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Learn about Plan child sponsorship and how it supports our child centred community development approach.
Stable source of funding
Child sponsors provide a stable source of funding that allows us to work with children, families and communities in 49 of the world’s poorest countries.
The number of children sponsored is directly related to a real figure of resources that are needed to realise the community's development goals. If Plan has not found sponsors for children that are part of the program, then that program is not fully funded.
Benefits all members of the child's community
Sponsorship contributions, along with other sources of funding, are used to finance child-centred community development projects, which benefit all members of the community, especially the children.
Builds a bridge of understanding
But beyond the importance of its stable funding, sponsorship provides a bridge of communication and cultural understanding between 1.1 million supporters from our 17 fundraising countries and 1.5 million children, their families and communities in Plan’s program countries. Through sponsorship, Plan brings together people of different cultures and countries, building a global commitment to the needs and rights of children.
The sponsored child serves as representative for their community and through the exchange of letters, photos and regular reports, sponsors gain a real insight into Plan’s development work.
Meaningful participation of children
As part of our ongoing commitment to improve the sponsorship experience, Plan recently worked with sponsors and children to design a new communication package and processes. The new design ensures that sponsorship activities in the field are much more integrated with Plan’s Child Centred Community Development approach while providing real opportunities for children and sponsors to build relationships and learn from each other.
The new sponsorship processes encourage all children in a community, not just sponsored children, to participate in program activities and then share experiences in their own words through the annual area updates sent to sponsors.
Commitment to efficiency
Plan is also committed to efficiency while maintaining the effective management of sponsorship activities across the world. ChildData, Plan’s new sponsorship software, has been developed to reduce the number of systems in Plan and to simplify the processes involved in the entry and transfer of sponsorship-related data. It allows various parts of the organisation to access electronically not only the sponsorship information but also communication items produced in the field.
Inclusive
Other sponsorship practices, such as enrolment eligibility criteria, are under review to ensure that marginalised populations are not left behind. Letter writing and gift giving practices have also been changed to ensure that all children have the opportunity to participate and not be excluded in line with Plan’s Child Centred Community Development approach.
Sponsor a child with Plan today.
