Save the Children Federation, Inc.

This organization has been taking money from my bank acct after I have tried numerous times to cancel my donations. I would urge you to never engage in any donation with this group. I was finally driven to close my bank acct to get rid of them.

I sponsor two girls here in the USA and have for several years. I appreciate the work that Save the Children is doing. Especially that I was able to select girls in the USA to sponsor, in order to support children here in the States that need just as much assistance as those in other countries. While the donations are not allotted for your specific child, I am hopeful that the money I am donating actually goes to the children here in the USA, rather than abroad. I have questioned my membership several times, but feel that this organization is still beneficial, so I continue to make monthly contributions.

My review is not reflective of the work of STC but from the perspective of a long term donor. Every month for 30 years STC has debited my bank account with me increasing the gift periodically as funds were available. That is until this summer when I notice the amount coming out increased by 12%. I contacted donor services and was told that they had sent me a letter "inviting" me to increase my gift and since I didn't contact them to say not to, they went ahead and did. I had to prevent them from increasing not agree to it. In the tone of the response, the increase was my fault. I was incredulous.

The anonymous donor services rep offered to reverse the increase if I had been offended. I responded to end the donation since I felt I could no longer trust them not to try to slip something by again. The response to this was not what I would have expected to a 30 year donor. I was no longer sponsoring anyone specific and obviously my gift was not sufficient and the "opt out" method got them more increases than drops. Even still, when they ended the draw they ended just the base gift and I am having difficultly getting the "increase" stopped.

Donors should not have to work hard at giving and through me sharing my experience with colleagues and friends they have lost many more donors than just me. I will direct my gift to a organization that hasn't so many donors that it can blatantly risk offending and still come out ahead.

I recommend Save the Children, both as a donor and as an employee, for the following reasons:
1) the organization focuses its services and programs for children both in the U.S. and around the world;
2) the talented staff are dedicated and results-oriented;
3) investing in children is the smartest, most effective way to create a lasting impact.

Save the Children is a leader in the industry - driving best practices through collaboration, research, and evaluation. It's a priviledge to be a part of such profound work - work that saves lives, protects children from harm, and gives children the opportunity to learn and thrive.

Save the Children does amazing work. It's nice to know that they focus on children. While some of the kinks are still being worked out, as they have grown substantially over the last 10 years, they have managed to respond to disasters when children needed them. It was surprising to learn that they setup safe spaces for children after the Sandy Hook shootings and they were on the ground in Oklahoma helping everyone get back to "normal". People don't realize when there are tornadoes that means day cares are shut down and parents are faced with finding emergency child care so they can go to work.

Today I received a "Cold-Call" masquerading as a local cellphone origination. I was greeted with a Boiler Room voice pleading with me to increase my very long-standing donation. I listened to the pitch and then asked for a supervisor. The supervisor told me that they were "representing Save The Children." I explained to her that their company's business model was deeply flawed and that I would hold Save The Children responsible for perpetrating a phone scam in pursuit of additional revenue. As a result of becoming a victim to this tactic I will have to very seriously reconsider the continuation of my 15+ years of support for Save The Children.

As a resident of Fairfield County, I am honored and thrilled to have such an outstanding organization in our community. Their tireless effort to raise awareness for children is inspiring. What I have come to appreciate most about Save the Children is their ability to respond immediately to emergencies here in the United States and overseas. During Hurricane Sandy this past year, Save the Children responded almost immediately, setting up child friendly spaces for the children displaced by the storm. Even almost a year after Hurricane Sandy, Save the Children is still helping victims of the storm rebuild their lives. Their work in Newtown is also something that should be recognized. Save the Children was a present figure after the Newtown tragedy, setting up spaces where kids could learn to cope with the tragedy they witnessed.

I am proud to be a Save the Children supporter. They are a fantastic organization and deserve tremendous credit for all the work they do.

Save the Children is an invaluable partner in carrying out lifesaving interventions through their health care programming and utilization of front line health workers. Their newborn and child survival efforts are absolutely essential. Their recent innovations and awareness efforts include kangaroo mother care, "steroid injections for women in preterm labor to reduce deaths due to premature babies’ breathing problems; • resuscitation devices to save babies who do not breathe at birth; chlorhexidine cord cleansing to prevent umbilical cord infections; and injectable antibiotics to treat newborn sepsis and pneumonia."

I have been a donor for STC for well over a decade. I've had some things happen in the past that I wasn't too happy about...for instance, when the little girl I chose to sponsor moved out of the area, I was just randomly assigned a new child without being told, given the choice to cancel my donations, or pick another child myself. All in all, it was a minor thing, so I let it slide. Then, my credit card expired. I kept meaning to call, and kept forgetting (I was pregnant with my daughter and had an extremely rough time, being on bed rest for 3 months at home, one in the hospital, so forgive me for it slipping my mind.) I had forgotten about updating my card, but no need to worry, STC somehow did it for me...that's right, they somehow found my new card info and started billing me again...WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. The final straw, I went through a pile of mail last night and found yet another mailing from them. I get mailings at LEAST once a week (most of them, like this one, have something about important account info on them.) I was about to throw it out, when a little voice in my head said to open it. I opened it and read the letter inside. THANK GOD I did. They are now sending out letters telling people that they are going to automatically raise my DONATIONS by $3 a month! I have to send in a slip of paper in order for them NOT to do this. Needless to say, I am so over this charity, and I will be cancelling all donations to them from here on out

My Goddaughter sponsors a little girl through Save the Children and it's been wonderful for both girls. They correspond like pen pals. It's great way to teach young people the importance of charity, compassion, multicultural sensitivity and the positive power of getting a letter in the mail.

I'm happy to see that my donations have been going to a 4-star organization. However, I don't plan on contributing any additional dollars, since Save the Children has risen to the top of my list of obnoxious charities, sending me requests for funds by mail every few weeks, interspersed with frequent phone calls. Since I have a policy of annual donations only, most charities disappoint but Save the Children heads the list. Incidentally, I am contacted by the Salvation Army once or twice a year and I was happy to increase my donation to this group last year.

As a son of a non-profit CEO I am also outraged by the salaries of STC and World Vision executives. As a leader in Christ, you are called to sacrifice, not enrich yourselves. My father would at times pay his staff before himself - indeed even sometimes borrow. They rested on their faith, meeting for prayer every morning, and God did not fail to provide the needs of the staff and my family, as well as the constituents of the organization around the world.

I am ashamed that I have supported these two organizations for a decade without ever researching the salaries you pay yourselves. Enjoy your reward now Mr. MacCormack and Mr. Stearns, and encourage your cohorts to fully embrace theirs as well. For it is built upon the suffering of those whose stories you exploit for gain. Consider yourselves paid in full.

To those who are surprised or offended by the salaries of the leaders of this organization, I would ask you to consider the enormity of their work. This is a charity that is managing over half a billion dollars annually. This charity has a global reach. The level of sophistication required here, demands the best and the brightest talent available. I can assure that these salaries are far less than these leaders could garner in private enterprise. Perhaps this is the reason that Save The Children has such a high rating from Charity Navigator and the donors themselves.

God bless you all,
-Ken

I work in the industry and I deeply admire Save the Children's work. Having seen their work in Ethiopia during the hunger crisis last year, I can tell you first hand how effective and efficient they are. To see them teaching oppressed Somali girls to read and reviving children who were nearly starved to death was nothing short of miraculous. The best thing, though, was to see how much the children loved and trusted the staff. Their workers are among the brightest, nicest, most generous people I've ever had the pleasure of working with. I also like that they are independent and have a strong governing board and impeccable ethics. All around fantastic charity for a great cause.

From all I read about Save the Children they do excellent work. I would not under any circumstances donate to an organization where the CEO receives a salary of almost $400,000. I can only imagine the organization's justification for this. Shameful.

Did lots of research trying to find an organization to donate to at year's end. After some extensive vetting I'm very satisfied with this one. Not only do they get very high marks for financial efficiency, they have a lot of awards and commendations for the quality of the programs. (So they aren't just fiscally prudent, the money actually does good.) I was also happy to see that they have programs that range from disaster response to education and that sort of thing. Certainly in the top tier of charities that help kids!

I have been looking for a charity that helps the improvished children of the world. Save the Children stands out from all the others. But I was amazed of the salary of the CEO. It is so contradictory of the work that this charity does. Do you really need almost $400K a year to live comfortably? I have always wondered where the funds are spent having managed a non-profit organization in Massachusetts. Even there it was questionable with management and paying for their families health care out of donations. I am reconsidering my donation to this organization. My money would be better spent traveling to these areas and giving the money directly to the families in need.

I guess charity begins at home for the president / CEO. Compensation Paid to Title
$391,194 Charles F. MacCormack President, CEO

I constantly use the publications that Save The Children publishes. In particular, this year, I used the publication on teenage pregnancy being a leading cause of death in the developing world. This topic is not really addressed in the literature, but the Save the Children looks into this problem which is actually a really big deal. Thank you for advocating for this and many other forgotten or unaddressed causes. Your publications and research cis being used academically and professionally!

Most importantly- Children are our future and so very fragile. My life would never have been as rough if I had help from this wonderful organization when I was young.

Know it from the volunteers in the booths or street , also on website.

From working in the financial sector of the nonprofit work for several years, I am always very concerned about where the money is being spent. Save the Children's administrative costs are very efficient. I am very comfortable recommending this charity, they put the children first.

Save the Children melts my heart the work that they do. You can't imagine a child going without clean water, essential medical supplies and food, but they do it all, and then somehow create programs for education in their own environment and beyond. What I do love about them, is that they do not just concentrate on third world countries, but also poverty in first world countries on our own doorsteps. They seen the silent struggles within our community that often get left behind. They are a great organisation and I am proud to be a regular donor to their cause.

I think what you are doing is great. I hope one day I can help more.

I have been a volunteer of the Romania "Save the Children" wing for 1 month already, and I took place in only one event, but a very big event where we managed to get the hospitals in Suceava equipped with Incubators. I enjoy working as a volunteer, because I know that what I do, I do it for the children, not for myself.

We have sponsored three children through Save the Children over a period of many years. Each child has received very important educational benefits as well as essential help with nutrition. The communications with the field staff have always been very informative and have given valuable and pertinent information about how funds are used in the specific areas of the countries in which the children live. Also the reports from the organization as a whole provide good detail about the use of funds and how these make a very real difference in the quality of life of children in need of support. Our family will continue to donate to Save the Children as long as we can. We believe in their work and trust them to make responsible use of their resources.

Every year I make donations to Save the Children, particularly dating back to August of 2008, when my identical twin brother and I set the Guinness World Record for the Longest Tennis Rally and did it to support Save the Children. Our record was hitting 25,944 balls consecutively without having breaks for eating or drinking - at that point approximately 25,000 children were dying around the world on a daily basis of preventable and curable diseases. We ran a car wash, silent auction and tennis clinics and cardio classes all to raise money for charity. In addition to their work around the world Save the Children is typically a first responder for catastrophies here in the US, with the latest example being Hurricane Sandy. I am proud to continue to support Save the Children, not only because they help people in need, but in particular because they help children in need. Finally, the majority of the funds that I and anyone else donates gets put to use (over 85%) while other charitable organizations use the funds for large company salaries. Visit www.Rallly4Charity.org to learn about our world record for charity.

I just recently started donating to Save the Children. I believe in their Mission Statement and like the idea that they have life-changing programs for children of the US and abroad. Over 89% of my donation will actually go to fund these programs. I follow Save the Children on Pinterest and I repin the inspiring quotes and the pictures of the children they help.

Save the Children is one of my favorite charities. I donate once or twice a year for several years now. They are a great nonprofit because they help any and all children not just in the US and not just Christian children. They help children of all races, genders, countries and religions especially children who need it most.

Save the Children is a great nonprofit. They are very efficient with donations and I have seen them on TV many times and trust them with my money. I have donated what I can over the years. My employer matches my donations as well. Poor children in the United States and around the world need help because they can't take care of themselves. My son works there and I am inspired by their work.

I am a donor for Save the Children and have been since 2004. At first, I donated to them after the tsunami in Asia but I have donated every year since then because Save the Children is one of the most efficient charities in program to expenses ratio. I have learned since then that they not only provide emergency relief but also other non-emergency programs for children (like education) overseas and in the US, a fact I didn't know. They also appeal to me because they support all faiths and religions and not just one. Children are universal. I am a father of 2 kids and that is what made Save the Children appeal to me. Also, they are open and transparent with their communications and actively listen on social networks. I really like their ties designed with children's artwork. Too bad they don't make them anymore. I like them so much that I work for them too!

Great people working to help children, both throughout the world but also here in the United States. Their work is vital in getting food and education to underprivileged children, and to make sure that the governments are accountable to this often overlooked group. Our children determine our future, so we need to make sure they are given the opportunities needed to succeed, and Save The Children does this very well.

Save the Children is truly an amazing organization to be part of. Everyone that I have met during my time here is extremely passionate about their job, as well as promoting the company's overall mission, which is to make this world a better place for kids. Save the Children does incredible things for children here in the U.S. and around the world and the work done here is incredibly inspiring. This is truly a wonderful organization and I whole heatedly recommend volunteering with them!

Maybe I'm missing something here, but I'm thinking Charles F. MacCormack's (President, CEO) $391,194 salary could save a lot of children.

There are lots of organizations out there right now who claim to do good work and use your money wisely, but honestly, I don't think a lot of them are as transparent or responsible as Save the Children. I don't give to an organization I don't trust, but Save the Children does an incredible amount of work all over the world and the money really does go where they say it goes. They also want their programs to be self sustaining, even after they leave. Working with communities and families to develop solutions that have long term positive effects is an approach I will support!