of us receives a solicitation from STC, we send emails to each other with the title "STC again". It has become a bad family joke. But it is really very, very sad when I think of the wasted cost.
I called again a while back and was transferred to someone who said STC gets calls like mine all the time. The person said it was an "executive decision" not to take names off, and also there are numerous non-integrated mailing lists and that's probably why we all get so many mailings. I said I keep sending back the donor form with "remove from all lists" written on it and the person said it won't do any good. I am not revealing gender here because I don't want anyone to get in trouble.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
the unwanted, huge volume of solicitations from STC in spite of our repeated requests to be removed from all lists. Four other members of my family have had this experience too.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
1. put an" unsubscribe" option on the website. 2. When someone calls, writes, or emails and asks to be taken off lists, DO IT! It violates direct marketing practices not to do so, and wastes valuable money that could go to the children. 3. Integrate the mailing lists so one request applies to all lists.
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