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:
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:
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."
