All sponsorships are recurring financial donations made by an individual, organisation or company, in which the funds are set aside for the specific purpose of supporting the children and young people in our programmes on a long-term basis.
 

When you sponsor a child or young person, you follow them on their journey through childhood and into an independent life. As a local family sponsor, you support all children and young people in one of our programmes and receive information about all activities at that specific location.

You are welcome to send letters to the child or young person you sponsor. Such letters are translated by the country office and forwarded to the children and young people. If they wish to answer, they receive the help they need to send a letter back. Children and young people are, however, under no obligation to respond to correspondence.This responsibility is mainly taken on by the staff at the country office.

Visits to SOS Children's Villages are not possible. Our guidelines adhere to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and we do not allow sponsor visits to protect children's privacy and the stability of their daily routines.

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 and young people in our programmes as well as the supporting facilities. The children and young people in our care leave the international sponsorship programme when they move from the programme or at the latest when they turn 23 years old.

Your sponsorship contribution goes towards covering the living costs of the children and young people in one programme location. 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 programme locations have supporting facilities such as kindergartens, schools, social centres and medical centres. Children and young people living with their biological families in the surrounding communities may then also benefit from schools and health services.

In addition, your contributions may go to helping support a family strengthening programme. As part of these programmes, we work directly with families who are at risk of breaking down to ensure that they have the support they need to provide their children with these stong bonds. 

We would like to inform our sponsors and donors that 10% of your donation or sponsorship contribution goes towards administrative costs.

Every person's right to privacy and the need to observe data protection laws are paramount. Informed consent for voluntary participation is generally obtained from each person that takes part in any kind of content production in collaboration with SOS Children's Villages. Underage children and young people who are unable to consent for themselves need the permission of their guardians. Voluntary participation means participants are free from coercion (an overt threat of harm) or undue influence (such as excessive compensation or incentives to participate). Consent can be withdrawn at any time.

Please note that you are a key stakeholder in ensuring that sensitive information about the sponsored child or young person 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, young person or family on social media or any other oublicly accessible platform.