How to sponsor a child: your questions answered

ActionAid has almost 50 years of experience changing the lives of children and communities through child sponsorship.

Child sponsorship is not just a band-aid solution; it's a viable route out of poverty. We have a robust and evidence-based approach to providing support to countries around the world.

We work hand in hand with local communities to ensure the solutions we implement are long-term, feasible, appropriate and sustainable, ensuring that the work we do empowers communities to become self-sufficient.

Child sponsorship provides children and whole communities with secure access to food, water, education, healthcare and the opportunity to earn a living.

Here's everything you need to know about what sponsoring a child means, how it works and how we use your sponsorship funds to change lives.

Child sponsorship: your questions answered

How much does it cost to sponsor a child?

It costs £19.50 a month minimum to sponsor a child with ActionAid. You can also choose to give more.

I'm ready to sponsor

How long will my sponsorship last?

There is no set sponsorship period.

As a sponsor, you will see a child through his or her formative years and help him or her grow. This means making a long-term commitment to a child and their community.

There is no minimum requirement but most of our sponsors tend to sponsor for at least five years.

You can continue to sponsor your child up until they reach the age of 18, when they leave the sponsorship programme.

There are occasions when sponsorships can end earlier than expected. This might be due to a number of reasons, from the child migrating out of the community where ActionAid works, to the community becoming self-reliant and continuing without ActionAid's support.

If this happens, we ask our sponsors if they would like to continue sponsoring a new child.

Why does child sponsorship cost a minimum of £19.50?

We ask for a minimum of £19.50 a month so we can provide lasting support to the communities that benefit from your sponsorship.

The communities we work with require long-term support, so in order to come up with a minimum amount, we estimate the cost of implementing the work when we set up a new project and calculate how many children will need to be sponsored in order to achieve the planned work.

How do I sponsor a child?

You can select the country of a child, and we will set you up to sponsor a boy or a girl.

Or if you'd prefer, you can leave it up to us to match you with a child where the need is greatest.

Find out where we have children available to sponsor.

Start sponsoring now

Why can't I choose the age or gender of the child I sponsor?

ActionAid is committed to decolonising aid and development. We recognise that the aid sector must do more to redistribute power and challenge harmful stereotypes. We also understand the importance of self-reflection and continuous improvement, and progressing ActionAid UK’s anti-racism work, which includes reviewing our public communications and fundraising products, and this is a key organisational priority.

We have taken the decision to remove options for child sponsors to choose the age or gender of the child they sponsor. If child sponsors wish, they may still choose the country in which they sponsor a child (or may choose ‘I have no preference’). By removing child specific options, we continue to improve child sponsorship, reduce administration and overhead costs associated with greater complexity in administrating child sponsorship preferences, and continue to update our fundraising in line with our organisational commitments to decolonisation and anti-racism.

We don't plan to reintroduce these options.

What happens if I need to cancel my support?

You can end your sponsorship at any time, for any reason, without causing any harm to your sponsored child.

Because of our unique approach, your child and his or her family will continue to benefit from our investment.

Projects are designed to benefit all families living in the area regardless of whether or not they are part of the child sponsorship scheme.

What is child sponsorship?

Child sponsorship is an effective way of giving that sets up a relationship between a donor and a beneficiary child and community. It is a fundraising method that helps us support whole communities including sponsored children.

Is child sponsorship ethical?

There are some myths around child sponsorship being unethical; claiming it causes family rifts, imposes the charity's political views on children and families, and fosters passiveness and dependence.

At ActionAid we have a unique approach, where a child is not singled out to be the sole beneficiary of child sponsorship funds.

Sponsored children represent their families and communities as 'ambassadors' and are aware that the donations help them, their siblings - even those who are not sponsored, families, neighbours and peers at school.

The funds are shared widely in the community and go towards community projects that help all - whether it is building wells, buying school equipment, or providing seeds and livestock to women to set up their farms and businesses.

At ActionAid we do not impose our beliefs or values onto the sponsored children or family. In fact, ActionAid is not a political organisation and follows Charity Commission guidelines on political activity by charities.

We are only political in the sense that we are partisan – we take the side of women and children affected by poverty in developing countries - and we engage in political debate with decision-makers over how best to remove the barriers that keep people poor.

Lastly, the work we have done so far shows that ActionAid's child sponsorship programme is not set up to proliferate dependency or encourage passiveness.

Our projects in local communities are set up to be self-sufficient and in some areas continue long after we have stopped funding a project in the area.

And our partnership model where we work closely with the communities themselves means that everyone on the ground is involved in the process from day one. We do not consider ourselves as outside benefactors and we do not view our beneficiaries as passive recipients of support.

We include beneficiaries in all the decision-making, development and implementation process by working closely with our local staff who are based within those communities and other members of those communities as well.

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What happens when I become a child sponsor?

As soon as you sign up to be a sponsor, we’ll send you a welcome pack with a photo of the boy or girl you’re sponsoring and a little bit about them. And that’s just the start of the journey you’ll go on together.

You’ll get two handwritten messages a year from the child you sponsor, telling you about them and their life – they might be letters, drawings, or postcards – plus detailed updates about how they’re getting on from our staff in their country.

You can write back to the child you sponsor. Over time you’ll get a new photo at special milestones so you can see them grow and thrive.

Frequently asked questions

How are children chosen for sponsorship?

Once a community has been identified as suitable for child sponsorship, the children from the community volunteer themselves for the child sponsorship programme.

We always require permission from a child’s parents before we include the child into the child sponsorship scheme.

ActionAid views the relationship between the sponsor and the sponsored child as a partnership. It is explained to the children before they join our child sponsorship scheme that they are acting as ‘ambassadors’ for their entire community, and that they have one supporter in particular who they are linked to.

Sponsor a child now

Where does my sponsorship money go?

80% of the donations we receive through child sponsorship goes overseas (while 20% is spent in the UK on raising awareness and finding more supporters).
Of the 80% overseas gift, 70% goes directly to your sponsored child’s community or, if there is an exceptional need such as a life-threatening emergency, another community within their country.
The remaining 30% is used to fund other vital work in developing countries, and running child sponsorship so that you can receive messages from your sponsored child, and hear how your gift is changing lives.

Set up my sponsorship

Can I post a photo of my sponsored child on social media?

We kindly ask that you don’t share photos of your sponsored child on social media. The consent that we get from children regarding photos is only applicable for ActionAid's work, so the child may not expect to see a photo of themselves shared on social media.

Another reason is that photos often have identifiable landmarks or other elements that may make the child’s location known, which could potentially put the child at risk.

For these reasons, we state in our safeguarding policy that photos shouldn't be shared online without ActionAid UK’s approval.

Can I send a gift to my sponsored child?

We appreciate the gesture of a gift to sponsored children; however, we do not encourage special gifts of money or goods to be sent to individual children for several reasons.

This might cause jealousy and unhappiness because not all of the children within the community are sponsored.
Some sponsors might send gifts that are unsuitable in nature or value, which might confuse or disorientate the child and their family.
In the countries where we work postal systems can be unreliable, and we cannot guarantee that a parcel will arrive at its destination.
Additional resources may also be involved as ActionAid staff would have to collect and deliver any packages to remote areas that are difficult to reach and in some cases customs duty may also be payable. These costs often outweigh the value of the gift.
Wherever possible, we also try to purchase items for the community locally; this not only ensures better value for money but also helps to improve the local economy.

To avoid disappointing supporters who want to give a little extra, we have set up a Gift Fund for each programme and donations to this fund are used to benefit all the children in that community.

The children are asked what gifts they wish to receive and sometimes this money is used to buy sports or play equipment, books or to buy a small gift for every child in the school.

Please get in touch with our Supporter Contact Team on 01460 238 000 – our lines are open from Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm - to learn more about donating to the Gift Fund.

Why can't I choose the religion of the child I sponsor?

ActionAid is not a religiously affiliated organisation and has never offered a way to select or filter based on religion.

Why did I get a boy when I wasn’t able to choose a girl?

To end inequality and injustices against women and girls, men and boys must be involved. We include boys as children who can be sponsored, so that our work continues to also benefit men and boys living in poverty, and everyone in their community.

When you sponsor a child, your money goes towards projects supporting whole communities. These include projects and initiatives aimed at improving gender inequality. So, whether the child you end up sponsoring is a girl or a boy, you will always be helping to support gender equality and equity.

Why is child sponsorship still being promoted as a product?

If ActionAid UK is prioritising Anti-Racist Storytelling, why is child sponsorship still being promoted as a product?

We recognise that the aid sector must do more to redistribute power and challenge harmful stereotypes. ActionAid is committed to decolonising aid and development. Over 20 years ago, we moved our headquarters to South Africa and started developing independent, locally run and locally staffed member organisations in almost all the countries where we work. Equally, our child sponsors and regular givers are a diverse group of people around the world who share a common belief in the dignity, rights and potential of all human beings. They include supporters in the UK of many backgrounds, ethnicities, and faiths. Globally, supporters in Brazil, India, South Africa, Indonesia, Thailand, Kenya, Nigeria and many other countries donate to ActionAid’s work through child sponsorship. 

Our global Federation is especially reliant on contributions from individual givers, most notably via child sponsorship. From 2021 fundraising data, we know that individual giving makes up 45% of federation-wide income, of which 84% comes from regular giving; 63% of which is child sponsorship income. We are therefore working on diversifying our market offering, to revitalise and reinvigorate our fundraising, and all teams working on child sponsorship will, in the meantime, continually improve the marketing and retention communications for child sponsorship in line with our anti-racist storytelling guidelines and ethos. 

Child sponsors tend to maintain their support for a long time, and we use their supporter journey (our communications with them) to raise awareness about the systemic injustices underlying poverty and marginalisation. Many of our sponsors go on to get involved in our campaigning work to challenge such injustices, pressuring their own governments to change policies that perpetuate inequality and racism both at home and globally. As an organisation, we are proud of our local, community-led feminist approach and believe it is creating sustainable change for good. We also understand the importance of self-reflection and continuous improvement, and progressing ActionAid UK’s anti-racism work, which includes reviewing our public communications and fundraising products, and this is a key organisational priority.

What will my child sponsorship pay for?

Food

Nutritious meals for children and seeds and livestock for families to grow their own food

Education

Schoolbooks, fees, equipment and even a whole new school building in the sponsored child’s community

Clean water

Building wells, purifying water sources, and better sanitation facilities

Healthcare

Medical and dental clinics, basic medical supplies and health education

Can I visit my sponsored child?

Yes, you can visit your sponsored child. For many people, a visit to meet a sponsored child or to see an ActionAid project is a transformative experience and the best way to see how their support is making a difference.

We can’t cover the costs of your visit, but our local staff will help you make arrangements to meet your child. We usually require two to three months to organise a sponsor visit, so please do get in touch!

How do I write a letter to my sponsored child?

Letter-writing is an important part of your relationship with your sponsored child and his or her community.

Instead of lengthy letters, we suggest writing hand-written messages on coloured postcards.
Please remember to keep your sentences relatively short and simple.
Only a few sponsored children speak English so your messages will be translated into their local language by our field staff.
Children like to know more about you, your family and friends, where you live, where that country is, what pets you have, what animals there are in the country, which sports you like…any of these is a good place to start! Read our blog for more letter-writing tips.

Can I sponsor a girl?

Yes, you can choose to sponsor a girl. ActionAid is an international charity that works with women and girls living in poverty and we focus specifically on girls' education and ending violence against women and girls.

How does my sponsored child benefit from my support?

Child sponsorship was originally set up to provide a few children with the books, uniforms and equipment needed to receive an education.

However, over the years our experience has shown that children were only making so much progress without their family and community thriving around them.

A child can't be supported in isolation from their community. To single out a few lucky children to receive special education, gifts or other individual benefits would only encourage dependency and wouldn’t help them to improve their standard of living in the long term.

For example, if the land in the area where a child lives is infertile and food is hard to grow, that child will not be able to support either themselves or their family when they have left school. Equally, if there is no clean water supply, people will continue to get sick. We believe the best way to help is by tackling the root causes of poverty.

So our child sponsorship programme has evolved to help the whole community in a long-term and sustainable way by providing clean water, healthcare, agricultural programmes, income generation schemes and education centres in areas where schools were not available.

All these programmes are linked together: we know that if a child is hungry or is constantly ill through lack of clean water and healthcare, their ability to attend school will be seriously affected.

Can we sponsor a child as a school or group?

Yes! We can easily set up child sponsorship for your school or group. The easiest way to do this is to speak to our Supporter Contact Team on 01460 238 000. Our lines are open from 10am to 4pm from Monday to Friday.

When will I see the difference my child sponsorship makes?

You will be able to see first-hand the difference your support is making and the progress that can be made and the impact of the development process on the lives of individuals, their communities and families.

We share regular news, messages, letters or drawings from the individual children and reports from the country programmes to help sponsors learn about the places in which we work and the development issues.

12-year-old Ouk benefits from sponsorship in Cambodia.

Cindy Liu/ActionAid

How child sponsorship is helping girls like Ouk

Twelve-year-old Ouk lives in a village in Kampot, Cambodia on the frontline of the climate crisis.

Extreme weather, erratic rainfall and rising sea levels in Cambodia are destroying traditional ways of earning a living such as fishing and farming.

And when livelihoods are affected, it's often girls who are pulled out of school to help families survive by supporting household chores or doing odd jobs to make ends meet.

But child sponsorship is helping girls like Ouk to stay in school  and receive the education they need.

Thanks to ActionAid’s support, Ouk's school has been able to provide classes on vegetable-growing and gardening so that she can help her family adjust to the changing climate.

Where can I sponsor a child?

You can sponsor a child in 26 countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America including Bangladesh, Rwanda and Guatemala.

We update the countries you can choose from on a regular basis. You can even choose to sponsor a child by picking 'where the need is greatest', if you are undecided about your choice of country.

What will I receive on signing up to sponsor?

As soon as you sign up to be a sponsor, we will send you a welcome pack with a photo of the child you’re sponsoring and his or her story so far.

You’ll get two handwritten messages a year from your sponsored child – they might be letters, drawings, or postcards – plus detailed updates about how they’re getting on from our staff in their country.

You can write back to your sponsored child. Over time you’ll get a new photo during special milestones so you can see them grow and thrive.

Get started with sponsorship

Can I sponsor a boy?

Yes. We include boys as children who can be sponsored, so that our work continues to also benefit men and boys living in poverty, and everyone in their community.

I don't live in the UK, can I still sponsor a child with you?

You can donate via credit card, sterling cheque, or bank transfer. Credit card payments are the most effective option for overseas sponsors, and you can set this up easily online or call our Supporter Contact Team on 01460 238 000.

All these methods do, unfortunately, incur a bank charge and because of this we advise our supporters to make their payments either annually or quarterly, to minimise the cost.

Do you have a coronavirus fund for my sponsored child’s community?

No, we do not have a separate fund. Child sponsorship funds are already being used within local communities to ensure that we maximise the work our staff and partners are doing to control the spread of the outbreak and help those affected.

We do have a fund for anyone who wants to donate specifically to our coronavirus response.