Save the Children Federation, Inc.

I have been very happy overall with Save the Children. I sponsor 4 children through them currently, in 3 different countries, although 3 of those are rather new, and I don't have data on them yet. But I've sponsored a child continuously through them for about 18 years (4 different children). They are great about sending regular updates, and handwritten letters and drawings from the sponsored children. I have sponsored the girl in Nepal the longest, and it gives me an immeasurable joy to see how she has progressed over the years... when I first started sponsoring her she looked frightened and probably didn't have much of a future, being a girl in a culture that favors male children, and being an Untouchable (Dalit) in a poverty-stricken community. I am able to send her small gifts, which the STE country coordinator emails me about promptly, to say what was received. In the past, I've even received photos of my sponsored child with my gifts! So I know they arrived, and that she got them. I actually love to write to the children, and I have read a statistic somewhere that sponsored children who receive letters from their sponsors (even just one letter a year) do significantly better (some 30% or so) academically than children who do not receive letters. I can't change the whole world, but maybe I can help a few people out there. And Save The Children makes that possible. I traveled to Nepal a few years ago, and while I wasn't able to make it to the far-flung region where my sponsored child is, I was able to meet with the STE country coordinator in Kathmandu. She was great -- she made time to meet with me and she was incredibly kind and thoughtful even though I'm not a big donor to STE. I really like the STE website which allows donors to login, see photos of their sponsored children, and see what is being done in their specific communities. Also, their website (after you've logged in) allows you to send an email message to your child. This is a great feature! The only negative thing I have to say about STE are that if a child moves out of STE's impact area (something over which STE has no control) they will give you a new child to sponsor. That has happened to me twice, and it makes me sad....because of course you want to see the child grow and flourish. I think that when kids turn 18 in the STE program, they are "done" and at that point you get another child. But I don't see how STE can do much about whether or not a child moves out of their impact area. I have heard people complain a about being bombarded by mail from STE, but that hasn't happened to me or anyone I know. I get regular (but not overboard) mailings from STE, just enough to keep me informed. I do wish there was a way for me to continue sponsoring my child for longer. I know that the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging allows donors to sponsor the children through their twenties (for university or trade school or whatever) for the same cost as sponsoring a child in grade school or high school ($30/mo). I wish that Save the Children offered a similar program.

CEO 2009 compensation $365,130 (source: Charity Navigator). I donate about $350 per year to STC. 1,042 donations of $350 are required to pay just the CEO's salary. Does that seem a bit excessive to anyone other than me? I am considering re-directing my money to another organization where the CEO's salary is more reasonable. Any suggestions?

I wanted to support STC's midwifery training program. I had a list of specific questions about the program that were answered via email by the Acting Associate Director of Operations for the Newborn and Child Survival Campaign. It has been my experience that other charities do not offer such one-on-one communication. When I have a question a representative guides me back to their website.

It's simple. If you want to help poverty stricken children, STC is your best bet. forget all those other organizations. STC is by far the most reputable and efficient children charity out there. I dont know where all these negative views are coming from because in the world of charity anyone whose been around long enough has not only heard of Save the Children, but also recognizes it as one of the leading non-profits.

Five members of my family made one-time donations in memory of a loved one two years ago. SInce then we have ALL been inundated with STC mailings and emails despite numerous calls, letters, and emails from each one of us requesting that we be taken off their lists. It is a total waste of money that could be used to help children! It has changed the way I think of STC, and that's a shame.

I could not find an "unsubscribe" link on their website, nor is that an option to check on the printed donor forms. When I emailed (again) last year and requested to be taken off all lists, I got a response back that said I would receive (and I quote) "a reduction in volume of communications from us". That was a first - not "you have been unsubscribed from all communications from us". Reduction in volume? I have personally received 5 mailed solicitations in the last 4 weeks!

All 5 of us have tried repeatedly with no success to be removed.
It has gotten to the point that when any of us receives a solicitation from STC, we send emails to each other with the title "STC again". It has become a bad family joke. But it is really very, very sad when I think of the wasted cost.

I called again a while back and was transferred to someone who said STC gets calls like mine all the time. The person said it was an "executive decision" not to take names off, and also there are numerous non-integrated mailing lists and that's probably why we all get so many mailings. I said I keep sending back the donor form with "remove from all lists" written on it and the person said it won't do any good. I am not revealing gender here because I don't want anyone to get in trouble.

Clearly a worthwhile organization, and I strongly support the work they do. However, one should use caution if using monthly credit or debit cards to donate to their monthly program, because it can be difficult to discontinue the charges. There is no option to cancel at their Web site, so I mailed a letter asking them to discontinue the monthly charges to my account. Nonetheless, a charge appeared in my account two weeks later. About three weeks after that, I received a letter from them asking me to "update my account information"; they clearly still hadn't processed my cancellation, so I called and gave them a verbal cancellation. A charge AGAIN appeared on my account the following month! I think I finally got it straightened out with a repeat phone call.

One also wonders why they have such an expensive monthly sponsorship program; other charities seem to be grateful for smaller donations.

I worked for SAVE and while it is better than many organizations such as World Vision they are not good at providing the professionals needed to design a project or program. Often bad projects especially in education are developed. That is because professionals do not write the projects and they are destined to fail. Project managers are told to write positive reports anyway which I did many times. Corruption happens because their projects are not well managed or supervised. I could have easily walked away with the money for my project because there was no spot checking to see if I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. I met some of my colleages in the field who were doing just that. I saw other projects which were definitely irresponsible. This is in a former soviet country. I will not divulge the country. The project managers I met were also not of a very high quality.
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