Sponsor a child

Give children hope and a future

With your sponsorship you can change a child's life. Become a child sponsor to give a child a happy childhood!

Become a sponsor

Your sponsorship helps give a child:

  • a nurturing and loving home in a family environment
  • individualised care that supports the child’s development
  • a supportive community with stable relationships
  • education and training to prepare for the future
  • access to health services and medical care
  • support to prepare for an independent adult life

How your child sponsorship works

As a child sponsor you follow your sponsored child on her or his journey through childhood.

When you start your sponsorship, you receive:

  • a welcome letter with a profile and a photo of the child you sponsor
  • a description of the SOS Children's Village and the country where the child you sponsor lives
  • updates about the progress of the child and information about the SOS Children’s Village where the child lives twice a year
  • our bi-annual 'SOS Impressions' magazine with stories about our work around the world

Learn more about being a child sponsor in our Sponsorship Handbook.

Sponsor now

Frequently asked questions

A child or village sponsorship is a recurring financial donation made by an individual, organisation or company, in which the funds are set aside for the specific purpose of supporting the children in the SOS Children's Villages on a long-term basis.

 

As a child sponsor you follow your sponsored child on her or his journey through childhood and into an independent life. As a village sponsor you will follow all the children and their everyday life in a village.

After registering for a sponsorship you will receive a welcome package containing a description and a picture of the sponsored child or village. In addition you will receive updates from our colleagues in the country where you are sponsoring twice a year.

We will also send you our bi-annual online magazine, “SOS Impressions,” with stories about our work around the world.
 

Although you cannot choose a specific child, you are welcome to inform us about any wishes concerning age, gender or country and we will do our best to fulfil your requests.

You are welcome to send letters to your sponsored child. Personal letters from sponsors to their sponsored children are translated in the national office and forwarded to the child. Some children wish to answer the sponsor and they then receive all the help they need to write a letter. Sponsored children are, however, put under no obligation to reply, and the responsibility of replying to letters is mainly taken on by the co-workers in the national office.

Taking on a sponsorship is a voluntary commitment and not a binding contract. Our aim is to build lasting relationships with our sponsors and guarantee financial support for the children in our programmes as well as the supporting facilities. The children in our care leave the international sponsorship programme when they move from the village or at the latest when they turn 23 years old.

Your sponsorship contribution goes towards covering the living costs of the children in an SOS Children's Village. Your support helps us meet their daily needs, and guarantees that they receive quality medical care and education.

When quality schools and medical centres are not available in the surrounding community, we build them. As such, many SOS Children's Villages have supporting facilities such as SOS kindergartens, SOS Hermann Gmeiner Schools, SOS social centres and SOS medical centres. Children living with their biological families in the surrounding communities may then also benefit from SOS schools and health services.

In addition, your contributions may go to helping support an SOS family strengthening programme. These programmes help struggling families in the community, as a means to prevent family breakdown and child abandonment.

We would like to inform our sponsors and donors that 20% of your donation or sponsorship contribution goes towards administrative costs.

You are a key stakeholder in ensuring that sensitive information about your sponsored child is not shared with third parties outside your immediate family or circle of friends. We kindly ask you not to publish pictures or information about your sponsored child or family on Facebook or any other social media.

A child's right to privacy and the need to observe data protection laws are paramount. This means that sensitive information about a child's background will never be included on our website or print materials without changing the child's name. It is also essential to protect the dignity of sponsored children, by not putting their lives on show to the public.

Tax authorities in most countries will accept receipts for donations, as long as they are for a contribution made in that country. We therefore encourage you to donate or sponsor through the SOS Children's Villages association in the country where you live. If there is no SOS Children's Villages association in your country, SOS Children's Villages International will gladly process your contribution and ensure that it reaches the SOS Children's Village you wish to help. In such cases, we send an acknowledgement of the donation, but we cannot issue a tax deductible receipt.

Do you have any questions?

We are happy to assist you with any questions you may have. 

Alexandra Fuchs
Donor Services Coordinator
Email: donor.services@sos-kd.org

Different ways to help

Sponsor a village

Become a village sponsor and help give children a loving home.

Make a donation

Your donation helps us support children and families in need.