FAQs

Through Child Sponsorship, World Vision transforms the lives of your sponsor child’s whole community, enabling your child, their family, and their wider community to have access to better healthcare, education, water and economic opportunities.

To change a child’s life, you have to change the world in which they live. Your money does not go directly to your sponsor child, or their family, but enables World Vision to work with their entire community to have an even bigger impact and make long-term sustainable change for everyone. As a member of this community, your Sponsor Child receives the benefits of this incredible change and their own lives are transformed. It’s a pretty incredible change to be a part of!

You can write to your sponsored child as often as you like. Please note that due to postal restrictions processing time can take a lot longer, and we will only be able to process reply's from your sponsored child every three to four months.

Whenever you email your sponsored child you should receive a reply. You will receive your reply in the post, because at this time we are unable to send reply's back to you by email. It may take three to four months because post delays in developing countries are very common.

If you don’t receive a reply after three to four months, please contact us and we will follow it up.

Yes, to protect our sponsored children, our policy is to open, log and vet (and translate) all letters and emails to ensure they don’t contain offensive or inappropriate content. Child protection is our highest priority.
 

Absolutely. Encouraging your children to write all or part of your message is a great way to teach them about the world, and issues of development and poverty. Your sponsored child would love to hear from children just like them, who live on the other side of the world.
 

While we understand you want to write a heartfelt message to your sponsored child, there are a few things we recommend you stay clear of. For instance: 

• Avoid topics of religion or politics, as cultural backgrounds can be varied.
• Consider the circumstances in which your sponsored child lives and avoid writing about material possessions.
• Never write your address.

You get to be a part of your sponsored child’s life and to witness their community’s transformation. You’ll receive regular news about progress and achievements in your child’s community, annual updates and photos of your child and you’ll be able to respond with letters and emails. Some sponsors even go on to visit their child. As a sponsor you can set up your own, personalised ‘My World Vision’ online profile where you can stay up-to-date with the change you’re making possible.

In some cases it will be throughout their childhood and into their teens. Many children remain in the sponsorship programme for the duration of World Vision's work in their community. In this way you could follow their journey into young adulthood.

Most children will be in the sponsorship programme until their community has begun to reach most of its goals, and become self-sustainable. As a project comes to a close we will let you know of the achievements in the community so you can celebrate with us, and we’ll offer you another child to sponsor so the development process can begin again in another community.

In some cases children leave the sponsorship programme unexpectedly. For example, the child's family may move away from the area World Vision is working in. If this happens with your sponsored child, we will let you know as soon as possible and offer you sponsorship of another child.

As of September 2017, New Zealanders are sponsoring 49,705 children through World Vision projects.

It’s a great idea to ask your sponsored child questions in your letter. It lets them know you are interested in their life. You can ask things like:

• What are your favourite activities or subjects at school?
• Is your school close by or do you have far to travel? 
• Do you know anything about New Zealand?
• What do you like to do in your spare time?

Yes! Your sponsored child would treasure a photo of you and your family. However, please be sensitive when choosing which photo to send, as standards of clothing and modesty vary greatly in other countries.
 

Many sponsors like to send a gift to their sponsored child. However, on advice from our staff, the best gift you can give your sponsored child is your friendship. Sponsored children love receiving letters from their sponsors and learning more about our life here in New Zealand, but large, bulky gifts can attract unwanted attention and can cause jealousy within the community.

If you would like to send a small gift with your letter, such as stickers, balloons, postcards, pencils or other small items that can fit in a standard envelope, that is fine, however anything larger is not appropriate.

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Yes, visiting your sponsored child offers a unique opportunity to see first-hand the difference your sponsorship has made. If you are planning to visit your child, please contact World Vision New Zealand at least three months before you plan to leave so we can make arrangements with World Vision in the country you will be visiting. 

Because we work with children, it is our policy that all visitors to World Vision programmes must undergo a Police Check before the visit can take place. If you are considering a visit to your sponsored child please contact Supporter Care Team on 0800 800 776.

We'd love for you to tell everyone you know about your sponsored child, and their progress. You can share your child's video and tell all your friends about your decision to sponsor. However, there are a few things you need to know to ensure your sponsored child and their families are kept safe. 

Please do not share anything that can identify your sponsored child – this includes their last name, village name, sponsorship ID or school name – and please do not try to get in touch via social media or any online channels other than your My World Vision profile. As a sponsor you're making a huge difference to the life of your child, and their community so, please join us in protecting your child and keeping their identity safe.

Definitely, we encourage you to write to your sponsored child and tell them about your life in New Zealand. Sponsored children love the opportunity to learn about New Zealand and in turn you will receive a letter from your sponsored child or, if they are too young, written on behalf of them by their parents or a local World Vision staff member.

If you’re not sure what to write, why not tell them about your life in New Zealand, your family and what you like to do for fun. Remember to keep your letters short and simple as in many of the countries where we work English is not the first language of the World Vision staff translators.

Please include your sponsored child's ID and name on your letter and on the back of the envelope. Do not write your address on the letter as it could fall into the wrong hands. Address the envelope to the World Vision address shown on your sponsored child's information sheet. There is more information on letter writing in your My World Vision profile. 

If you’re stuck on what to write, tell your sponsored child about your life in New Zealand. You can talk about things like:

• The suburb or town where you live
• What you do at work or school
• What you and your family like to do for fun
• Your pets, friends, hobbies 

Remember to keep your email short and simple. In many of the countries where we work, English is not the first language of the staff who will translate your message.