ChildFund International

I have been a faithful donor to CHildfund since 2006 when I began a sponsorship of a boy age 5 in Uganda. A few years later I added another sponsorship child in Bolivia. Meanwhile my "child" in Uganda is now 24 and I was wondering what is the cutoff age to receive sponsorship. The letters I received from him have been written by various brothers for several years now and when I asked I was told he is away at school. That seemed weird for an area that is desperately poor.
Still I never missed a payment until this past May when I received a letter from someone named Madison Grubb (Donor Coordinator) saying they had closed my affected sponshoships because of not receiving a doonation in 6 months. I wondered how dysfunctional can the accounting dept of a charity group be to actually cut someone off for non-payment! When I called them, the young women who answered offered a vague apology but no explanation. In my mind allowing a letter like that to go out is a serious error and led me to wonder if they even know what they're doing or is it all contrived.
Then I wrote letters to my sponsored children asking if they are actually receiving my payments. I received an assurance from the Ugandan office but it was addressed to someone with my first name but a different last name. After that I stopped any further sponsorship.
THis experience has left me somewhat wary of these child sponsor charities. I agree with other donors who wrote that ChildFund's christmas gift fees are price gouging at best, guilt trips at worst. I feel their targeted donor age group[ is retired seniors who have a bit of extra income. I can't stand incompetence in companies that you pay for services rendered - but in a charity that is taking your money to supposedly help children, it's even worse.

I have been sponsoring children (5 of them) for 20+ years - I am not happy lately, I log on to the website and NO CHILDREN are on it! Is my money even going to them? This is a disgrace. Several times over the years they would - without my permission - withdraw an extra amount for whatever they said it was for and i would not know until I saw it on my bank statement. Unacceptable. I would have to call them and warn them every time. Fix your issues or my money will go elsewhere.

I don't trust ChildFund International anymore after 38 years of sponsorship.
Why? I was a sponsor from 1980 to 2018 for 5 different needed girls in India. In the beginning everything looks ok. But in the last years strange things happened (received letters with informations which could not be true. I tried to get response for 3 clear questions over one year - nothing. No response from the local Managers nor from the Headquater in Richmond. Finally i was 99% sure, my child is a fake account "to make money" for someone. I officially quit my sponsorship - they still tried to charge my credit card - until i changed it. Shocking after so many years of sponsoring.

I sponsor two children through Childfund International and the process is amazing. I get regular Child progress reports and updates from Childfund on the great work that they're doing. I feel confident that my donations are helping to allow my sponsored children and other children in their communities to realize their full potential. I love that I will someday have the opportunity to visit both communities to see the programs for myself.

I sponsored a child for 13 years. I kept that child when I lost my job in the recession. I kept that child when I lost my house. I kept that child when I was on food stamps. When the child aged out of the system I never received a simple thank you from Child Fund or the child.

I've been a ChidFund supporter for decades and have had the joy of sponsoring two children through them. I am shocked to read some of the negative reviews as my experience has always been positive. Having worked in non-profits myself, I know that money is not always spent to keep the technology top notch (as money goes to the children, as it should). The website is not stellar but I also know they have a advisory committee of sponsors and they regularly seek feedback from sponsors on how they can improve their services/communication. Whenever I have had to call or email ChildFund staff, they've always been kind, responsive and helpful. I keep in mind that they have satellite offices in remote places which may not be able to keep up to the standards expected in the U.S. With regards to correspondence from my sponsored children, I have had great success with regular, personal letters. I also keep in mind that I am speaking with an 11 year old boy in another country and it might be very hard for them to know what to say to a grown woman who he's never seen face to face, other than a photo. Asking your child questions always helps. I will continue to support ChildFund and would not hesitate to recommend them to others!

After I made my account they sent me a confirmation addressed to someone else. When I went to my account I found all of my personal information, other than my credit card number, was different. Which probably means someone else had my personal information. When I canceled I asked for a confirmation email. The email was addressed to yet another different person. They might be a decent charity but their website is too unorganized and poorly ran for me to trust.

My father sponsored two children for many years. When he passed away, we decided to continue the Childfund. We informed the children about his death. We received a "so-called thank you letter" back. No mention of the death of my father. They even mentioned the wrong addressee. It was clearly written by somebody in the US and not in Africa. The date was written MMDDYYYY and not DDMMYYYY.

For us, this looks like a scam.

I have been a Child Fund donor for MANY years, back when it was still known as Christian Children's Fund, beginning around 1980. All three children that I have sponsored came from India (at my request), and all three are girls. In all three cases, my gift was always $10 above the specified "donation amount" for each month, largely to ensure that at least some of the money reached the children I was supporting directly--$5 per month to help her and her family each month, and $5 specifically designated by me to be kept in a savings account for the girl as a future "dowry" or college fund.
The first girl that I sponsored graduated from High School, went on to College and invited me to her wedding some years ago. I was notified when she "aged out" of the program in which she was enrolled. She continues to keep in touch with me annually, purely out of love and friendship, and I love the fact that one of her daughters is now named for me!!!
The second child that I sponsored recently "aged out" of the program, but this time I was not informed! It was only when form letters (not written by Pratima herself) from her school began to arrive that I suspected "something" was up. I called Child Fund, found out that the child is now 20 and has moved on to college, so I asked to be changed to a new child--which was done immediately. I hope that Pratima will continue to keep in touch even though her life is now far more her own! Perhaps the "dowry"/savings money that I supplied to her will come in handy some day!
My new child is only 3 (!) and lives somewhat further north than the two children I have sponsored before, who were both in the Bangalore area. I am slightly suspicious that the mailing address for this new child is still in Bangalore, while the child actually lives (in poverty) with her parents in Junnar, many miles to the North. But, I am willing to give it a shot! I have assembled a birthday package for the child and will mail it soon to arrive by her January 17 birthday. Once I see a photo of her in the adorable dress that I picked out for her, I will feel a whole lot more confident that my monthly gift is doing what it is supposed to!! I hope that letters will soon arrive once my monthly gift filters through!
BTW, I selected South India as the designated area for my child, since I grew up in India (in Madras--now called Chennai) as the daughter of a Foreign Service Officer.
I have great faith in Child Fund, and deeply appreciate the updates that they provide on "my" child and her progress!!
Peg Caldwell-Ott, Rockingham, Virginia

I began giving monthly contributions at a time when this was still Christian Childrens Fund - the organization has changed names due to scandal regarding how little actually made it to the children. My husband and I had been trying to start a family and were just starting the adoption process and thought this would help me with dealing with the stress. I contributed to what I thought was a small boy at first. I contributed for years, rarely heard from anyone and when I did it was supposedly either the boy or his aunt but both were the same handwriting. Finally, since I hadn't heard from him in quite some time and had actually lost track of how long I had been contributing I asked for a current photo. I received the photo and was shocked to see a sullen young man! He looked to be in his 20's and was dressed in army fatigues! I immediately stopped contributions. Don't be fooled - contribute to an organization with a good record. See Charity Navigator or Charity Watchdog for reviews.

Do not sign up with them. They will keep leeching even if you stop your payments!

I have donated for more than a year since I was told that was about a good timeframe and chose to cancel my subscription since around last year July 2017. Suddenly I check my checking account to see that it started charging it again since September again. They have charged me a total of 3 times! Why is my subscription being renewed?!?!?

I was with Childfund for over 14 years and found them in the beginning a good Charity with clear and concise infrmation for about 7 years. Then in the last 7 years I have received sketchy communications and year after year pretty much the exactly worded letter from my sponsor-child in Ethiopia.
I would advise to do your research and find another Charity that will be upfront and not move there responsibilities to other smaller projects to maintain profits within their organization. I have spent alot of time just getting basic schooling information which it took them 5 months to obtain!!! Honestly and seriously I am truly hurting writing this but support someone else who cares deeply about children and their communities in depth. Not just children as numbers in a program.

MC
Australia

My situation has recently changed and I decided to cancel my Childfund account. When I went to do so I discovered there was NO place on their website allowing me to cancel so I sent them an email asking them to stop pulling the donations from my account. I received an automated message stating that it could be two weeks before I hear back from the company (due to system upgrades). This months donation was taken from my bank account even though I wanted to cancel WITH an extra shipping fee that I had not agreed to. I actually went into my settings to unclick the shipping fee box, yet somehow it was checked again. Not a happy camper. Several of my friends donate using other non profits and have never had an issue trying to cancel their account.

I made a one-time payment, but when I tried to access my account, it said my email did not exist. But, they sent a thank-you note and an email saying my account was ready to be viewed, so they obviously had my email. I went back to their site, and it still wouldn't accept my email. I had to send several emails just to access my account.

Once I finally got into my account, I saw that they had signed me up for a subscription, not a one-time payment. They also pre-selected a fee option that I never agreed to. I still have my original receipt, and there's no fee option selected, and it was a one-time fee. No mention of a subscription. I saw the subscription option, and I did not select it. No wonder they don't make it easy to get into your account -- they take your credit card and charge whatever they feel like to it.

Now, I've worked for many non-profits, and for no pay. We never treated people's property (their money, their cc) as if it belonged to us. Not at ChildFund, though. The people at ChildFund get paid, too. And I feel like if you're getting paid, and you're taking money, out of a charity that's meant to help kids btw, for yourself, you better be working very hard, and you have a bigger responsibility towards accountability. I will not pay for dishonesty. But that's what's going on. If I have to contact my cc company to get any further charges removed for fraud, I will. I don't have a lot of money, I just gave what I could, because I'm thankful for what I have. I don't appreciate the total lack of respect ChildFund has for the money I work hard for. What if I went into their accounts and took their money, the money they work for (that I pay for, btw)? They would not be happy. Respect needs to go both ways, or this charity will not survive. And that's really sad.

I had to cancel my donation to childfund. They still deducted from my account anyway. The person was not pleased that I had to cancel. I have donated for many years and am unable to do so for a while. Resent the additional guilt forced on me by the person I spoke with.

Be cautious... I have been sponsoring a child since last March and was surprised to receive correspondence thanking me for my 'generosity' for sponsoring another child - this was news to me! When I inquired further they provided a ridiculous explanation that the 7 year old girl I had been sponsoring all this time was no longer in the program since she had received training in beauty (?) and was employed in a beauty salon - this was a 7 year old child in a remote village in Ethiopia! Employed in a beauty salon?

I have been attempting to cancel my sponsorship but ironically there is no information or link for THAT on their website. Be very cautious - I am so disheartened and the many ratings on BBB and other non-profit reference sites makes me question their integrity as well.

I made a specific donation of buying 10 goats. I get a card in mail that say thanks for purchasing 3 goats. I inquire about it and they give me some nonsense answer. I follow up again a couple weeks later and nothing. After my third follow up they tell me my order was correct, but I get the feeling they just wanted me to go away.

Either these guys are a fraud or poorly managed, either way they have gotten my last dollar.

Childfund definetely does door to door fundraising campaign as it used to be not on the website and now it is as it states in FAQs . I have been a donor for 3 years and actually signed up through door to door and I had been really happy. My little girl from Guatemala is doing great and I'm planning on visiting her next year.

My boyfriend has been sending money, allegedly to a child. From day one I told him to be careful with these charity organizations. I myself donate a good amount of money to different organizations to people in need, orphans, animals in the United States. I have personally been involved with orphans in the U.S. and their living conditions. We are in so much shortage that now foster parents should step in until the state governments can find some place for the orphans.
What bothers me the most is that Anne Lynam Goddard receives over quarter of a million as salary, living a luxury life in London, (most probably sending her kids to expensive private schools in London, I suppose); this is outrageous.
I think that donors should do a diligent research about where their money goes and how much is actually spent on "charity" rather than financing a luxury life for the CEO, almost tax free.
After I told my bf about the CEO and her salary, he was so upset that he wanted to call her (I didn't let that happen), however, he is convinced that all he donates, in fact, doesn't go to the "kid" he is sponsoring. I only hope that at least some of that goes to the kid, once the CEO's salary is set aside.

A year ago, while on vacation in Branson, MO, we enjoyed the Texas Tenors Show. During the intermission they requested that we consider sponsoring a child from a selection of ChildFund International needy children in the lobby. I selected a 6 year old Zambian girl. i am enjoying helping her and her family. Though she doesn't speak English, her grandmother and also a family friend write and keep me informed about Agness. For the price of a movie and snacks, you can provide a needy child some where in the world with a better life and education. I highly recommend ChildFund. It is a worthy organization.

I support a 6.5 year old girl in Brazil and have been doing this for about 2 years. The more letters I have been exchanging with her and her family the more I have come to know their situation and the individual personalities. This has been very meaningful to me in they have truly appreciated my support and have shared their gratitude in multiple pictures/drawings of my child's life.

I know the monthly sponsorship is doing great things in the community and directly for my sponsor child and her family from the letters and pictures they have sent me from the project. Knowing that this is being managed so well has given me confidence to send extra money for birthday and Christmas etcetera. The response from my sponsor and her family has been extremely heart warming and gratifying for me so much that I have just recently returned from an in person visit with them.

I was only able to spend two days with them and the expense seemed high when I was planning the trip but in looking back it was worth every dime. The U.S. National Child Fund personnel did a great job setting the agenda up with the local Child Fund Brazil personnel. I was concerned about going to a foreign country and not knowing anyone or the language.

The local Child Fund Brazil personnel set up all the meetings, interpreter as well as transportation even picking restaurants and beach area to enjoy our time together. The local Project that Child Fund has their, set up a surprise performance from the children including, Ballet, Guitar and a choir of children that put on a moving performance. The performance and gratitude from the children brought me to tears, (I was sure at 50 years old I would be able to fight that off). The hospitality and gratitude from my sponsor child/family and all of the children and Child Fund Brazil personnel was so genuine and meaningful. I can't express how meaningful the whole experience with Child Fund has been for me other than to say I'm so grateful.

I await my next letter that will have the pictures from the last few moments I had with my sponsor child to go with my 300+ other pictures. I have selected my new desk picture for my office and home which includes my family and I on our first day together. I have seen the impact Child Fund is making on the community in my sponsor's area first hand and can't encourage you enough to enrich your life the way I have through this program.

I have bee a sponser since the 70's. Connecting with a child from another culture and different part of the world is tremendously rewarding. Getting to know them through letters and feeling their gratitude and happiness through their letters is the best. This organization is totally dedicated to helping children worldwide.

I love this charity, as it helps provide for the needs of the children that go beyond just feeding them. They receive an education, and donors get to see their progress over the years. It gives children the opportunity to make a difference in their communities and possibly someday the world. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to know my child in some small way.

My mother had been sponsoring three children through ChildFund when she died suddenly. I contacted ChildFund and explained the situation and asked if it would be possible to transfer their sponsorship to me. The staff were very helpful and made this transition feel seamless. I love receiving letters from my sponsored children and their families and yearly progress reports from ChildFund. It makes me feel like I know them even though they live in Africa and we have never met in person. One of my sponsored children is now in college and that makes me very happy because she probably would not have had the opportunity if not for ChildFund.

I was approached at my door earlier today with a sales pitch by someone claiming to be from Child Fund. I said I would look into the organization but not give until doing so. I looked up information about the organization and found that they likely do not go door to door. When I saw the solicitor later in the day I told him what I'd learned and he pretty much shrugged. Later still, he returned to my house while I was gone and gave his sales pitch to my wife. I am considering reporting this to the police.

I notice that a number of reviewers claim to "know for certain" their child-abroad is getting the money they send, but I cannot imagine how on earth they could be verifying this. A letter from the child? Who knows who really writes those letters! The organization might well be doing some good--who knows, really?--but apparently the CEO takes a ludicrously large salary and the organization has been investigated for fraud (see for example: http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/11/15/the-1994-christian-childrens-fund-scandal/ ).

We sponsored one child for the past fourteen years or so.

We know our sponsored child turned 18, she is six months younger than our daughter. There was no communication from Childfund Intl. about what happens when a child reaches U.S. adult age. They did, however, continue to deduct from our account.

Six months later, still paying, someone called to ask for a special contribution. I mentioned our situation, and they seemed a little flustered, then offered that the money was probably being used for other children or community needs. According to letters written on her behalf (she hasn't written more than a letter or two), she was still in school.

Now eight months later, we've received a letter from her mother that she is married and no longer in school. I appreciate her candor, but still no official notification from ChildFund.

I read here that ChildFund doesn't offer an online method for revoking your automatic account withdrawal, so I did that through my bank.

All of this may very well be the agency's poor management, but it makes it all seem more than a little sketchy, and you would think they would want to avoid all appearances of impropriety. A real shame for that community to lose the ongoing support from us and others who are disappointed in the manner in which ChildFund operates.

If you pay your CEO astronomical amounts for a non-prof, you should expect a clean running machine.

I have been with ChildFund for about a decade. They are not the most efficient, but I am sticking with them because I know that about $80 per hundred that I donate gets through directly to my sponsored kids, and they make it possible for me to give extra money to the kid's parents, which is important to me. I know for a fact that the extra money I send to the parents gets there. That is why I stay with ChildFund, even though they are at the low end of acceptable efficiency for this type of charity (80%). In the long run, I believe ChildFund will succeed in breaking the poverty cycle for some of these families because of the community approach that they take. So I accept the 20% overhead, believing that in the long run my kids will probably make it in their societies. At least I hope so.

Have been sponsoring a boy with special needs in Dominica for over 7 years and it is a pleasure to know he is growing into a young man. CFI has made it possible for him to go to school, provide food and clothing for him through my donations.

I began sponsoring a little girl in India with this organization in 2012. This involved sending money monthly and writing letters. For months, I had only received 1 letter from my sponsored child. So I emailed the organization thinking that something may have happened to her. It took them a while to get back to me but when they did, they emailed me a letter from her, progress report, pictures of her and her family. They let me know she was doing well.

Again, I wrote to her and my monthly payments were still being auto sent to the organization. Once again, after months of not hearing from my sponsored child, I decided that I needed to cancel my account. I like helping out, but, I am not a believer in giving money away under false pretenses. I had planned on increasing my monthly donation as well as giving to my sponsored child around the holidays, but it was like sending money to an invisible person. So I decided that this was not the organization for me.

I went into my account on their website to stop reoccurring monthly payments from being taken out of my account. There was no option to stop these transactions. I emailed the organization, and until this day have not heard from them. Yet, they still took money from my account. I had to call my bank to tell them to put a stop payment on the organization. When I first wanted to cancel my account, I figured ChildFund was a well meaning organization that may be unorganized but after not being able to stop my monthly payments, I am now questioning their legitimacy.

i have been a sponsor for 24 years . i currently have 5 children most in africa. i receive letters 4 times a year. progress reports . its a sound and professional organization. i will be a sponsor until i can't no more

Okay first and fore most CCF is one of the most trusted organizations out thereIn FY13 ChildFund increased its efforts to serve children, thanks to the generosity of supporters. ChildFund's public support and revenue for FY13 was $252 million, up from $245 million in FY12. Supporters can give with confidence knowing that 82 percent of every dollar goes to helping children.
For the past five years, ChildFund International has maintained a 3-star rating from Charity Navigator and earned high ratings from Charities Review Council and the American Institute of Philanthropy.

And as far as the CEO making 200,000 a year first keep in mind he raised 252 million, secondly you people complaining would not be qualified to launch a campaign that can raise that much money,
and lastly if he raised 252 million that 82% of every dollar went to, and less people died of starvation and disease....who cares if he made 200,000-- for all you know he donates a bunch of his well deserved money , so get over the complaints people and trust that God is and always has done his work here.

My Mother sponsored a child, but passed away in 2010, my Dad continued the donations, he also passed away this past August. I want to continue the donations, but I skeptical about a few things. I received a letter thanking me for the $20 and indicating "I received your message..." My parents, obviously did not send a message. Somehow, I suspect that this is a form letter being sent to me by a worker or volunteer, not the child ( who is now 20 years of age, but that is ok, I would continue sponsorship of him if it helps him with his continuing education and helps his family/community ). I know my mother cared very much for this child and felt there was a personal connection, was this naivete on her part?

In investigating child fund international I found that Anne Lynam Goddard President annual salary is over $325000.00

Years ago a teacher at my school asked me to translate letters from his sponsored child through Christian Children's Fund. Since they were real letters, I decided to trust the charity and about eight years ago I sponsored a little girl in Oaxaca from whom I receive a letter each and every time I send her anything. It is obvious she is a real person and I am sent photos of her with the items she buys from the money gifts I send. She also draws pictures for me and seems hungry to hear from me. I write her in Spanish because some of the translations leave out whole sentences and I want her to be able to read what I write to her just as I write it. I was very happy with our arrangement, BUT when this organization became Childfund instead of Christian Children's Fund, it suddenly because more interested in slick promotions than in the children. I agree with another reviewer that while I greatly appreciate the personal updates from my child, the expensive paper and the constant dunning for more and more money is a real turnoff. On top of this, I got an offer to send a birthday card to my child for NINE dollars through the company instead of a normal card I can buy or make myself for much less. This was a definite ripoff. I won't stop sponsoring this child because I love her, but I won't sign on again because of the new marketing practices that make me suspicious about where the money is actually going these days.

After sponsoring Eliana in Honduras for the past 4 years, my family is as usual very short on money, I began to wonder if this was worth the $30/month missing from my family pocket. I came to this website to see what people have to say before I continued my sponsorship. I found a range of comments here from 'I hate childfund' to 'This has been the best experience of my life.' What I already know... People in general tend to go out of the way to make complaints before praise, with ANY business. What I took from it... Giving is giving. I spend more than $30/month on my iced coffee and if there is even a 25% chance that my $30 will provide a better life for a child and a family that needs it, well, I'm all in. I consider this my responsability as someone who is already blessed with health, a roof over my head and a paycheck to paycheck lifestyle that may not be a big deal in the USA but is HUGE and sometimes unheard of to our families around the world. To the people who are angry that they live in the U.S. and are lacking with no one to turn to for help. Please don't let a broken system make you hostile to generosity when it is given elsewhere. A good deed is a good deed. The United States provides more opportunity for more people than most places in the world. If your drowning even with this advantage I say God has a purpose and sometimes, most times, people need to be pushed through mud to discover thier path. I wish I could help EVERYONE, but financially I cannot right now. So I will continue my sponsorship of Eliana, not because I expect the village to throw me a party or heart felt letters every month... but because I think its good for your sole to do something, anything to benefit mankind. One drop wripples out forever :)

I'm Ailyn from the Philippines, I was one of the kids who had a great chance to be part of ChildFund Philippines. When I was in Grade 2, my life totally changed when my mom brought me to an office near the church. I wondered what it was for and I could remember a nun asked me what do I want to become in the future and I just confidently answered I wanted to become a teacher. At that time, I didn't know how important it was, but as days went by I realized how it made a difference to us. I was given free fabric for school, which I share to my other sisters so that they have can uniforms too, they gave me school supplies which I saw my mom had a hard time before because she can't buy enough notebooks for all of us, so we share the notebooks I got, had all the springs removed and we tied it by yarn, so we could have enough notebooks for all the subjects that we had. Reconciliation Center which is affiliated with ChildFund started to give my parents seminars too about Child's Rights, usually my parents disciplined me physically but when they attended the seminar, how they discipline me totally changed. They started to be opened and they started to ask my opinion on things. I've got a chance to attend seminars too which hone me to become a better a person and good leader to the other kids.

There were so many things I've received from ChildFund; tangible and intangible things, What I'm so grateful of was when the time they told me I got a sponsor from the US. I started writing letters for my Uncle Bob, and also I started imagining how they look like, for almost 16 years I've written letters and never got a respond. I didn't know if he has family, married or he has children, but every time I see foreigners in our city. I've always wanted to ask if they know someone Mr. Robert Dames, I have considered them as my second parents and everytime I go to church I always pray for him and for his family even if at that time I really have no idea who he was. In occasion, bday or Christmas, he would send me 25$-50$ and with that money, I give it to my parents and my parents would buy something for all of us to share and we would be so happy, he was like a Santa Claus in our family. I have never received gifts from my parents, which I really understand why. They just can't afford to buy extra things for us, we hardly have our needs given so we never expected them to do so but as children having someone who gives us a feeling that we are children who also craves for gifts. I also started dreaming of talking to him, so I strive to learn English so in the future if I get the chance to see him I could utter all the words of thanks I would want to say and I could express how grateful I am and my family to have him. He fulfilled the role of second father and he gave me amazing experiences, because of him I was able to finish school and I have fulfilled my dream to become a teacher. When I got my job, I decided to look for him so I started to find him on whitepages, but I had a hard time coz there were a lot of the same names, I wrote one of them a letter, and I can feel that it was him, Finally after a month, I got an email saying that I was right and finally received his picture for the first time and respond. I have also seen the picture of his family which teared me the most, because my curiosity was answered and the waiting time of knowing him even online came. I feel like I became a complete person knowing the person who cared for me for a long time. If it was not for him, I wouldn't become a person that I am today. I wouldn't be strong and hard working as I am so I'm really thankful that he touched our lives and I'm really thankful for Childfund for giving me the chance to be better person, finish school and have all the experiences I have with other children from Childfund which made more complete and accepted in the society.

For 75 years asking others to support. The best you can do for the children and parents is to educate them about not having children they cannot feed. If they need to have sex to give them birth control and condoms. Give the already parents seeds to grow their own food. Explain to children before having sex and producing a child they cannot feed to take birth control and wear condoms. If after 75 years of repeating what does not work and expect others to provide for them is unbelievable. Educate, till you have given them control over their own lives.

I have been sponsoring ChildFund (was Christian Children's Fund) since 1989 and was very happy with the organization until a few years ago when I started receiving marketing materials from the organization. Fundraising by sending all donors materials printed on expensive paper does not help the children, nor do overpriced gifts offered through ChildFund for children make any sense to me. Also, all this printed material really harms our environment! Last week, I received a call from the organization asking me to increase my sponsorship dollars, and when I said I wasn't able to at this time, the person hung up. I do have to say that throughout the 24 years as a sponsor, I have been very happy corresponding with all the children, however I am waiting for my present sponsored children (both 11 year olds) to reach 18 before I switch to another organization.

I do want to thank the older organization for giving me the opportunity to make a difference to some very wonderful children.

I wish I had read these reviews before I decided to sign up with Childfund International. However before the 7 to 10 day period of processing came to an end, I decided to cancel. I didn't get a good feeling after receiving a call from the volunteer that had signed me up. He called my number pretending to have mistakenly called my number. When I did call to cancel and was told that the enrollment was cancelled, I received a distorted call from an unrecognizeable number from one of the members. A few days later, I received a call from a number that looked like a foreign number. I looked into my account today and saw a pending transaction for the monthly fee of $28.00. My request for cancellation was never honored. Infact, policy or procedure for cancellation is not prominently exhibited and agent never sent an email with confirmation of cancellation. The whole business has been shady. Honestly, this was the first time I saw a charity send out agents to recruit donors and then have donors experience so much hardship to cancel or sever ties with it. Their methods have turned me off. I was skeptical to begin with of charitable orgs that have become known for pocketing money and not using it for the stated purposes.

I am one of the few people who actually visited my sponsored family in Kenya. Irewasre was a teen by then but it was clear she was the girl I chose several years before. Her mother Susan hugged me and cried when we met. I learned that because of the draught that year the extra money I was allowed to gift that year was all the family had to live on.
Their village was in the Great Rift Valley only 40 miles from Uganda. The whole village welcomed me with dancing, song and food. I planted a tree to commemorate the visit. A planning session for the regional villages was going on at the same time. Half the monthly dues go to community projects like irrigations ditchesor outhouses so everyone in the region benefits.
Upon questioning my chaperones I. Found that there were children in the program who did not survive the political riots the year before. I suspect the loss of a child is one reason for the reviews from people who do not get the child they want. As long as my money is going to cfi I'm more than happy.

I began donating in 2010 when I lived in Maryland. I started out with three kids and gave faithfully every month. I contacted them, sent them stickers, letters and greetings. After having my child I had to scale back to sponsoring one child because I became the primary caretaker of our child. Over the last year I've become burdened by the constant letters about more donations. Every two weeks for the past couple of months I receive a letter telling me there's an emergency and they need me to donate to "save" my child. Next I receive emails telling me that my child needs a gift! And on top of that ChildFund then sends me some kind of printed gift to send to my child. They tell me it will cost $9 for "shipping and delivering", but I didn't believe that. I decide to go to the post office instead. I paid $2 to send the gift and got a letter from my child saying he received the letter and gift. Where does that other $7 go when someone chooses to send a gift through ChildFund? If something as simple as sending a letter is overpriced, what about the other donations people make?

I was preparing to send something else to my child today, then I get accosted with yet ANOTHER set of letters and emails telling me that I need to increase my donation, because my child already has so little. I don't need to look up what ChildFund is doing with their money. I already know they are spending WAY too much on fundraising. If you want to join ChildFund, get ready to constantly be hassled about not giving "enough" when you can give "more". I have an elderly family member that is struggling to pay the rent, I think it's time that I stop giving to Childfund, where they are unsatisfied with my $30/month, and give to someone that is grateful for whatever I can afford to give.

I started sponsoring Merlyn from Guatemala when she was a toddler. In fact, the letters I received in the early years were written by her Mother on Merly's behalf. As she grew, the sweet letters and drawings came directly from her. This life changing experience has been so rewarding for me. When I receive a letter, drawing or picture, I feel proud that I am helping in very small way to help her grow each and every day. Every year, I send her extra money for Christmas and Birthday's so that she can buy what she wants or needs. ChildFund takes a picture of her with the items that she has purchased with her "extra" money. I can't tell you how many times I have cried looking at these pictures. There she sits with a big smile and on her lap sits a small stack of undergarments or a pair of shoes and socks. The part of the picture that makes me cry is the large box of Corn Flakes that sits next to her! It breaks my heart to think that she chose cereal over a toy! My beautiful sponsor daughter is now in high school and will celebrate her 16th birthday next month!

Hello. I have been sponsoring a little girl in Honduras for six years now. At first I was extremely happy with the program she was in. I got regular updates on her schooling, vaccinations, conditions in her village, and pictures of her at school. I also sent her gifts for birthday and Christmas and would receive pictures of her with the gifts I sent. Lately I have become very suspicious that this little girl even exists. I was told about a year ago that she changed programs but I should not worry- that I still would be her sponser, etc. My first red flag was after I sent some birthday gifts was a letter from my sponsored child indicating a picture with her gifts was enclosed. Well, there was no picture- perhaps an oversight? I don't believe so because I recently received a picture of some older lady (I have never seen before) holding the Christmas gifts I last sent saying my sponsored child loved them?! Something stinks here. I have called Childfund and explained I am not happy. Guess what? There's been no return phone call. I will be looking into other higher rated charities. I think I am being scammed and don't appreciate it being done in the name of supporting an innocent child. Shame on you ChildFund!! No wonder you removed Christian from your name- you didn't want to be struck by lightning.

I agree that the focus should be on helping someone else, not geting something in return. I get mail from Ethiopia all the time, but if I didn't, it would not matter. Knowing someone, and their family, is getting a better chance is reward enough.

The problem I have with this charity is that I sought to sponsor a particular boy, Diep, in Vietnam. CFI took $28.00 from my credit card on Jan. 16, 2013. I thought everything was fine. A few weeks went by and I still hadn't received my information packet. Meanwhile, I get a letter from CFI asking me to sponsor another boy, Carlos, at a cost of $35.00 per month. After communicating with Richmond, I finally got the information packet for Diep but there was no more personal info than was online when I first decided on him. Very scanty info indeed. At some point, CFI decided to stop making the monthly withdrawals--not in Feb. nor Mar. And I never received a letter or report from Diep or a field worker. This experience plus the many negative reviews online caused me to decide to resign my sponsorship and ask for a refund of the $28.00. As of this writing, CFI has not replied to these messages

I have sponsored a boy in Honduras for 8 years. I read so many reviews, and people cry about this or cry about that. Well I guess you can find fault in anything. My sponsorship brings joy to me every day of my life. I thank God for Childfund. I share the little bit I have with children that have so much less than me or you. Stop listening to the crybabys. Look in your heart. Do you really want to help a small child or complain about Child fund? Its up to you.. The letters I recieve from my boy are priceless. Would you like to recieve some great letters?

You know, I want you all to know, while it's great that you are donating to these nonprofits, you need to realize that they turn away many needy families in America. I am a disabled mom of 2 great girls. At this very moment I have 1/2 jar of mayonnaise, and some peanut butter in my cupboard. THAT"S IT! I know hat you are thinking..."go on welfare ( I tried and was denied), go to food banks (there is one in my area, and it gives 1 box of food every 4th saturday), contact a church (I have, I am on 3 waiting lists).I have contacted all the big charities and they all say the same thing, "We do not service your area". OK what AREA do they serve? I was working 2 jobs until I was in a terrible wreck, I now have osteomyelitis and will probably lose my leg. I was working when I wrecked, so I get workmans comp, $489 every 2 weeks. When I have $600 mortage, $100 insurance, $225 utilities....I am already over what I earn...Did you notice...my list does not even include groceries...because I do not have any money left for groceries. I know everyone has it hard sometimes, I have donated to "Feed The Children and Salv. Army for years....BUT when I need help...I have no one to help me. My kids and myself are literally STARVING IN AMERICA> If we just had enough to eat, it would be a special Christmas..it's heartbreaking when your kids want a big Christmas dinner for their "wish" list to Santa. Next time you want to donate..look around. That lady in the check-out line at the grocery store, frantically searching thru the lint and crumb covered bottom of her purse for loose change, in order to afford a half gallon of milk...is probably me...and MAY one day BE YOU! God Bless

I am a former donor. I just want whoever reviews these organizations to know that I keep looking in to see if there has been an improvement. I stopped sponsoring my five children because I felt the field offices mismanged the money for one of them (kept collecting though child left area) and my inquiry led to what I beleive to have been dissembling both at the local and the central office level.

I started sponsoring a child at the beginning of the Spring and was initially concerned because it took many months to get my first letter - almost four. Because my child was located in the US on a reservation, I knew it was not taking very long for mail to arrive. Recently, however, I've started to receive a lot more letters and correspondence from him (I did have to complain once that I was not getting letters). As far as the huge assessment of 20% on monetary gifts, I just sent my sponsored child some Christmas money and paid only $3.50 so it seems they've changed their policies on that front. I have to say that now that I am getting regular letters, this is a wonderful feeling - to personally impact one person's life. I can see that internationally this would be much more challenging for a whole slew of reasons - but you can choose to send a gift within the US!

It bothers me, for reasons I can't explain, to see little ones lacking basic necessities, especially for such small amounts of money. I will never be able to give as much as I would like, but we're lucky - we have a little money now - so I can share with people who really need it. I haven't always been in a position to be able to help in such a fashion, but things have evened out for me, financially speaking, and I've been thinking about sponsoring a child for some time now. There are a lot of different organizations out there, and I'd venture to say that many of them do the job as well as ChildFund, but I liked that there were other ways to help various communities, and ways to help individuals get started to have a better life in tangible ways, things they can do for themselves. And so I signed up to sponsor a little girl on ChildFund; her name is Jasmine, she'll be 10 in December, and she lives in Oklahoma. She and her older brother currently live in a small rural area with their parents, who are unemployed; she likes riding her bike and running track. She likes to read (especially the Barbie books) and her favorite subject at school is computer lab. It's such a small amount to sponsor a kid.

Because I agreed to sponsor a child, I've begun getting the occasional gift catalog from CF. It's both interesting and disheartening paging through it; one can do so much with nearly any amount of money, ranging from $25 for things like fruit trees or vegetable seeds or fruit seeds, to buying gardening tools, sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits, or camels, all the way up to $1,267 for a yoke of oxen and a plow. (Often, one can buy a share of the more expensive things; for example, for about 10% of the amount, in this case $127, one can buy a share of a yoke of oxen and a plow.)

One can send a bicycle for $100 (for girls who travel long distances to school in India or Sri Lanka), clean water (for $50, $100, or $200); a starter farm for $325 (each farm includes a pair of goats, a pair of chickens, seeds, and farm tools); restocking a health station or buying medicine for mothers and children in Liberia; a mattress for a family in Ethiopia or Uganda; a set of winter clothes for a kid in Vietnam; wash kits for preschoolers in Vietnam; a set of four tables and chairs for preschoolers in Sri Lanka; a mama kit, which contains supplies for a pregnant woman to use during and after delivery, and is combined with education for expectant mothers in Uganda - there are really a lot of options.

I think that each month I'm going to find something to donate, however small. This month I chose the following, but I found it hard to choose:

In India, 30 orphans and children affected by HIV/AIDS live full-time at the Namma Makkala Dhama orphanage. Food is scarce, and when a child is malnourished furing the first two years of life, the child's physical and mental growth and development can be affected for the rest of the child's life. [$120 will feed 30 orphans in India for a week.] In India, the gift of fresh milk will help the physical, cognitive, and intellectual growth and development of an undernourished child. By adding supplemental nutrition now, the milk you provide will help prevent long-term problems for the children, increasing their ability to develop into healthy, independent adults. [$64 will provide milk for one month for 30 children in India.]

I simply quit receiving letters from my child. The few letters that I did receive at the beginning of my sponsorship did not seem to be fully translated. I informed the staff of my lack of correspondence with my child, but it just wasn't taken care of. I was concerned that my money wasn't going where it was supposed to.

I've been a Childfund sponsor for five years now (I started when the group was still the Christian Children's Fund). I'm actually quite surprised by some of the reviews I've seen on this website, because my experience overall with the organization has been very good. There are some things I don't like that the organization does, such as charging money to send monetary gifts to my children (I sponsor two girls in Asia). And sometimes, the offices overseas are slow to respond to my e-mails. Overall though, I'm pleased with the organization. I visited one of my sponsor children in 2010 and had a wonderful time with her. She and I have a strong bond; we write each other several times a year, and I plan to visit her again soon, and meet the other one for the first time. So overall, I would recommend sponsoring a child through Childfund. I've found it to be quite rewarding. Just know that sometimes communication isn't as efficient as you might like it to be, and that they do try to charge you for sending money to your child or little gifts that they mail you (I usually just buy gifts myself and send them to the children anyway).

My Mom and I are both increasingly dissatisfied with this organization. My Mom's current "child" has completed high school and is apparently going on for additional education. She has been given a strong background, but we feel that a cutoff age of 18 is appropriate given the number of needy children in the world! And my Mom receives age-inappropriate cards and stickers to send to her "child"and for which ChildFund International assesses a sizable processing fee. The most rewarding part of this experience for me is sending additional money for a birthday or holiday and hearing how the money has been used. One child got some basics and then the family acquired a goat each year, providing milk and income for the family. My current little boy got a bicycle so he can ride with his friends. It is very difficult to extract yourself from this organization due to the automatic reassignment of another child that accompanies your notice that your child has moved away (or whatever). I want to switch organizations but don't want to abandon my child. I may do just that, as I imagine they'll find another sponsor for my little boy.

Hi, I am quitting my sponsorship after 35 years. Last straw was that the child that I was sponsoring , a girl in India, was married and moved away right after she wrote me a letter - a very vague one with no personal information. Completely different than the letters I receive from my sponsored boys in Kenya through a Catholic organization. The girl suddenly got married and moved away right before her eighteenth birthday. The pictures I received for the last two years were not of an eighteen year old , but of a much younger child. Very interesting is that this is a second time it happened to me. I suspect that the girls get married much sooner and that the office collects the sponsorship money for as long as the child turns eighteen. I do not appreciate that the organization is not Christian. I am out of there and closing my automatic deductions.

I think there is always some good that comes from organizations like this. That said, it's about how best to use one's money to help others. The child I sponsored was muslim, which is fine, but he (the person writing) would almost always methodically include a sentence in his letters about how he celebrated this or that holiday with his Christians friends (though Christians made up less tha five percent of the population). ChildFund also automatically extended the sponsorship past the age of 18. Finally, when my sponsored child did get a job, Child Fund automatically had me sponsor another child. I called immediately - as I have been waiting for years to end my relationship with ChildFund - to cancel my new sponsorship. I got a letter back stating that ChildFund was saddening that I was cancelling my sponsorship with the new child. But since they had already made a commitment to the new child, they'd find someone else. Had to say, that made me fell like I was shirking my responsibility. It's not about me, but the child, I know.

It took four phone calls to get my bill straightened out. ( a month later) THey overcharged me on my monetary gift to my child. The field office where my child is sponsored is a joke. I called to see if my package got to my child . They said it was processed and sent out. And I should be getting a thank you letter any day now . Two weeks later I called the office and she said she would deliver it herself in a few days. Hmmm... If it was delivered two weeks ago how could you deliver it yourself in a few days .? I cancelled my sponsorship and will take my money to people who don't give me the run around.

The child I help support lives in a house w/o a roof 24/7. this is a basic need, especially in the rainy season. Why is nothing done to help with such a great need? I understand there is a lot of bureaucracy and problems in 3rd world countries, but that is ridiculous. Many of the letters appear to be not fully translated as maybe transcriber is tired? Why are they only a 2 star when they have the capability to be 4 star? Finances and Transparency and accountability.

I have been a donor for about two years. The program's concept to enroll donors for a specified child was very appealing to my drive to give something back. I have been relying on the Charity's duty to do what they advertise but have declined sending any Christmas/Birthday cards, coloring books, etc because I resent the idea of paying $9.00 a pop for this to be facilitated. I would rather send postcards and letters directly to the child to show my interest in her progress but want to avoid any additional fees. The dollar amount I have committed is a fixed amount which I don't plan to change anytime soon. (I donated to a large number of other charities already).
I plan to monitor developments regarding this charity’s future disclosures but will continue to support the child till she turns 18. It would be nice if the program would not sell our data. I get way too much solicitation.

I have been a donor for over twenty years, typically sponsoring 2-3 children. I typically send in multiple months' worth of donations at one time. I had no issues until a few years ago. Suddenly, they lost the ability to properly record the donations. For example, I would send a payment intended to cover Jan-March and receive a receipt saying that I was only current through February. The first time I called to have the records corrected, the person on the phone blamed the mismatch on me, saying that I must have an error in my records (I am an accountant). She agreed to change (not correct) my records to reflect what I believed the balance should be. Within a few of months, another payment was lost or misrecorded. I received a similar response (it was my fault). Now, a few months later it has happened again, despite the fact that I have been listing in detail what each payment is for: e.g. Sponsorship Jan $, Sponsorship Feb $, birthday present $. These persistent errors along with the increase in fees and the change in name have me very concerned about the direction and management of the organization. I am not going to cancel my sponsorship at this time, but will not add new children until I have a reasonable explanation.

I started sponsoring children through the Christian Children’s Fund in 1970. A relative of mine had been a sponsor almost from the beginning and was proud and happy with the impact his funds and his contact had on the children. He encouraged me to sponsor through them for many years. For quite a while, I was thrilled. The correspondence with the children made me know that my money was being used well. I had frequent and regular communication with them and it was great. After a few years, however, things started slipping. The letters from my sponsored kids were less and less frequent and pretty vague. At first I thought it had to do with the children themselves, but later I realized it had more to do with the organization. I did not hear from the last two I sponsored for two years. Other than the original picture, I never got updated photos. When they dropped Christian from the name combined with what appeared to be less efficiency, I gave up. Now, I am a diehard Compassion International sponsor and I am proud to be a part of “releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name.”

Last November I contacted Child Fund to ask them about the 20% fee that was going to be imposed on my Christmas gift to my sponsored child. I was told that the fee was still in place and should be modified after the first of the year. After a fund raing event I worked on locally, it reminded me that I should follow up on the issue. When I contacted Child Fund I was once again told it was being reviewed and since they are only customer service people they had no information that involved fees. How convenient. Run, don't walk away from this organization. It is so upsetting that a CEO who makes hundeds of thousands a year on our sympathy towards the less fotunate and wants to better their live, feels she deserves a piece of every one of them. WITCH! I can only hope you die from a slow painful cancer!

Just a heads up to everyone that is commenting on this thread, as of the fiscal year of 2011, ChildFund International has raised it's efficiency from 81% to 83%, and while to some cynical minded people they may view this as not enough, it actually wound up being an extra $15 million going into the programs and services. Surely it would be better if the efficience could be even higher, but donors should feel quite lucky that ChildFund does not have letter writing factories nor do they continue a false sponsorship by not telling a family that the child they have sponsored has died. There are some quite popular organizations that do those things. Just calm down, and remember if they lose more donors, less money will go to the kids.

I will be quitting ChildFund this week after 7 years and 3 sponsored children. Dropping "Christian" from its name was the first bad sign. I "visited" 2 of my sponsored children. It is false advertising to call it a visit, it should be called a "meeting". We got to meet with the kids in the ChildFund office only! Very awkward and unmoderated. The logistics of the "visits" were botched as well. I have been living with their outrageous 20% fee up till now. I send one of my sponsored children $100 each month. That costs me an extra $25 a month...crazy! I have found another way to get money to the family, so it bye-bye ChildFund. By the way I do sponsor 2 other children through WorldVision and have been very happy.

I have been sponsoring a child for 8 years and I think it is disguisting that ChildFund takes 20% of gifts as handling fees. These children need the money more then they do. It really sours the gift giving process. If Anne Goddard can take home over $250,000 in 2010 they can find a way to lower their handling fees. Do what is right for the children -- do the Christian thing ChildFund.

I have been a sponsor for many years - currently sponsor 3 children. There is no doubt that ChildFund does good work - but to take 20% of the gift meant for the family is excessive. I am willing to give 5% - that is reasonable - but not 20%. Additionally - the children are sponsored for 18 years. Don't send any letters asking for more time. This is not "AdultFund" - it is "ChildFund". You have many unhappy contributors. If you overhead is so high, charge more on the monthly fees or reduce your costs. It is taking unfair advantage of the generosity of CF sponsors - almost blackmail.

Child Fund International is an exceptional organization doing terrific work around the globe with tremendous breadth and unparalleled experience.

As a Christian, I was quite pleased to donate to an organization bold enough to proclaim it's faith base. The name change to CFI made me wonder what other shifts in philosophy might accompany that move. Then came the rate boost to 20% for gifts made to the child. Hmmm...when I questioned my sponsored child about how much he actually received, I got two different amounts, and a peculiar accounting that made me suspect his gift was being "managed" for him At this point, I will not drop the child. I want to speak to someone in authority at CFI. I want to be able to write the child directly, without censorship or filtering through the charity. Stay tuned, let's see if someone will speak to me.

I was a CCF donor for about 17 years and moved to CF when the change took place. I got a really bad feeling about where funds were going and about how long the benficiaries are kept in the program. One of my 3 "children" was getting significantly old to be called a child. In the past CCF would rotate a child out and I woul receive another younger child. I finally couldn't deal with them anymore and switched my giving to Kiva. I am pleased that I did.

Hi. I have been sponsoring Rosa Vanessa Hidalgo in Ecuador for over 3 years and it has been a very positive experience. About every 3 months or so I get a letter and sometimes a picture of her explaining her progress and always thanking me. It is such a small ammount each month and such a huge impact. And it makes me feel good(I'm selfish). Like another reviewer said, if it wasn't for Child Fund, how would we donate? Probably into a large impersonnel organization. With Child Fund we get the one on one interaction. A fantastic group! 5 stars!

I first started sponsoring a child in Sri Lanka through CCF. When I sent my child cash presents, I could choose to send (or not send) a small processing fee. Childfund International now charges a 20% processing fee -- outrageous! My child now gets only $40 of the $50 I send for birthdays and Christmas. He will be 20 years old in July. I have no idea when he will age out of the program, but Childfund continues to take the donation from my credit card each month. When my sponsorship ends, I will not donate to this charity for another child.

I am a donor to many charities.After reading these comments and comments from Invisible Children I am sorley disappointed in both. I can't believe that we have to be so careful of our genorosity turning into a business opportunity to exploit the children as opposed to helping them. I was and now a true believer that most of these charities are children factories of cash flow. Multi donors to the same child and families that may or may not exist. Now that these charities are open to the internet they are naked and cannot hide behined guilting us by dangeling the children in front of us as there meal ticket!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been affiliated with Childfund, formerly CCF, for over 20 years, I'm on my fifth child. This is an organization I know where my dollar is going. I not only get wonderful letters from my child,the original with a drawing, and a translated typed letter, I get progress reports on her and her family's health, schooling, exactly what my Xmas money and birthday donations buy, reports on what is being done to help the community, wells, agriculture, etc. as well as what they do in that country, I've stayed with children from Guatelala. Most of us don't pay attention, but we see there are terrible famines and wars going on all over the world, and the mothers and children are the most affected. The hands on work that Child fund does in these emergency areas, food and medical aid, is incredible. most of these areas have corrupt officials and extremely dangerous conditions, and they go in anyway. I love sponsoring my child and watching them grow and share thier life. I trust Childfund completely. Stacey Greene

To the Staff person at ChildFund writing replies: First of all, thank you for your concerns and responses. Please state as of Feb. 2012 what the salary for your CEO is. Please state the amount of all other benefits to her: amount of health coverage paid by org., her pension, auto allowance, any other financial benefit. Is your Board aware of all the negative publicity concening your CEO's salary and benefits? Is your Board aware that this compensation is deemed highly excessive by virtually all nonprofit standards? Is your Board award that this compensation is what is driving down your charity ratings? Does your Board have a justification as to why your CEO's reported salary is 50% of that of the President of the United States, the most demanding job in the world?

The CEO and staff are dedicated and have integrity. This is life changing charity with operations in 11 countries including United states of America. So is DialogueDirect, which raises money for Children International through face to face .

I don't understand why people want to discontinue sponsoring their child just because CFI changed their name. Does it really matter if it has "Christian" word in it? I am a sponsor through CFI for last 7 years and i am not Christian by religion. All i ever cared was that they are helping a child in need.

My hope in writing this review is to encourage and prompt others to become a part of this exceptional organization. My experience with ChildFund has been a very positive one. They have given me the opportunity to make a difference in this world that I could not have been able to do on my own. My husband Joe and I began our relationship with ChildFund by sponsoring a little girl, named Patricia, from Uganda. Patricia is too young as of yet to write to us herself. Her mother, Sarah, writes us letters regularly, and sends us family photos. I am happy to know that not only does our sponsorship help Patricia, but also helps her family as a whole. This wonderful experience prompted us to sponsor another child. We recently added a boy, named Erick, from Brazil to our sponsored family. Unless you have sponsored a child yourself, then it is difficult for me to convey to you the special feeling you experience from the joy of caring. I hope that you will be inspired after reading my review to take the initiative to sponsor a child yourself. It is incredible how you feel to give of yourself without expecting something in return, besides a good feeling for doing what is right. I have read some of the reviews on this site, and I was disappointed by some of the comments from other present or former sponsors. Some mentioned how they were upset with ChildFund for changing it's name. In my opinion, this was the right move. To appeal to all individuals, this helped to broaden the spectrum of people willing to sponsor. There are loving, caring people through out the world that may not be Christians who want to be charitable, too. It is also troubling to me when people complain about ChildFund charging $9.00 for a card to donate money to their child. A greeting card in the store costs as much as $5.00 or more. Is a few more dollars so much to ask for? If it helps this great organization to keep helping these children and families to survive, is it really asking to much from us? As an individual, I say no, it is not. Please consider all the worthwhile efforts that ChildFund provides for all these children and know that your sponsorship does make an incredible difference! I am only one person in this immense world, but in my own way, I hope my thoughts have helped you in your decision to give of yourself. If you decide to sponsor a child, please do not stop there. Do as I have, spread the word, so more children may receive sponsors. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

After over 40 years of sponsoring children in India and Thailand through CCF, my husband and I have decided that, after our current child leaves school, we will discontinue donating money to what is now called ChildFund International. We always send special money gifts several times a year to our child, and last year ChildFund started taking 20 percent off the top for what they outrageously said was for the delivery of that money! In the current economy, we can't afford to send more money to our child to make up the difference, so to us it ChildFund looks like it is positioning itself to be the fat cat between financially struggling sponsors and needy children. It is a shame, but we have lost faith in the good intentions of this charity.

Been donating for about 3 years now when the charity had a 5 star rating. Since then it went down to 3 stars. I am really disgusted with the 20% service fee the Fund takes for being overstaffed and CEO compensation. Now with the $9 BIrthday card(more money for the CEO). I would stop giving, but that won't help my child. So I buy my own birthday card and mail it. As soon as my child is of age, I'm switching charities.

i have been donating for over twenty five years.... my first sponsored child to whom my ex-husband and i donated to for almost 15 years went on to college and is now a registered nurse in kenya. her family named her after him - her name: rosemary peter. we lost touch but i think often of the impact we had on her life and how she now must have impacted many others with her hard work and dedication in the profession she was able to chose with our support. currently, i have a 3-yr old boy in indonesia (in honor of my own daughter's favorite teacher, a special friend who was born in indonesia) and a 10-yr old girl in sri lanka (whom i sought out after the tsunami)... when you receive their cards and letters - especially the ones from their mothers and fathers you can feel the love and gratitude they feel for us here. the heartfelt thanks for helping them is palpable on the page. the list of household items like soap and socks - these little things that they can now purchase! my little girl's family planted a tree in my name that she cares for by watering and pruning... it's her way of honoring me and my presence in her life. how beautiiul... donating is a gift to ME as much as it is to them - that i can show my gratitude for the blessings i have in my life... by GIVING BACK!! i am a single mother, i have a limited income and even when times are tough i still know that here in america, i have more than these families do. so small a sacrifice for us - but a world of difference to them... we have so much, and they have so little... "be the change you want to see in the world..." ~ gandhi

I am from Mexico and my husband is from Bolivia, we now live in the States, we have been very fortunate in life and have always wanted to give back to our people, the difference between giving 1 dollar to a child in the street vs giving 1 dollar through CF is huge. In our countries many times parents carry their children in the street so people would feel pity and give more money, this money can very well be spent in alcohol for the father or actually food, however this children don't go to school. I refuse to give my money in such a way! Through CF, I have the confidence that my money is making a positive impact, they actually partner with local organizations so that the money is also used to improve the community of the children and they provide education for parents and involve them. This 2012 my husband and I decided to sponsor 2 children, a 5 year-old girl from Mexico and a 6 year-old boy from Bolivia. We are very excited, already received brief information about their communities. In Mexico, CF and their partner organization is funding a honey project, so families get trained in honey production. They have also partnered with a chain restaurant called Toks, they have restaurants all over the country and they use in their menu this honey. We are still waiting for my complete package to be mailed so we can start communicating with them, we are so eager to get to know them!! Please don't hesitate to donate.

Someone from this charity just came to my door. I shouldn't have answered at all, but because our house is on the market I thought it could be a real estate agent and went to check. The representative used tactics that seemed shady, at best. I asked what percentage of the funds went to the children, and he showed me a sheet of paper that said, in large print 100% of the funds were sent to children, but then in smaller type said something like "and their families, after administrative costs." That seemed sketchy, at best. I told him I wouldn't be able to donate at this time, and he literally stuck his foot in the door to ask me more questions. When I apologized and said I really couldn't help them, he told me I was "really mean." Thanks. Will never, ever consider donating to this charity that uses deliberately misleading figures, aggressive techniques and resorts to childish name-calling.

Have been donating for years, and watching the associated service fees rise, as well as the salaries of administrators. The latest pitch is the $9 birthday card (preprinted on a computer printer) for your sponsored child's birthday. Note the $ goes to "offset expenses" of delivery. Get serious: mailing a birthday card does not cost $9. This is the latest of many "service fees". As a rule, for every $10 contributed, the child gets 8 and the institution 2. Their CEO reimbursement is over a quarter million per year...I am very concerned with the direction of this organization. In the meantime, with a child's well being hanging in the balance, I pay the "tax" and increase the donation so the child gets what I wanted him to receive...you can't just stop giving, but I sure wish you could, and I will not increase my donations to support their staff, though I will increase my donations to my sponsored child: caveat emptor!

I am an educator. I first heard of Childfund when I got involved with the programs of the Cordillera Parents Federation, Inc. I have seen how Childfund works not only in helping the child but more on building a better world by helping children and their family as well as their schools develop to give them the learning they need to live in this world. Through Childfund, the recipients develop life skills they could use as individuals that would aim to build a better family, school, community and may even spread to a better country and even world. The approach of Childfund goes beyond superficiality, which I truly admire.

I am an agriculturist by profession but heavily involved and matured in community development, particularly in the field of social development. Currently, I work with the Cordillera Parents Federation that is a partner of ChildFund Philippines working in the Northern Provinces of the country. We are catering to the needs of the Indigenous Peoples here in the locality focusing on the fundamental rights to survival, development, participation and protection. We are very glad to have ChildFund working and enhancing partnerships with the different local non-government organizations and the mandated local government structures to augment the development efforts in our country.

I am a social worker for years now and been working with non government organizations. Nine months ago, I was employed with the Cordillera Parents' Federation, Inc. (CPFI) working with ChildFund. CPFI is located here in Baguio City covering the province of ifugao, Mountain and Baguio - Benguet. One thing that I really admire about ChilFund is the dedication and commitment on the welfare of the children. It is always them first before anyone else. It is true that some of the children and their family's life improved financially because of sponsorship but it is not all what ChildFund is all about. ChildFund and their partners are on the total family approach. They are not only concern of the child but his/her family as well and the community even. And what else more important is the promotion of the child's wholeness development and to reach his/her full potential as an individual. It's just like help a child, help himself/herself. I still remember when we had a youth coalition in one of our area and a partner agency commented on a youth on how good he is in delivering his speech and I answered, "He's one of our youth leaders." The partner said, "Ah, that is why he carries himself differently compared to other youth here." With that comment, I was filled with happiness and beamed with delight. I say I am proud to be a part of his main support and I am happy and proud to be a part of this organization who is committed enough to change the world for a better place for the children and everyone else. Blessed BE!

My family (wife and 3 young kids) and i are walking across India from the West to the East Coast travelling over 800kms in the process. We decided to do this walk in partnership with ChildFund India and ChildFund Australia. Yesterday it was organised for us to do a couple of project visits and then we were invited to be part of a presentation to provide the items we were fundraising for directly to the children who would benefit from them. The whole day was just the most incredible day of our lives and the work from Prem Kumar from the Indian National Office was amazing and incredibly professional. My three children were able to stand and deliver the bikes, school kits and water filters to the literally hundreds of children and see and feel the wonder of giving to others. We are only at the start of our journey and have many more such events planned. We all reflected that ChildFund was an incredible organisation who gave to us the best day of our lives.

The interventions of Saamasang Federation through the support of ChildFund has been very instrumental and effective in the improvement of disease prevention and control over the past years. The most significant support covered the areas of Environmental sanitation and provision of safe drinking water. In these areas, a total of 22(twenty two) communities and 8 (eight) schools benefited from environmental sanitary tools linking these Institutions and Communities with the National Environmental Agency and the Local Council enhancing regular sanitation exercises and monitoring the exercises. These activities have greatly reduced the incidence of malaria in Kombo Central by almost 35% compared to June 2009 when their three years Area Strategic plan was developed. On the provision of safe drinking water, a total of 6 (six) communities were provided with each a concrete line well fitted with a hand pump benefiting a total population of 6780 people out of which 2570 are children between the ages of 1month to 12 years old. A total of 2(two) Lower Basic Schools got pipe born water benefiting a total school enrollment of 4875 students whilst one community with a population of 1760 was provided with pipe born water. These interventions have seriously reduced the incidence of water borne diseases especially on children and pregnant mothers as observed by the Brikama health Centre. Bravo to ChildFund and all their benevolent donors and sponsors. They are relevant and transparent.

The support the communities of my Federation has received from childFund is multi dimensional cutting across all aspects of the lives of the poor. Over the past years over 30 cluster associations of about 10,000 inhabitants were supported with farm inputs in the form of fertilizers primarily to boost farm production and help in addresing hunger. The fertilizers were given as garnt to the clusters who inturn gave to their members on loans. Moat of the gropus supported have set up their own revolving funds using the repayments from the fertilizers given. Out of the funds they give micro loans to members for investment in micro enterprises. Some buy additioanl fertilizers that they give out to their mebers on loans. Out of the funds some have begun to support the eduaction and health needs of their children.In conclusion the farm input support has proven to be effective tool of poverty allevaition at the level of the grassroot communities in the KairaNyining Federation. Another livelihood venti=ures suppoted by ChildFund include horticulture throug the enhnacement of vegetable production and processing. in this regard support was gven to a number of women vegetable schemes in the form of irrigation water provision and fencing materials. The gadens helped women to grow vegetables for both consumption and sale.The incomes earned from the sale of vegetables are used to provide food, and clothing as well as for other needs of families including education and helath.Another significant achievement of ChildFund in my area is in the area of youth empowerment through skills and entreprneurship development. A skill tarining has been established where youths undergo training in variousslill disciplines such as tie dye, batik and soap production. Upon completion they are linked to the junior achievement program also funded by ChildFund where they undergo training in business management. They are further linked to the credit union of the kombo East youth and children alliance , an umbrella organistaion which is also supported by ChilFund in variety of ways where they can have access to investment credit to operate their small business for self employment.Under the JUnior Achievement program a toatl of over 120 youths have been trained and provided with capiatal to run their own companies and individual business ventures.

I was reunited with my “son” on Facebook.

Omeja Moses, a young boy from Uganda, came into my life in 1996 after I saw a late night TV ad on child sponsorship for ChildFund, formerly named Christian Children’s Fund. I immediately decided to sponsor a child.

Omeja and I grew close through letters, photos and drawings shared between us for over 10 years. I encouraged Omeja, to mind his mother and do well in school. “I told him to take what he learned and teach someone else and he would be rewarded.”

I lost touch with Omeja after he graduated from the program in 2005. I immediately sponsored another child from Uganda named Fiona, who I still sponsors today.

I started a Facebook page to stay connected with family, friends and people I knew through business.

About two years ago I received a great surprise when a message came through, “Hey Mum, remember me? It’s Omeja.”

I was crying, I couldn’t believe it, he found me. We picked up where they left off and are still messaging all the time.

Omeja, graduated from the local University and is looking to come to the states to get his masters! I often wondered during those years if I had indeed made a difference. I know now that I did.

I have been a sponsor for CCF and now Childfund International for the past 4 years. I beleive this charity does make a difference in the lives of many impoverished families. I too get a little steamed over the $9 fee for Christmas and birthday cards but feel the 20% charge off the top for any additional monies donated monthly is really out of line. As for the 255K salary for the CEO it is probably in line for most large charities. I just look at the outlandish salaries for CEO's in the public sector and wager that she could probably do much better outside of Childfund International if she desired.

After visiting Childfund projects in the Phillipines and Kenya, I could not be more impressed with how our donations are being spent. The emphasis on "sustainable" community development has resulted in solid gains in children's health, standard of living and education. Childfund's local staff are remarkably skilled, effective and dedicated.

What Childfund is accomplishing around the world with its partners in Childfund Alliance, could serve as a developmental model for governments and other international NGO's.

I could not be more comfortable as a donor with how contributions are used.

I have been involved with ChildFund for several years, as a sponsor, participating in field visits, and by serving on the Board. I have seen first hand the impact ChildFund makes to deprived and vulnerable children as well as the communities they live in. I know ChildFund is committed to ensuring that over 80% of every dollar raised goes straight to children. I have nothing but positive things to say about this great organization.

I am Ram Halady. I am a software consultant and also an author of Children's stories (series of "Reuben's Adventures on Uncle Ram's Farm").
We don't have any kids of our own - Jeanne and I love Child Fund. It is the best organization of its kind in the world. We have 5 "kids" now, and been a proud sponsor for more than 10 years. One of these days, we would take a trip to see these.
I love CF for the following reasons.
1) More than 80% of my contribution goes directly to the kids, family and the projects.
2) Can see the progress made and what difference a small contribution makes in their lives. We get constant updates and interactions.
3) I have truly become "Uncle" or "Father" of these kids. The family members of these kids take turns to write, till the kids are old enough themselves.
4) I make year-end donations to additional causes.
5) Last but not least, they have transformed into a non-religious group with one single focus - helping the kids across the world, and making a difference in meaningful manner - help educate the kids who otherrwise would be left behind or worse, lost.

Thank you for all you do and making it possible for me to participate.

Ram

I am John Boniface Kulu-Idambi. I am a lawyer by profession. I was sponsored by Child Fund International right from Primary School, High School and at the University where I graduated as a lawyer. Without their sponsorship, I would have dropped out of school

I am a Board Member of Child Fund International (Uganda National Office). I work with the Ministry of Justice as a Senior State Attorney in charge of prosecuting criminals in society. I appear before the judges of Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court of Uganda.

As a prosecutor, I ensure that those who break the law are finally brought to justice. Hence reducing crime in society by sending hard-core criminals to jail. I am the Secretary General of all spokesmen/women in East Africa in the Association called East Africa Public Relations Association. I am the president of the Child Fund International Alumni Association (an association of former sponsored children in the world ). Our patron is the president/CEO of Child Fund International, Ms Anne Goddard. I am as well a member of Uganda Law Society Human Rights Committee.


I thank Child Fund International for sponsoring me because I am from a humble origin. Without their sponsorship I would not have managed to hold such big positions in society. Their sponsorship was equivalent to someone giving his child a fishing net instead of fish.

I am Besy Wandera a former sponsored child by Child Fund. I was sponsored for the the better part of my primary and secondary education and the Fund also gave me a base for University Education.

I am now a dedicated member of the Child Fund Alumni Association in Uganda.

I surely give all the honor to God who who has blessed the sponsors of child fund with such giving hearts.

Thumbs up for child Fund International

I have been a sponsor for a few years now, and let me say that I do enjoy hearing from my two children and believe that I have helped them and their families. I was saddened that this organization bowed to political correctness and changed their name, but I could live with that since it seems to be the way of the world. The thing that bothers me is the fee for sending gifts and the 9.00 for sending a card. I am not a wealthy man and live paycheck to paycheck and I find it harder and harder to justify this extra cost. My girls are only 7 and 5 but unless something changes, I will not sponsor any more children and when mine turn 18 I will drop the program. I too feel that 255,000 is too much money for a CEO.

I'm a former staff member who proudly worked with ChildFund for more than 6 years, serving the most needy communities and children. ChildFund has been driven during the past 5 years under the current President to achieve even higher levels of accountability and transparency, to ensure that maximum funds are spent on program work in the field. I can honestly say that based on my broad exposure to organisations in this sector, I believe that ChildFund is one of the most transparent and most 'lean' in terms of operational overheads. I'm confident that having worked at Executive level in ChildFund, I have the real picture of the operational management costs - and I happily recommend my own family and friends to sponsor children through ChildFund knowing that the money is going to the kids. This is an outstanding organisation with real integrity and lots of heart. The passion and commitment of the staff around the world has to be experienced to be understood.

I have continuously sponsored a child, one after another, with CCF - now ChildFund - since 1981. It was discouraging to see the name changed in July 2009 to ChildFund International. For all interested in reading a history of ChildFund, there is a good write up to be found on Wikipedia. I relate to many of the other reviews posted and quite frankly can't stand the tone of the new excessively dramatic commercials or the MBA driven approach in mass mailings plus the ridiculous gift fees. My current child is nearing the end of ChildFund support and I find myself for the first time in 30+ years debating whether to sponsor another. I'm truly saddened by the new approaches to donors used by ChildFund and am hopeful Anne Goddard will return the tone to charity versus retail business that has occurred.

I've been a donor for about 15 or more years. I first thought very highly of Christian Children's Fund. Now I'm starting to get very disenchanted. They are NOW taking a 20% admin fee for every gift you send your child above the monthly support amount. I think that is outrageous! And if I could find a way to send the money directly to my child (course they have that all sewn up), I would not go through them anymore. And once this child turns 18, I will not sponsor another one through this organization.

First, I don't like being labeled "venomous" for expressing disappointment in the new direction of this organization. I sponsored children over 30 years through CCF, and never felt "used". They also put a "cap" on gifts so that one child wouldn't be receiving lots more than another. Childfund has really ramped up the "guilt trip". $9 to send a Christmas card is excessive. Asking the donor to consider a gift for $50 is also costly. Now I'm under the impression that my sponsored child will feel underappreciated and neglected if I don't fork over $59 in Christmas gifting - in addition to sponsorship. Another time it was a request to buy the child school supplies with her engraved name. Many of us have maintained our sponsorship despite our own financial setbacks or unemployment. My child is almost 18, but now I'm seeing posts that the sponsorship gets extended. I feel badly, but will likely bail from this organization in 2012. I really resent the guilt trips, and the thoughts that some children are significantly more compensated in gifts and money than others, whose sponsors have more limited funds.

I sponsor 22 children, ranging in age from 4 to 23, in 17 countries (including the U.S.). I have been fortunate enough to visit ChildFund projects in Kenya and Ethiopia, and to see in person the wonderful successes at cooperatives and projects in both countries. Meeting the children I sponsor, along with their mothers, was wonderful -- I saw firsthand that I am truly helping those children and their families to change their lives for the better.

I am very proud of ChildFund’s work to help communities break the cycle of extreme poverty, enabling their children to not only survive, but thrive and become contributing members of society.
I witnessed a beautiful example of this during a visit to Ecuador this spring. We toured a village that, years before, had been in dire straits, with malnourished babies and children neglected while parents left in search of food and water. The circumstance of this village was a heartbreaking, and some might think, hopeless situation. As we toured the school, the reservoir, the irrigation system and even some homes, it seemed each person, young and old, was anxious to share his personal success story.
One of the village elders summed it up best in an emotional thank you to ChildFund and its donors. “You made us whole. We can now take care of ourselves and our families. We do not need you anymore because we are a strong village. Now you can leave us to help other villages like you helped ours. We are so thankful”.

I have worked with many international NGOs over the past 35 years, and ChildFund stands out in numerous respects, but most importantly for the quality of the programs they deliver in the field. Sure, the organization manages donors' money carefully. Many organizations can make this claim. But ChildFund delivers where it's most important: changing the lives of the children, their families and their communities.

The return of ChildFund International to 3 star rating is most appropriate and timely, since this great organization is achieving new heights in helping children and youth and their families and communities around the world. ChildFund is one of the few organizations that is based on research and evidence of the most effective ways to support development of children and youth by enabling them to live up to their potential. In addition to literally helping millions of children and young people, we are most touched by experiencing the growth and development of our sponsored child in Northern Uganda who has emerged in the post-conflict era into her adolescence and young adulthood with the support and help of this special organization.

My husband and I have four sponsored children through ChildFund. Like many, we did not like the name change from CCF to ChildFund. However, we would never considering withdrawing sponsorship on the basis of a name change!

We consider the work of ChildFund to be sincere and exemplary. This charity works hard to make a difference, and they do make a difference.

Their communications are very, very good. The flow of information and contact between donors and sponsored children is excellent.

Only one negative really: on the fundraising front, they spend a lot of energy approaching existing donors to donate even further. We can understand this: existing donors have already 'bought in' to the philosophies and philanthropy of this type of giving. However, it is emotionally wearying to have sad letter after sad letter turn up in the mailbox, outlining further tragedies requiring action. Particualrly when you already donote regularly, and have several sponsored children.

We would prefer to see ChildFund direct the majority of their fundraising energy towards signing up new first-time donors. Much harder, and admittedly expensive - but this type of growth is essential.

I'm writing again because I continue to be amazed at the venomous comment by donors. First, the charity changed its name--Childfund is a much better name since it was never a church related organization anyway. Second, the 20% fee is fair. If you don't think so, you have never ran your own company. Read the detailed explanation from one of the staff in Kenya (scroll through reviews) and you will see what it takes to get your gift safely to the your child's/family's hands. Third, I assure you every other charity is spending as much or more of donor donations to get the donation to the family, they are just hiding it rather than being up front.

I have had a number of interactions with the India director regarding my two girls and their families. I have found Childfund to be responsive and helpful at every juncture.

Many of the comments here I believe are unfair and petty. Of course, they is just my opinion. I run a company, so I understand that it is expensive to deliver services effectively and well.

Rather than simply measuring percent of overhead, I would like to see Charity Navigator measure results--actual results in the real world. Success is what matters.

Although I see some nice things being done by Child Fund (which has a new "strategy" changing its name removing Christian from its title), it troubles me that I am sponsoring a family instead of one of the many many orphans first. I have been supporting my "child "and his entire family for close to 10 years now and since then they have had two more children totally 4. I fear that my compassion may be doing some harm to them as it seems ChildFund has created a welfare system rather then a charity. Ultimately with Child fund's cooperation with foreign governments, it leaves them dependent on Child fund / Government. I have to question the motive here now. I would support a struggling family with my own heart anytime knowing that my own heart's motive is only to love my neighbor as myself. I am not trusting in man and the agendas of government and sadly I do not trust this new "strategy" by Anne Goddard.

I was very pleased to join the Christian Children's Fund but have been very dissapointed since they became Childfund International. It seems since then I am constantly getting solicitations for more money, many more than prior to the name. I sometimes get more than one a week. I wrote to the Agency to protest this but never heard a word from them. Also, they now charge $9.00 to send a cash gift to my sponsored child and that was not the case before. I am seriously considering dropping my sponsorship and may well do it. Finaly I am dissapointed to see that the woman who heads the agency up earns $255,000.00 per years. That seems excessive for a charity as does the 20 cents of every dollor I give that does note go to the child. I restate that my dissatisfaction all started when the name changed. It seems there must also have been a change in management or ownership.

My self is DK Behera, a Development Professional associated with many NGOs in the state of Orissa. I know the activities of Child Fund India ( Previously CCF) since 2003-04 as some of my NGO friends are partners and have seen their activites in the field. The various activities undertaken by the partner ageny with the support of Child Fund India is highly appreciable & exempalery. After seeing the work,one can really feel that the Child Fund has taken a sincere efforts to bring a qualitative change/ improvement in the life of the most needy and disadvanteges children , their families and community at large in an integrated and holistic manner.

I am Director of Association for Stimulating Know (ASK) which is a capacity building organization working out of India and have had experience of dealing with Child Fund India and its partners. We found them to be working in the remotest of areas in the country, reaching out to the neediest of groups such as Dalit and Tribal Children in remote rural locations and helping children come out of hazardous work situations such as the bangle and glass factories of Firozabad. What we particularly like was the design of the interventions where Child Fund India could make holistic interventions in the lives of the children, their families and communities on education, health and sustainable livelihood, which makes the intervention quite inclusive in nature. The long term partnership ensures building blocks for achieving measurable results. W have noticed that Child Fund India ahs moved for activities oriented to result orientation and now also looking for financial sustainability through local fund raising. The staff of Child Fund India are professional, the leadership is visionary and at the same tome down to earth and totally incorruptible.

I am Bijoy a Health Coordinator VARRAT a partner organaisation of ChildFund since 1997. The programme initiatives taken by ChildFund through its partners in reducing infant mortality, maternal mortality and morbidity and common endemic diseases in collaboration with Government line departments is definitely praiseworthy. The PD/ Hearth concept to reduce malnutrition is unique and the same practice is adopted by ICDS after 3 years of intervention by ChildFund. I feel proud to work in a ChildFund supported project. It is highly beneficial for the communities.

Myself N.K.Mishra ,am privileged to be associated with ChildFund .This is one of the organization which works for bringing qualitative improvement in the lives of not only children but their families and community in an integrated manner. It's the organization which knows the importance of 0-3yrs in the child Development and plans the programs for the children and caregivers accordingly. Implemented the Relief and Rehabilitation Program in the Super Cyclone affected Village of Mahakalpara in Kendrapara district India successfully . The web site provides complete information on all the projects and programs being implemented for the children and their families. I wish ChildFund should continue helping children worldwide

As Education Coordinator looking after children at schools and strengthning them through co-curricular activities through child clubs . Training children on different aspects that would break there resilience and develop life skill of these tribal children in rayagada district of orrisa was my responsibility in a CFI partner NGO.The Reading Improvement Package (RIP) program was one among the success full programs of CFI .RIP has developed reading skill of hundreds of children under my supervision and monitoring during my five years association with CFI partner NGO at rayagada , orissa .
"Jagarnath saraka of std-4,whom i could not make read his book with all my effort,But after attening your RIP class for three months he is able to read his book and has become regular to school. Please give me a set of RIP cards and teach me the methodology to use it . I want all my children to be like Jagarnath saraka" Said Pradeep sahu,HM jamulalibadi UP school,Kolnara block, rayagada,orissa. this can well say about the education program of CFI

Im Sezaro, coordinator of one community based association called Associacao Kurera Wana located in Gondola-Manica-Mozambique finaced by ChildFund Mozambique.
Im very happy to be part of the work done by this international organization because a lot of things are done and the wellbeing of the children in our community was improved a lot.
Im here to talk about School Garden one of the activity done by our association finaced by ChildFund. This activity is very important becasuse while to giving fish for these children enrolled in the activity we are giving them chance to know fishing while to give them a fish. This mean that is possible continue improving their social life at home producing vegetables to improve their diet and selling excedents for income generation.
Also at school we are improving the diets for all children because there are possibility to prepare soap for the children important to figth against malnutrition. Malnutrition is one of the problem that affect children in our community, doing this we are giving them capacity to grow well. These activity influence the community arroud the schools and now is possible to see positive changes.
We are working with 5 primary schools located in rural area benefiting directly 150 children enrolled in our
programs and more than 5000 children that are indiretly involved.
We need more in other to integrate more schools.

Sastur was one of the severely affected villages by the killer earthquake of 1993 which hit parts of Osmanabad and Latur Districts of Maharashtra .SPARSH is the Rural Hospital which was started with funds from ChildFund (formerly Christian Children's Fund)and UNDP on the land given by Government of Maharashtra and managed by PRIDE INDIA.The Rural Hospital concentrates on providing comprehensive health care services .Under one roof all the services are provided to the patients at nominal cost.This hospital was awarded as best Rural Hospital twice by the Government for the services provided to the patients. On an average 200 patients avail the benefit of the hospital daily.

SOVA, the partner NGO, is affiliated to ChildFund India since 2004. Many milestones have been achieved through Child Club mechanism in Koraput district of Orissa state. ChildFund India is a pioneer organization working for the holistic development of the children in India. It is really a child and community friendly project which has been trying to address the root causes of exclusion, vulnerability and deprivation of those who are living in remote areas and have been facing exclusion and discrimination on the grounds of caste, race, gender and legal status. It has been making a long time commitment as it knows that long term problems have no short term solution. It has been transforming the lives of millions of children across Koraput district with its asset and partnership-based approach. It has been promoting the development, protection, wellbeing and rights of children through incorporating health, education, nutrition, water, sanitation and livelihood interventions. It believes that changing the life of a child is the first step towards changing the world. It considers children as the pivotal point of development. It is also initiating activities meant for children with special needs and children infected and affected by HIV & AIDS. It empowers all the children to thrive at all stages of life by equipping them with the skills and resources they need at all stages of childhood. It always gives priority to children’s voice as it knows that best solutions comes from them only and they are the key factors who will bring an enduring and positive change in the community they belong to.

I was a staff of ChildFund in India for over 8 years. I have personally seen the differences that the projects of ChildFund have brought about in the lives of hundreds of children in India. Through the implementation of RCH program, complete health awareness was brought about among the youth and eligible couples, resulting in safe delivery, family planning, reduction of infant deaths and over 95% complete immunisation of children in the operational areas. Large number of children who were malnourished were rehabilitated. In many project locations, enrollment and retention of children in schools increased to over 98% and quality of education improved. Members of the Children's Clubs ensure that no child is dropped out from the school and in many cases the children have brought back the children to the school and hence, dropout rates are reduced. There are also many youth who were provided with employable skills and are now self-reliant.

As a professional, I can vouch that ChildFund is one of the Organisations which brings about lasting chages in the lives of children in the real sense of the term.

Myself Vasant More am associated with the project supported by ChildFund in raigad District of Maharashtra in India.I was involved in the training of the Children's Club Members on The Child Protection and Child Participation aspects.Not only children but other stake holders were also given training on the creating awareness on the rights of children.The family , school and Society play an important role on the above aspects.

Myself Mrs Anupama Sheth am associated with the project supported by ChildFund in Raigad District of Maharashtra State in India.I am working on the project for 0-3 years which is Called Home Based Intervention. ,Health,Love ,Security and Affection are the four important factors which play an important role in the overall development of child.

I have sponsored children through ChildFund for the past five years, and my experience has been entirely positive. I stay updated on my three sponsored children--two in Uganda and one in Kenya--through regular letters from their family members, as they are too young to write themselves. Their letters leave no doubt that my sponsorship dollars are being put to good use in their families and communities.

I have occasionally seen the objection that ChildFund uses a larger percentage of donations for overhead costs than do other agencies. I have never objected to this--in fact, I chose ChildFund in part because they do prioritize the infrastructure of their work. Without good staff, solid relationships in partner countries, and a sound balance sheet, the mission would suffer.

Overall, I highly recommend ChildFund.

being a child fund beneficiary is a great privilege for me. It changed my whole life. I experienced extraordinary things that a normal child can ever have. I had my first ride in an airplane through childfund. I travelled lost of places in the Philippines because of it. I cant emagine my life without the support of child fund and my sponsors. They are people behind my success :)

I really like ChildFund India's work on the ground mainly because it works for children....Earlier it used form SHGs and promote livelihood opportunities but anyhow it doesn't continue but from child centric point of view i attach my full appreciation to this organisation...Many times I observed various programs implemented in villages....Good! Keep it up!

I have deep respect for the kind and way of works carried out by ChildFund India for around last 8 years at the poorest areas of MP, India. I highly appreciate it for its Sponsorship program..So noble cause it is....I personally know many children who are regular into schools only because ChildFund India's interventions and sponsorship. Go ahead ChildFund India.....

Myself Mr.Rupesh Yerunkar had seen the work of the organization supported by ChildFund.Their emphasis is more on Child's Health and Education.If the child needs any kind of medical assistance even costly treatment at Mumbai this organization sees that the child gets the best treatment at Mumbai.A social worker of the project accompanies the family ,meets the doctors and make sure the child gets best treatment .

Vijay, Country Representative, Fontilles
I have direct experience with Child Fund sharing a partnership with my previous organisation and by visiting villages in Andhra Pradesh where it works. The organisation has all professional qualities to work with vulnerable communities, children and women and has enriched the lives of many. I found the right mix of emotional strength and professional expertise in the Child Fund team. It has helped many children in attending schools and building their career. It has also worked strengthening local structures in a sustainable development model.

Vipul Credit Co-op.Society was initited with support from ChildFund supported project in Mahad of Raigad District in Maharashtra.The mothers of the sponsored children are the members of this credit coopertaive society.It is running successfully for the past 23 years.When people are comitting suicides because of the inability to repay high interest rates charged by the money lenders,this society's interest rates are decided by director board who are the beneficiaries themselves.The reasons for the loans are decided by the members.With minimum paperwork loans are given

Iam Mrs.Ashwinin Gharatkar an ex sponsored child and presently working as the Primary Teacher.I completed my education with support from ChildFund.I got many opportunities to take part in different competitions which helped in shaping my overall personality.The organizated supported by ChildFund helped in the disaster affected villages by running relief camps and working the rehabilitation program.Iam also elected as a member with local goverment body.

ChildFund is a leader in programs focused on improving the quality of life for children living in poverty that is focused on the community to ensure sustainability. I had seen the educational programs like Reading Skill Improvement,School Quality Improvement and Open School for Tribal Children implemented by this organization and was really impressed a lot

Not only works in the villages but strengthens the Community Based Organizations like Self help Groups,Child Well Being Committee,Village Education Committee etc for their empowerment through different training programs and exposure visits

Myself Dr Vinod Goregaonkar,working as Medical Officer had a chance to see and work closely on the Health Programs with the project supported by ChildFund in Raigad District of Maharashtra.As a matter of policy never competed with the government agencies but always supplemented and complemented the efforts of government agency.

I am Mukesh working with a Development organisation and had a chance to experience how ChildFund India working in MP for the children. I see it as great organisation working for a great causes...The impact of interventions is quite tangible in terms of improved health, nutrition and literacy level of the area it is working in...Loads of wishes ChildFund India...Good Luck

Myself Dr V V Kulkarni ,am privileged to be associated with ChildFund .This is one of the organization which works for bringing qualitative improvement in the lives of not only children but their families and community in an integrated manner. It's the organization which knows the importance of 0-3yrs in the child Development and plans the programs for the children and caregivers accordingly.Implemented the Relief and Rehabilitation Program in the land slide affected Village of Jui in Raigad district India successfully in close collaboration with government.The web site provides complete information on all the projects and programs being implemented for the children and their families.I wish ChildFund should continue helping children worldwide

I am Rakesh reside at Dhar district of MP, India..I used to offer my service as village volunteer for ChildFund India..I am associated with this organisation because it cares for children for their Nutrition and education. This is the first kind of organisation working in our area, one of the most backward areas of India. I am grateful to ChildFund India for its responses to the poor needy children through sponsorship program..In my village around 43 children are getting benefited through this initiatives...In upcoming days we want more sponsorship to give those poor children a light of hope!

Myself Mahend from a remote hinterland of Dahr district, M.P, India where ChildFUnd India has been working closely with the, for the and by the poor children/youth who really need support from organization like ChildFund Inida. This Organisation has the dedicated and committed team working enormously for betterment of children with the areas being Health, education and most importantly Nutrition...I am amazed at their dedication. being from the same area I used to work as youth volunteer to suffice the organisation's efforts to bring positive changes. The momentum created by ChildFund India thru youth and Child club is just amazing and Village youths like me are looking forward to keeping the tempo..We will be happy if ChildFund India can provide us with livelihood generation platform so that we can stand on our own feet.

Hi..this is Nrendra from Jharkhand....I am taking the privilege to share few words about ChildFund India. I have been associated with ChildFund India from last 2months and 8days and I am glad that within this small period of time I am able to associate myself with ChildFund India’s area of excellence. There is no doubt that ChildFund India is doing a marvellous job at the grassroots level in preparing a ground for CHILD empowerment. Starting with health to education and ending with employment generation ChildFund India is offering a platform to rural children for overall development. Thank you ChildFund India for all its efforts in strengthening the future of our nation.

It was indeed my privilege to be associated with ChildFund India for the causes of poor and deprived children. I closely observed how ChildFund India bringing smile on the dejected faces of children through various need based interventions. The Sponsorship program, more appropriately called Relationship program has benefited hundreds of children in the area I used to work. I wish all the best for all the future endeavors of ChildFund India. Long live ChildFund India!!

Through the sponsorship program the child and sponsors communicate directly maintaining an emotional relationship and often the sponsor helping the family financially in times of crises and emergencies. The sponsor also helps the child in his education and future career.

For the last 7 years I have been very much interested in following the latest developments/progress of ChildFund India, just for the reason of my passion for children and youth and the commitment ChildFund India has exhibited. Its contribution to the welfare of the children and increasing the participation of youth in development work is noteworthy. In the recent past it has opened its windows to other segments of development, including responding to combating HIV/AIDS through 'Link workers project, currently being implemented in 19 districts of Andhra Pradesh. My sincere appreciation to ChildFund India for the job well done and for its commitment to social cause. May I wish it continues to render its services to many more children, youth and other needy people society.

It is our previlage to thank the ChildFund India for their great support extended to the good cause, as we are working for the children with specially abled in the district of Dakshina Kannada, Mangalore, Karnataka to integrate the specially abled children in regular education with the normal children to mainstream in the society. With the aid of childFund India we have been working in the 15 villages and educating people on early identification of Disability, causes, early diognise, rehabilitation so that we marked to prevent the disability as well also we have been touch the area of Health, Education, Child protection, participation, youth skill improvement & Income generation programme, formation of Self Help Group etc.....Thank you once again childFund India and we hats of for their assistance and programme conducted in and around the country for the grassrout poor people/ Community..With this I close my comment behalf of Mangala Jyothi Integrated School, Mangalore, Karnataka, India

Good Day, I am R S Dhakar Member Child Welfare Committee, Department of Social Justice and Empowerment Government of Rajasthan, Udaipur I am also Regional Director Satya AN NGO, Jaipur. As a member Child Welfare Committee I have attended several programmes run by Child Fund India in Jhadol, Gogunda and Kotra clusters ( remote tribal area) of Udaipur ( Rajasthan) district . Having in mind the various needs and issues of underprivileged of our Society Child Fund India set a vision to empower the downtrodden children, to widen the horizon of their life, to facilitate their normal growth process, to up hold their dignity. To reach the above objects Child Fund India is providing educational service, nutritious food to combat malnourishment, health care services through Bal Vadies where there is no Government Anganwadies. In my opinion Child Fund India renders unique services for under privileged children in Jhadol, Kotra & Gogunda area About 1200 children at 32 Balwaries age between 36-60 months are benifitted. Congratulations to the team and team leader

I am privileged to express my view points about CFI. I find the website of child fund international useful and informative. Though I have never got an opportunity to work with CFI directly, still I know CFI as one of the pioneer organisation working for children and young people. The good thing I like about Child Fund International’s work for the marginalised children with an integrated approach. Community participation is one of the core areas which really strengthen towards sustainable change in the society. Child Fund International is a pioneer organisation sincerely committed for espousing rights of children.

I wish all the very best

It’s a privilege for me to be the volunteer of ChildFund India since 2003 gives us much strength for improving the living standards of the children in an integrated manner. The Age wise interventions are proved better options for the children, family and the community. So we wish long live ChildFund India - D.Jayachandra Naidu, Project Manager, RASS Balaji Bala Vikas, Tirupati

My association with ChildFund India Jhabua cluster has been very enriching as a Project Manager with one of the partner area. Bhabhra, the place where I have been working has been benefited in more than one ways. The sponsorship program is like a boon for the poor villagers here who otherwise cannot afford proper health care and education for their children, thus pushing their future in grave darkness. The programs have impacted them in a very positive manner.

There is no doubt that C.F.I. is a worthy group assisting with the development and welfare of children from less fortunate societies.
Without this organization and others the world would be a lesser place and their involvement is both admirable and essential.

I first became aware of Child Fund (formerly Christian Children's Fund) back in the 1970's while reading my Mother's Time Magazines. I knew when I was still a child myself that I would be working with this charity some day. My first sponsorship began in 1998, and for eleven years I had a wonderful relationship with my sponsored child and her family, who lived in Brazil. It was such a rewarding experience to watch her grow and develop as the years went by. Now my original child is grown, married, and has a child of her own. I currently sponsor additional children with Child Fund, and I am having the same wonderful experiences with these children and their families. Sponsorship is so much more than just giving a monthly donation. Through mail correspondence, we all have a close bond with one another, and view ourselves as extended family members from across the miles. We care about what is going on in one another's lives, giving praise for accomplishments and providing moral support for life's challenges. It is my dream to someday be able to travel and meet my extended family personally.

Child Fund Mexico, is an experienced and very professional organization. We know them for over 12 years now, and we highly recommend their work supporting Mexican Childhood.

I feel ripped off by this charity. I have no idea where my money goes. I have to call and check up on my extra donations. Only after I call, then magically I get a letter from my sponsered child stating they received it. I have never received a picture showing them with the gift (as I was promised by the CCF). I have no idea if my child actually receives anything or even exists at all!! I have sponsered 2 children and the letters are all written in the same exact handwritting. How can that be? I would stop giving to this charity, but I worry that if my boy actually exists, I would be hurting him. I am sure that CCF uses that guilt for their benefit. Also, they went from 2.50 per gift to 20%!!?? Am I helping a needy child or lining the pockets of a rich CEO?? Very Fishy. Very Fishy.

Thank you ChildFund International for being a blessing to over Two Thousands One Hundred (2100) OVC's and Caregivers to access the basic needs like Medical Treatment, De-worming, Vitamin A Suppliment, Scholastic materials, Psycho-social support, Child Protection, Home-Based Care Services, Vocational Training and Income Generating Activities for caregivers in Ndeiya Division, Limuru District, Kenya.

Stephen Njoroge Judy Wambui
(Chairman) - A.I.C. Guthairira (Social Worker) - A.I.C. Guthairira

The Kikuyu District CBO/FBO's CAREGIVERS CAUCUS appreciates and acknowledges USAID and CHILDFUND INTERNATIONAL for the six years (2005 -2011) Project of weaving the Safety Net (WSN) Program in Kikuyu District which impacted tremendously to over Six Thousand Five Hundred(6,500) OVC's and Caregivers.

Stephen Ndung'u (Chairman)
Patricia Njoroge (Secretary)
Jecinta Kago (Treasurer)

Dear Child Fund International:

Sponsoring a child is very rewarding. The children write letters of thanks, and share information about their school and family. It is a program which touches the lives of many, and encourages education and
healthy family living.

At present, I'm sponsoring my third child with Child Fund International since some time in the 1970s. Several years into sponsoring my first little girl, the school was dropped from the program because it failed to meet the standards of care required by the Child Fund program.
I continue to sponsor children confident now that each school is monitored to be sure they maintain Child Fund standards. Our money
accomplishes what the organization claims to do and is well spent.
Child Fund does what I can't do for the children that need us. The pleasure of following the progress and development of 'my' child, is a gift I give to myself.

Jessie I. Fernandes

I have been a CCF Sponsor for many years. Each year on my sponsored child's birthday I send a $100 cash gift. For this service I was charged $2.50 over and above the amount of the gift to the child. This year I find that CCF is taking 20% of the money($20.00), intended for the child and his family, for this service.

When I originally became involved with CCF it was my understanding that my monthly contribution went directly to provide services for my sponsored child, but now in rereading their mission statement I find that they say that they combine the monthly contributions to help people in the area where my sponsored child lives.

Recently, I received a telephone call from a Childfund Fundraiser trying to get me to agree over the phone to sponsor more children.

The more that I hear the more this is starting to sound like an organization that thinks they know best what to do with my money.
Kind of reminds me of the government.

My family has been a donor to CFI for several years now. I am a mother to 4 children and find that children's charities hold a special place in my heart. With so many charities out there it is important to find one where your money is best spent. I am impressed with all of ChildFund successes. Thank you for doing what is obviously a labor of love.

I've been a donor for more than 20 years, and when the child I currently have is finished with ChildFund, I will be finished too. They used to be a good charity back when it was Christian Children's Fund, but now they are in the business of ripping off donors. The new policy of taking 20% of any money gift to your child for "processing" is a complete highjack! It doesn't seem bad if you are only giving $20, but if you want to give your child $100 they take $20! You don't have to look far to find much better charities, PLEASE DO! I am giving them a one star rating only because the system won't let me give them NO STARS!!

After more than 10 years of sponsoring a child in Brazil, I came to be very
disenchanted with ChildFund International. The letters from my child were all the same--from age 5 to age 15 plus--even when the 'child's' favorite subject was English never did I receive a letter written by my child. The handwriting was all the same and I came to believe it was all a scam. Year after year, I sent money for birthdays and Christmas....usually $50 per occasion but sometimes $100. Long before ChildFund announced it would skim 20% of the gifts, they were ALREADY skimming off the gifts! I no longer trust this charity and I don't even know if the 'child' I sponsored even exists!

I have sponsored children through Christian Children's Fund - now ChildFund - for over 30 years. I was very sad when they shed their Christian identity. I tried to dialog with two of their staff members over the change when it happened and was extremely dissatisfied with the way they skirted my questions.

I still have three children sponsored with ChildFund, and I will continue to support them, but I will not replace them when they graduate from the program.

I sent $20 to a child for his birthday recently and he only received $16. That much of a bite out the gift is unacceptable to me, knowing how much value the money has overseas.

I have already begun to sponsor a child with World Vision, and my strategy is to transfer all my support to that organization over time.

I was happy with this organization when it was the Christian Children's Fund, when I first became a sponsor 27 years ago. Now, not so much. They take way too much money out of the donation before giving it to the child. The other day I received a notepad with my sponsored child's name on it, with a request to send it back to the organization with a donation. Where is the logic in this? Why didn't they just sent the notepad to the child? I don't intend to stay with this organization after my sponsored child comes of age. I'd rather find another organization now, but that doesn't seem fair to the child.

I have sponsored a child for a number of years -- since before my own children were born. And it's been a fantastic experience. I've learned so much about her country, her way of life, her family environment, and most of it leaves me speechless. To know that I can help such a beautiful child, even in such a small way, is so humbling. I've received letters from her, and from her family members, as well as drawings. And when I look at the pictures she's drawn, and I know they are for me -- that's an incredible feeling. This little person on the other side of the globe took time out of her day to draw me a picture. It's very special. Over the years I've also received photographs of my sponsored child. And I've seen her grow taller, but still, so thin. And I see her clothes, and cannot help but to compare them with the brightly colored, well-fitting clothes my own children wear. Though comparisons like this are of course saddening... the experience of sponsoring a child has brought something so unique and wonderful to my life. I think every year there is something else I could put that money towards. And when I know that I'm not going to spend it, but rather share it, I feel at peace. I would recommend ChildFund to anyone wishing to add a new dimension to their lives. Every letter I've ever written has been answered, and every donation I've sent has brought me a heart-felt thank-you. Whenever I've had to contact the national office I've had a quick response and positive experience. I don't feel like my donation is going "out there" somewhere. I feel like I am actually connected to this little person, and when I get the letters detailing what she spent her birthday money on, again, I am humbled. It's easy to get caught up in the "there are so many organizations out there, I don't know which is best." From my point of view, ChildFund is one of the absolute best. I took a chance on ChildFund, and I am so glad to have this in my life.

I've been sponsoring children through Child Fund International for over 25 years now. I have such admiration for this wonderful organization and would encourage anyone who is considering sponsoring a child to go for it! Words can't express how rewarding sponsorship has been for me.

I started sponsoring one little girl in India in 1985, added a young boy in Bolivia in 1987, and now sponsor six children. Each one is different, but special in their own way. We exchange letters and it is so gratifying to hear about their successes, see how their confidence grows and know that CFI and my sponsorship has really made a difference in their lives.

Here are some examples of the wonderful things "my kids" are accomplishing:

Mae, in the Philippines, is now attending college, studying Electronics & Communication Engineering.

Deekshith, in India, is studying for a Bachelor of Commerce degree.

Mariama, in The Gambia, is first in her class and plans on becoming a nurse.

I am so proud of them, and am really not sure that all this would have happened without the support from CFI.

I am extemely unhappy with CFI. I have been a sponsor for years (since it was Christian Children's Fund) and I am not sure what happened when they changed the name from Christian Children's Fund to CFI, but there is a marked difference in this organization for the worst. The last three cash gifts to one of my sponsored children have not been received as far as I am aware. The first time I called to ask if she received it since I had not received an acknowledgement, I was told "I can guarantee she received it". After the third concurrent occrance, I do not believe them. I used to suport all of their endeavors, but no more. I will not drop my current sponsored children since I have a commitment to them, but I will not sponsor another child through this organization. I am also disappointed that they dropped "Christian" from their name. I was led to believe that they were sharing God's word through their missions which I have since found out is not the case. If one of your goals is that your sponsored child learn about the Gospel, this is not the organization for you.

When money is tight, you watch every dollar you give away very carefully. We have cut back our giving to only a very few organizations and CFI is definitely one of them. Their work on behalf of children worldwide is outstanding and you can trust that every dollar you send is spent appropriately.

I have reviewed much of the literature provided by Child Fund International and am impressed by the level of service that is provided to so many needy children and their families throughout the world. I feel it is also noteworthy that a high percentage of each contribution goes directly to the provision of these services, rather than being absorbed by administrative costs. Therefore, I have chosen Child Fund International to be the recipient of my donations on several occasions.

We have been sponsoring Joyce in Zambia for about 5 years now. Joyce's neighbor writes letters to us on her behalf and includes an list of the items purcased with her birthday and Christmas gifts. It's especially gratifying to see that we are buying goats and roofing materials that are benefiting Joyce's entire family in addition to items for Joyce herself.

I feel that CFI is a very good manager of our donations and we're planning to continue to support our child.

Our company sponsored 2 little girls in Senegal for 15 yrs. Sadly, when we merged with a company based in India they decided to cancel the support. We sent birthday & Xmas presents & received updates, thank you notes from the girls, & many letters.
We have personally been supporting a girl in Uganda since she was 5 yrs old. She is now going to school to become a nurse & we are happily paying her tuition for the 3 yrs of study. Sarah writes to us often with deep appreciation for our support. She tells us about her family, now about her classes, & how happy she is on the way to becoming a nurse. We send money for her birthday & Christmas & we are VERY UNHAPPY ABOUT THE NEW CHARGE CONNECTED WITH THESE GIFTS.

Wow, some of these complaints about ChildFund International really resonate with me. I've been a sponsor for 20 years, but now I really question where the money is going and how much good it's really doing for my sponsored child.
My first sponsored child kept changing his "educational concentration" from age 18 to 21, so the local program could say he needed more time.
My current sponsored child turned 18 last January; now the local program says he wants to be sponsored until he's 24 (24???!!!!?!?!) so he can finish junior high and high school. In what society is someone a child until age 24?
His report cards have always been mediocre. All his letters for 10 years had to be written by someone else because "he can't do it yet", and the 2-dimensional drawings he allegedly sends haven't changed at all in 10 years. What's going on here?
To top it off, I have to agree that the 20% surcharge to send a monetary gift sounds usurious.

I have been sponsoring children through this organization for a number of years and was not happy with the 20% fee they charged on monitary gifts. A call to the headquarters put the cost into perspective since there are many steps between the reception and distribution of funds for the stated purpose. They are not dealing with electronic transfers and ATM's on the corner.
I still was a littles miffed until I want to do a sponsorship with a similar large organization. They charge $35.00 per month as opposed to $28.
While ChildFund will accept modest monitary gifts this organization will not accept gifts for the sponsored child UNDER $75.00!!!!
I will not complain about ChildFund again!!!!!

I have sponsored a number of children through this program over the past 30 years and am sponsoring 2 at the current time. I was once very pleased to be part of what I considered a wonderful organization. However, since they have changed from Christian Children's Fund to ChildFund I have become frustrated with their new focus which seems to be about tacking on exhorbitant adminstrative costs at every turn.
For example, I just received stickers and note pads with each of my sponsored childrens' names on them. Included in the packages were solicitations to send this "free" gift for the cost of postage ($9.00). Now they have gone to the trouble of custom printing who knows how many of these cute little note pads to mail to us (for the supposed cost of devery to our kids). For the cost of all of that, they could have just sent the note pad to the child directly. Really? Stop pestering us for these goofy (and transparent) fundraisers and spend your time and money making a real differernce in these special childrens' lives by supplying them and their families with things they need!
The 20% off the top of any gift for administrative expenses also bothers me considerably. I will no longer deal with this organization after the two kids I am sponsoring now exit the program.

My family has found the opportunity to save a life through Child Fund to be a great joy and learning opportunity for both the adults and our children.
We have sponsored a young boy from Ethiopia since he was 4. Alias is now 13 years old. There were times over the years when we could barely pay our bills. However, we never missed giving so this child could live. In the process, the children who are more blessed in my life have learned the joy and blessings of giving. Alias has brought more joy to us than we could ever give to him. We have been fearful that we would no longer be able to support the child we love as he gets older. I am relieved to find out that we can continue to support Alias. I would not stop supporting my biological child at any age and I am pleased to know that we can continue to support Alias as he grows into a young man. There is very little chance that Alias can find employment in the region of the world he lives in and I can not turn my back on him. Child Fund is the only organization that I am aware of that offers such a unique opportunity to the donor. I stress: You can save a life for under $40.00 a month. It is a no brainer.
I speak from experience. I work with homeless children in the U.S. I know the cost of covering expenses. I was disapointed to see that some folks were riled because the cost of send a gift rose from $2.50 to 20% of the gift. It costs that amount for me to supply a gift to one of the the children I serve locally. Ok, you have to go out and buy the gift (which in a 3rd world country is not always easy) transport the gift to the child and then the child sends a thank you letter ( the letter part is expensive also)
Please ask your self why you are giving this donation? Do you want to save a child's life? Do you really need to eat out? What is more important? I don't mean to sound preachy. I am just so happy that we are blessed to save a life. That is awesome to me. Thank you Child Fund for valuing all children.

As a former senior executive with ChildFund (several years as CEO in Australia and then five as Regional Director in Asia) I know first-hand the difference the organisation makes in the lives of children in the poorest parts of the world. I regularly visited programmes from Indonesia and Afghanistan to Kenya and Ethiopia and was always inspired by the incredible determination of children, young people and their families to shape their own destiny through the long-term support provided by ChildFund.

I vividly remember meeting a Ugandan woman named Immaculate who was chairing a cattle restocking project - she spoke with such pride and passion about what it meant to her community to have livestock again (their cattle had been stolen by rebels)...they could feed themselves, provide milk for children, pass on calves to other villagers. Even more importantly, this project had given them hope again.

I have 15 years' worth of stories just like Immaculate's...real people with names and children and sisters and brothers who, with a hand up from ChildFund, have grabbed a new future with both hands.

I have sponsored students through Child Fund for over 25 years, In 2006, I joined one of their Study Tours to Brazil and was able to spend a day with my sponsored boy, who was 13 at the time, and his mother. Previous to our visit, I would get obligatory notes, thanking me for birthday or Christmas presents. Then we got to meet, and I have since received long letters from him. Within each one, he mentions his trip to the ocean to meet me and how much his mother enjoyed it, too. We are now "real people" to each other and it has made such a difference.

My family has been sponsoring children through ChildFund for over 11 years now. My mother, sister, and I support 17 children from all around the world...each one of them capturing a piece of our hearts. Our family sees our money not as our own, but as "God's money", and thus, choosing a charity, and supporting it with enthusiastic hearts means really doing our homework to ensure that the money we invest is being put to good use. It is with confidence that I can report that ChildFund is incredibly careful, respectful, and responsible with the money donated to it's organization. We even had a situation many years ago where one "project" was not accounting appropriately for it's funding, and ChildFund informed us that they regrettably had to terminate help in that area. ChildFund knows the burden and responsibility of being accountable to it's sponsors, and I believe that they are doing the best that they can to meet the needs of the sponsors and the sponsored...not an easy balance. The 20 percent increase that many people are referring to in their write- ups is a big change, but it's one that should have been happening gradually over the past 10 years. It requires time and money to deliver special gifts to our sponsored children. When we sent a recent gift of a $500.00 cow, for example, to Uganda, it requires time and one on one effort from multiple employees to make arrangements for the purchase, delivery, protection, etc. I can't possibly pretend to believe that the old fee of $2.50 would have been sufficient to cover the expenses of this task. I am more than happy to pay for the privilege of having someone help me deliver gifts to our beautiful families all over the world! We love ChildFund! We can't say enough about what wonderful things they do!

I was extremely happy with this charity when it was Christian Children's Fund. Since it became Childfund, they have a new policy of taking 20% of each monetary gift I send to my sponsored child and their family. I would drop this charity in a minute if I wasn't so concerned about my sponsored child.

My husband and I have been sponsors of children in Christian Childrens' Fund (now ChildFund International) for over forty years. During that time we sponsored a boy named Anastacio Papa in the Philippines for at least fifteen years and became quite well acquainted with him. When he was 21 and had a job we moved on to other children. Last month he looked us up through Facebook and with the help of my granddaughter found me after 20 years. It has been a real thrill for me to learn that he went on to college, has a degree in Accountancy, and is a business manager for a company that manufactures sandals. We have renewed our acquaintaince and exchanged photos and he is continually thanking us for our support of him. He calls us his "foster parents". It is so wonderful to know that our small contribution to his welfare has created a fine, successful man. We always had confidence in CCF and this is more proof of the excellent work they do. Ruth Bogia

My elderly father has been sponsoring children through this organization (first as Christian Children's Fund and now as ChildFund) for several decades. However, now that I am handing my father's finances I have been taking a closer look at the organization's solicitation material and am really bothered by some of it.
For example, we just received a preprinted birthday card that we could sign and return to ChildFund, who would then turn around and deliver it to the child for $9.00. Nine Dollars?!?!? I could send a card for 44 cents because this child is in the US. I understand that some of the money must go to subsidize delivery of cards to children in foreign countries, but $9???? That just is exhorbitant!
We also received a pack of animal stickers that we were assured any child would LOVE. Well, our "child" is 15-year-old boy. I sincerely doubt that he would be thrilled to receive animal stickers. Again, we were asked to send $9 so that ChildFund could deliver these stickers to him. Give me a break! Why doesn't ChildFund look at the demographics of who their gifts are intended for?
The 20% off the top of any gift for administrative expenses also bothers me considerably. All in all, I am not inclined to deal with this organization again after our "child" ages out of the program.

ChildFund is a leader in programs focused on improving the quality of life for children living in poverty that is focused on the community to ensure sustainability. Anne Goddard and her team have a passion for what they do and could all be earning a lot more if they worked in the private sector. ChildFund has a global presence and reach that makes them incredibly relevant . They are not a perfect organization but I have yet to find one that is. They are making a difference and impacting the lives of the most vulnerable.

I have had the opportunity to meet a number of ChildFund leaders from the headquarters staff and various countries and have been impressed with their skills, professionalism, integrity, commitment to the mission, and focus on having a sustainable impact through their work. I have had the privilege to work with leaders of many respected corporations and non-profit organizations and would compare the caliber of their counterparts at ChildFund very favorably.

I am devastated tonight as I have had to cancel my sponsorship after following my sponsored child for the last 7 years. I have spoken with Child Fund regarding their gift giving policy of several occasions. I sent various e-mails and made a number of phone calls related to this issue. I tried to explain that when I sent a gift for my child that the gift was for my child, not administrative processes, I was even willing to add a handling fee. I had been paying Childfund $34 each month, $10 more than other sponsors. Several times during my sponsorship I was asked to increase my donation and was more than willing to comply.

During my last conversation today, I asked to speak with a supervisor. I explained that I given more than $300 to the charity annually. I send $25 for my child's birthday and another $25 for Christmas. 20% of $50 is $10, They chose to let me walk away rather than ensure my continued loyalty for $10. The woman on the phone even offered to reduce my monthly donation from $34 back to $24, I told her that I wanted to continue paying $34 each month, and what I wanted was her assurance that any gift that I sent to my child would be given to my child in entirety. She assured me that she was unable to do that and that she could not transfer me to someone who could.

My heart is broken as a small girl in Honduras will be learning that she no longer has a sponsor. I feel like Childfund is using their resources poorly and is using their children to guilt sponsors into staying the course. I pray that Childfund takes a careful look at there policies before children loose their sponsors as well.

In the 3+ years I have served on the ChildFund board, I continue to be amazed by the level of care, integrity, and professionalism with which this organization is governed -- both by the staff and the board. It truly is a shining example -- in both the non-profit world, as well as among the Fortune 500 organizations I have had the privilege of working with -- of how to organize effectively to achieve stated goals on time and on budget. ChildFund is singleminded in its mission (to assist deprived, excluded, and vulnerable children and those that care for them) -- and pursues that mission efficiently and effectively. I have met mothers suffering from AIDs in Ethiopia who had gainful employment and could support their children, thanks to ChildFund. And ChildFund helped to provide children and youth in rural Ecuador with a local health clinic, pharmacy, and doctor, when formerly they would have had to travel 2 hours by bus to receive care.

I have served on the ChildFund board for four years and I couldn't be more impressed with the delivery and quality of the programs in the field. The children have access to education, health facilites, clean water, and along with their parents are helped with developing agriculture and other sources of healthy foods. The kids are happy and entusiastic. A combination of internal and external audits assures that the money is spent as it is intended. The staff makes this organization and I am convinced that it is excellent and highly motivated.

ChildFund International and the ChildFund Alliance have a strong, clear mission and program model: to work with communities to build sustainable programs to help every child sponsored and every child enrolled in that community. They work with preschool, school, and youth age groups. I have visited ChildFund programs in 5 countries and I serve on the Board, working with program, finance and oversight. Our donations definitely are put to direct use to benefit children and their communities; our funds are carefully audited and well spent; the staff are dedicated and very hard working. ChildFund has a 70+ year history and experience. An outstanding organization we should support and be proud to support by sponsoring a child or supporting programs (preschools, schools, water, women's health, microcredit, youth, HIV/AIDS, and others).

I have served on the boards of a dozen non-profits and this wonderful organizaton has been the most rewarding because it very efficiently helps so many of the world's most vulnerable children. I have seen so many lives that seemed hopeless have an opportunity to achieve their potential through the work of the dedicated staff of ChildFund. My only hope is that ChildFund is able to raise more money to help even more children. We recently visited a project in Ecuador where life 20 years ago seemed hopeless for the children but with 20 years of help this community has been able to achieve good education for most(80% finish high school and 20% go to college) and also develop clean water systems and use water for irrigation and raise crops for market and have an opportunity for the children to grow up and have good jobs. This community is now ready for ChildFund to move on to another community to give them the same opportunity.

I serve on many non-profit boards but am particularly impressed by ChildFund International and the ChildFund Alliance (which it helped launch) for 3 reasons: (1) the program model is based upon a framework created by research involving affected children, youth and communities; (2) the services and Programs empower beneficiaries to " be all they can be" by helping them live up to their potential, and (3) a special effort is made to develop national and local people as volunteers and staff. ChildFund's focus on the next generation is critically important at a time when the population most developing countries are predominantly young people. Improving their health, education, skills and well being is a proven way to improve themselves, their communities, regions, countries and thereby improving the world in which we all live

I am a board member of Child Fund and we just visited Ecuador on a due diligence trip to see our communities in action. I was awed by the progress the children and families have made in each community. In some communities we have been there 2 years, in other places, 20 years. The takeaway is in all places Child Fund serves the children and families are very fortunate to have their services. A big reason for the success is due to the professionalism and dedication of the Child Fund staff in each country. They are an inspiration. It is humbling and an honor to be associated with this great organization.
Austin B.

My 2 daughters and I have been supporting 17 children in total for quite a few years. We LOVE Child Fund and the way they do such wonderful things for the children in the program. We have had several children not need our assistance any longer as their villages were made self-reliant, thanks to Child Fund. We were then able to have other children come in to our lives and have been so blessed in being able to help. Our goal is to meet the biggest need of each of our families, one at a time by the end of the year. So far we have bought 2 cows and a food kiosk! These aren't just gifts, they are things that can change a family and a village. It takes so little to save a child. Thank-you for the opportunity to help.

I have been with this organization for over 8 years and sponsor a girl in Uganda. There is so much more involved when choosing an organization than the 20% fee. The focus is who you are helping and what difference you are making in a life or community. I found them to excel in communicating with me about my sponsored child. There was a war going on in Uganda and they were able to contact the family and tell me they were safe. Yes, I get letters from my sponsored child but also from the Community Leaders and they put me in their small newsletter. They respond very fast. I've donated money that I wanted just for my sponsor childs community. They contacted them to find the need and quickly got back to me with what they would use it for. Within 2 months I had a letter with pictures in my hands of the Trade School they built and sewing machines and wood working equipment we bought. I had pictures of students. I get updates on how many graduates there are yearly. Also in special gifts to my sponsor child communication and action are very fast. With my sponsorship my child is becoming a nurse. What if I let the 20% stand in my way? Her life would be very different. They gave me the conduit to make a difference in the world. Isn't that the focus?

I have been a sponsor of Children's Fund since 2005. I was very satisfied, and still am, with the 20% expense deduction from my monthly donation, and well aware that all organizations need to deduct administrative costs. I always give more than the minimum monthly assistance. However, I was absolutely appalled by the organizations administrators, when they decided to withhold 20% from ‘special gifts’ and holiday/birthday contributions that go directly to the child and family. That is outright extortion and greed. A $2.50 administrative fee seemed appropriate for these types of contributions. I would have been willing to have a small increase in that fee if the costs were excessive. But, come on – 20%? That’s taking money straight out of the mouths of the children that they are mandated to serve.
I’m continuing to sponsor my child with monthly donations, but will not be sending any additional monies to the family as long as Child Fund continues this practice.

I've read the back log of criticism that ChildFund has received for it's 20% admiminstrative fee. Good grief, people, how many of you could run a business with only 20% overhead? If you've got an 80% profit margin, I want to invest in your company! People who work for nonprofits have mortgages, children, health expenses just like you. Do you "volunteer" at your job or do you expect a paycheck?

Working in developing nations that have little or no infrastructure takes a lot of feet on the ground. Money won't magically rain onto the heads of struggling people. It takes one person at a time making the right phone call, connecting with the right person. I have no personal opinion about ChildFund International other than I have friends who are sponsors and who asked me about all the kerfuffle on these pages about overhead. Get real. It takes money to give money unless you are willing to fly over to Kenya every month yourself and personally deliver your good will.

I was going to make a contribution to Charity Navigator. Then I discovered that all the reviews critical of ChildFund Int. had been removed. Over the past year, the vast majority of reviews had been highly critical. I made my complaint to ChildFund, particularly on the issue of the exorbitant 20% creaming off for gifts to sponsored children and their families, but also about the high compensation for the CEO and her overall awful leadership. Although the Board's response was polite, it also was unresponsive to my criticisms. Therefore, while I will continue to support my sponsored children, that's all I will do. I respectfully suggest that Charity Navigator restore last year's reviews so that people may have a fair perspective.

I contacted Childfund to find out how my donation I was planning on making to Japan would be handled. I was told that 70% would go to the cause and 30% would go to Childfund administration cost. I find this to be outrageous and will take my money elsewhere.

We have worked with Child Fund for five years now. We love being in touch with our sponsored children and knowing that what we give helps them and their families in so many ways. The extra we donate above and beyond the monthly support is greatly appreciated by the families. We cherish every letter that comes to us. CF allows us to do some good for someone else and that is reward in itself.

I have been a donor for more than two decades, continuously sponsoring three children. without notice, I discovered that the yearly Christmas and Birthday gifts I sent to the children were having 20% taken right off the top. To me, this is theft right out of the children s pockets.I am so disappointed I am now looking for a new organization for my donations.

20% fee is outrageous and enough reason for me to seek other charities to support.

After donating annually, with several gifts throughout the year, for several years running, first they changed their name (to childfund international) -- no big deal to me as it did not appear to affect matters.

Subsequently, they changed their gift policy, from a flat $2.50 charge / gift to a WHOPPING 20% of the gift, claiming expenses, graft, etc.

Very surprising that they hold a hard stance on this matter, and are losing members, at least as far as the postings on other review boards (my review was removed, so I have no idea how many more were removed as well).

20% is an outrage. Goodbye.

They recently asked for more money to keep the children in the program. And now, Childfund is going to take 20% of my gifts to them, to use for delivery? I just sent $150 to one of my children to pay for 3 medical treatments that he needs. This means they would be taking away one of his treatments from him. I think they are robbing the children and taking the sponsors for a ride. I could see a flat fee for delivery, if it was absolutely necessary, but 20% is exorbitant. I sponsor a child through Compassion International, and they don’t seem to need excessive amounts of funds or to take extra out or the hands of the child I sponsor in order to keep up their program. Also, they have much better communication set up, with much faster response time. And that child is in Uganda, so it is even more remote than Ecuador and Honduras, the countries where my Childfund children live. If I weren’t as committed as I am to the children I sponsor, I would quit this program. And you can be sure that I will be sponsoring further children through organizations that are not ashamed of the name of Christ, and don’t seize money from the hands of the hungry, or those with medical needs for any reason.

I would have continued to sponsor my child if it were not for three things. The ridiculously high salary of the CEO & President, Anne Lynam Goddard that is not reflective of a lean organization involved in charitable giving. The enactment of a 20% tax on any gift that I give my child. Their justification is laughable. Are we to believe that if this organization has a well established infrastructure to provide for the health and welfare of sponsored children that it requires some incredibly difficult additional effort to exchange US Dollars into a local currency and transport that gift to the family? Really? Or is it more likely that Anne Lynam Goddard thought she could extort a portion of a gift that her organization had been entrusted to deliver. 20%, 20%? Has everyone gone mad? This is typical liberal minded dribble, it's an entitlement mentality. For the record, you do not deserve a penny of that money, I gladly paid the $2.50 handling fee for years, that is reasonable. It's a fee, and it's rational. What if wanted to give $1,000 would your organization really feel entitled to withhold $250 from a needy family I am trying to help? If you answer yes, you are two things: first you are not rational, your position would not withstand the merits of a rational argument and second you would betray your true nature as being self-serving and in your line of work that is anathema. Finally, when I called to discuss this with a representative at CFI I could not have been more displeased with the manner in which the other party reacted to my questions and comments. It was like debating a 13 year old. Condescending, incoherent and juvenile behavior to a donor is unforgivable in any audience. We are done, after 7 years, I do not trust this organization, I do not trust the CEO and I will find another medium I do trust to distribute my gifts.

Last summer I travelled through Kenya and visited with my 4 sposored children. I save first hand how much support CFI provides to some of the neediest children in the world. They are able to help the families with their basis survival needs,and health needs. They form close partnerships with the Kenyan government to provide free public education to the children until eighth grade. Not all African countries do this. I was so impressed how they can stretch money to do the most good for the most children. They have a very dedicated staff, I met amazing people in Kenya.

We are on our fourth child sponsored through ChildFund, originally CCF or Christian Children's Fund. We've been with the program long enough to see two of the children through childhood and into college. Children can be sponsored in many areas of the world. Health and Education are two areas they really focus on along with teaching self help and self reliance skills to help individuals make a living on their own. Everything from Prenatal care and education through college education is done to help these children and their parents. I urge you to look at the site and see what they do for yourself.

We searched for an organization that helped children and their families (regardless of their personal religious beliefs) based on their needs of daily survival, education and human rights. We found ChildFund International to meet & exceed all our expectations. For several years we sponsored one child, and now two. What a difference we can make to those in less fortunate circumstances by sponsorship. Annual updates and photo's are sent by ChldFund, as well as several letters, hand drawings and pictures sent by the families sponsored. Becoming a part of the ChildFund family, as well as your sponsored child, you will feel the heartfelt gratitude of many. ChildFund is exceptional in all they do...Do you know in disaster emergencies, they are there too? Relocating families, setting up relief communities...they are there for the children and their families 24/7...This is an organization that I highly recommend and hope you find in your heart to donate or sponsor a child. It truly changes your life....and others.