My Nonprofit Reviews

I sponsored a child for about three years. Children International just seemed like a obvious choice because I live in the Kansas City area. I got so much mail and e-mail from them, though. It was just a river of requests and "news" or whatever, I couldn't tell you what it all was because it started feeling like junk and just went straight in the recycling. But worse, after a while the child letters felt really generic. They felt like they were written by the parents or whomever because they had to, like a chore. I started wondering if they were really receiving help from me or that was just an act to make me feel more obligated. So I started asking around, and I talked to someone who had left there. They said the headquarters in Kansas CIty is disorganized and wasteful. This site says almost 20% go to "administrative" costs. That's almost 1 out of every 5 dollars I gave to them! And your money doesn't go to the child, it goes to the company first and then they distribute it however. The child doesn't actually receive anything at all from me unless I follow some complicated rules about amounts. The person told me several other bright people were leaving, because there was too much incompetence. They said there were a lot of people working at the headquarters who had been there forever and basically spent a lot of time and money making simple things complicated, and smart people got frustrated and left quickly. They said management didn't hold anybody to any kind of quality standard, just give people offices who couldn't get a job anywhere else. I know it could have been just sour grapes talking but the person I talked to seemed very down to earth. I should have known. Just look at the website, it is old-looking and messy. I don't know how they can spend that much money on "administration" and still look like a mom and pop operation. If the whole place is like that then it reaally is a mess. It sounded like a lot of money was just being sponged up there that should go to the people who work with the kids in the field. I really want to help kids, but sorry, I am taking my money somewhere else.

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