How To: Set Up a Fundraiser

Sometimes, Sponsors want to help their children above and beyond what they themselves can afford. Home improvement projects and educational costs can be quite expensive, even in the countries where the USD goes far. To accomplish these goals, Sponsors often set up an online fundraiser. Then, via the power of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MSC, they spread the word and solicit donations to their cause.

A list of fundraising sites* used by Sponsors in the past:

www.aurashouse.com – Aura's House is hands-down the best option for a fundraiser to benefit a child sponsored through Children International. Donations are made directly to CI, and Aura's House does not withhold any fee from any donation received. All donations are tax-deductible. There can be a long wait to have your fundraiser hosted, however, so plan ahead and contact them early!

www.firstgiving.com – One of the most popular choices of Sponsors, FirstGiving has a user-friendly interface that allows you to set up a fundraising page easily. Funds donated will go directly from FirstGiving to Children International when the fundraiser reaches either its goal amount or its end date. FirstGiving charges a fee: it’s 5% on donations, plus a standard credit card processing fee of 2.5%.

www.gofundme.com – GoFundMe differs from Aura's House and FirstGiving in that the funds raised go to the Sponsor conducting the fundraiser instead of directly to Children International. Like FirstGiving, it has a user-friendly interface. It also allows you to link your fundraiser to your Facebook and Twitter accounts, so that when you update your fundraiser it makes announcements across your social media automatically. GoFundMe charges a fee of 7.9% + $0.30 per donation.

www.crowdrise.com – CrowdRise is similar to FirstGiving. The money raised goes from CrowdRise to CI when the fundraiser reaches its goal amount. Setting up a fundraiser is very easy, and their interface is user-friendly. The fee is 5%, plus a credit card processing fee of 2.5% plus $0.30 per transaction.

*inclusion of a site in this list is for informational purposes only and does not in any way constitute endorsement of the site by Children International

How To: Send a Direct Package (DP)

While sending a SNG is more efficient, many Sponsors enjoy shopping for gifts themselves and sending DPs to their child(ren). If you are interested in doing so, you will need to contact CI via either email or phone to request the address for your child's service center, to which the package will be mailed. CI will provide you with any country-specific instructions you need, as well as advise you on any local customs or prohibited items for your child. To protect the privacy of the child and the Sponsor, CI will not provide the family's home address.

You may ship your package using any carrier you prefer. Be aware that packages can be subject to customs screenings, and can incur additional fees while in transit. CI will contact you to pay for these fees before retrieving your package from the carrier, so be prepared for the possibility of both the extra cost and the delay involved. For this reason, some Sponsors prefer to ship via UPS, FedEx or a similar international carrier. It is more expensive, but those fees are handled directly with the carrier and delays are minimized.

There is always the risk of your package being lost or stolen during transit, and for this reason CI can accept no responsibility for packages that never reach the children.

You will receive a thank-you letter and photos of your child with the items you have sent. The follow-up report will also include an itemized list of the contents of your package.

How To: Send a Special Needs Gift (SNG)

A SNG is an extra donation sent by a sponsor specifically for one of their children. The process for sending one varies a bit depending on how much you can afford to send and what you hope to accomplish.

Gifts of $50-$99 can be sent by logging into My Account and clicking on “Make a Contribution.” Select the “Special Needs Gifts” tab. Choose which child(ren) you wish to send the gift(s) and enter the amount(s) in the appropriate boxes. When you have finished, click the “Add to Basket” button. Then, if you scroll to the top of the page, you will see a new “My Basket” link, which you can click on to enter your payment information and complete the transaction. Gifts of $50-$99 are distributed quarterly, and you will received a thank-you card from your child.

Gifts of $100-$250 can be sent in the exact same manner as above. However, you are able to specify how you would prefer for the family to use the funds you send (ex. “Please take care of school needs for Bobby” or “Please buy shoes for Sarah and her sisters”). If you do not enter any instructions, CI's staff will work with the family to purchase what they need most. Gifts of $100-$250 are forwarded immediately to the child's center, and you will receive a thank-you letter, photos, and a follow-up report. Usually this takes six to eight weeks, though it can take longer depending on the schedule of the family.

CI Sponsor Services Rep Debbie Spring shared:

"If sponsors want to make SNG donation of $100-$250 they have the choice of letting the family decide how best to utilize the donation, or they can add a note to indicate what they want the family to use the donation for.  In either case, we encourage sponsors to simply make the donation without the added admin expense of memo'ing for a list of needs first.  We know that many sponsors are concerned that if they send $100, the family’s needs may total $150.  But in all honesty that can happen even if we memo, because we always have to attach a dollar amount to the request."

Larger gifts can fall into two different categories. If you simply want to send a larger amount with no particular project in mind, you can follow the directions for “Gifts of $100-$250.”

Expensive item-specific gifts (such as a refrigerator) or project-specific gifts (home improvements, education) are a little different. You can (and probably should) first contact CI either by email or on the phone and ask that they complete a Special Needs Inquiry (SNI). For example, say you have noticed that your child's house has dirt floors and you would like to pay for their floor to be paved. CI would complete an SNI to first find out if this is even possible (some families do not own the houses they live in, and cannot therefore make modifications), and will list the total cost of the project with a breakdown of expenses. Once you know the exact cost, you can donate that amount using the same tools in My Account. Funds are sent immediately to your child's center. For a single item like a refrigerator, you will receive a thank-you letter, photos, and a follow-up report. Usually this takes six to eight weeks, though it can take longer depending on the schedule of the family. For a project that takes a while, you may receive multiple in-progress reports and photos, with a final report, photos and thank-you letter when the project is completed.

CI Sponsor Services Representative Debbie Spring shared:

"If a sponsor has a specific need in mind that is likely to cost more than $250 (water or electric installation, home repairs, beds, furniture, etc.) we are happy to memo to find out the need and cost involved in providing for this type of Special Needs Gift.  Sponsors are able to deduce if a family is in need of these types of items based on the child’s Family Record (i.e. dirt floor, no electricity, no water, etc.)."

She added:

"We do our best to be consistent in our handling of sponsor requests. That being said we do look at each sponsor account individually to determine if it is prudent to memo. We look at things like are sponsorship fees up-to-date, have we forgiven monthly sponsorship donations recently, is the child so new to the program they are not yet receiving benefits yet, etc."