NOW CLOSED: Talk to Plan UK about child sponsorship - you could win a £100 Amazon voucher

[AnnMumsnet]

We've been asked by Plan UK to find out your views on sponsoring a child. Please read the information below (and maybe check out the website, with a great video featuring a MNer) and add your thoughts. Everyone who adds their comments will be entered into a prize draw to win a £100 Amazon voucher. Everyone is welcome to post on the thread, from those who know nothing about the topic to those who have been sponsoring a child for years.

Here's some background for you from Plan UK "Plan UK pioneered child sponsorship almost 75 years ago, and since then has been working with children and their communities around the world to make a lasting difference to children's lives. Today, over 100,000 people in the UK alone sponsor children with Plan"

Now Plan UK are interested in finding out more about what would compel people, but parents in particular, to sponsor a child as a regular form of giving to an international development organisation, as opposed to other forms of regular giving.

So please let us know....

~ What are your initial reactions to the idea of sponsoring a child? And what (if anything) appeals to you about this form of giving?
~ Have you ever considered - or do you currently - sponsor a child in a developing country? What are your thoughts and experiences?
~ Have your heard of Plan UK before? And if so, what did you think of them/know about what they do?
~ Would having a personal connection, which could include your own family & children, with a child in a developing country make you more or less inclined to give?
~ Transparency and accountability are crucial when it comes to building trust in a charity; what is it that you look for when considering a charity to donate/give to?
~ If a charity has a big 'brand' and is well known, how much does this influence your level of confidence in what that charity does? Are they more trustworthy, and are they more likely to have greater expertise because they are well known? Or would you prefer to give to a smaller charity? If so, why?

For more info on Plan UK see their special pages on Mumsnet, here

Many thanks
MNHQ

What are your initial reactions to the idea of sponsoring a child? And what (if anything) appeals to you about this form of giving?

Great idea. Wouldn't it be lovely to help a child living in circumstance beyond my imagination. My eldest son would love it as they sponsor a child via his school and it has caught his imagination.

~ Have you ever considered - or do you currently - sponsor a child in a developing country? What are your thoughts and experiences?

Yes we have looked into it. We looked last year as we are thinking of doing another monthly payment to a charity. I'd love to sponsor a child but it's too expensive at the moment for us because we already donate to another charity on a monthly basis and I haven't the heart to stop paying to that particular charity yet.

~ Have your heard of Plan UK before? And if so, what did you think of them/know about what they do?

I have heard of them. They have that ex-breakfast presenter Fiona Philips doing the adverts don't they? I find her particulary patronising for some reason on it. I have also read their website - last year when we were looking into doing a second monthly charity direct debit.

~ Would having a personal connection, which could include your own family & children, with a child in a developing country make you more or less inclined to give?

To be honest I am not sure. I am sure if I personally knew someone in a developing country I would try to support them in various means - whether I would give more to a charity for someone I don't actually know - not sure.

~ Transparency and accountability are crucial when it comes to building trust in a charity; what is it that you look for when considering a charity to donate/give to?

How much is going on admin? How much is getting to the actual place/people who need it.

~ If a charity has a big 'brand' and is well known, how much does this influence your level of confidence in what that charity does? Are they more trustworthy, and are they more likely to have greater expertise because they are well known? Or would you prefer to give to a smaller charity? If so, why?
I expect them to be accountable, streamlined and very effective in what they do and getting the most out of a £1.00 that they can.

A big name charity will still get donations from me if I believe in the cause but I also have a few little local charities that I support because they supported us and supported close friends of ours when we needed it.

What are your initial reactions to the idea of sponsoring a child? And what (if anything) appeals to you about this form of giving?Great idea. I like the way it is targeted at a specific community with an immedaite need.

Have you ever considered - or do you currently - sponsor a child in a developing country? What are your thoughts and experiences? I used to sponsor a child through a different charity. Can't afford to just at the moment but would definitely like to do it again.

Have your heard of Plan UK before? And if so, what did you think of them/know about what they do? I have not heard of Plan UK before (sorry!).

Would having a personal connection, which could include your own family & children, with a child in a developing country make you more or less inclined to give? One of the things I didn't like when i sponsored a child before was the pictures and letters. I felt it was a waste of resources. I am very happy to give the money, but don't really want a personal relationship. I Don't like the Lady Bountiful image!

Transparency and accountability are crucial when it comes to building trust in a charity; what is it that you look for when considering a charity to donate/give to? I want to know that the charity is well managed. I do understand that money must be spent on administration, but don't want to feel that money is being wasted. I really don't want my money being used to pay for consultants or managers away days!!

If a charity has a big 'brand' and is well known, how much does this influence your level of confidence in what that charity does? Are they more trustworthy, and are they more likely to have greater expertise because they are well known? Or would you prefer to give to a smaller charity? If so, why? I don't think it matters if a chairt is well known or what size they are. THere are some very large, well known charities that I would never give money to and some small ones which I would avoid too. I assess a charity on clarity of its amins and the effectiveness of its management.

~ What are your initial reactions to the idea of sponsoring a child? And what (if anything) appeals to you about this form of giving?

Initial reactions - an excellent idea and we have looked into it seriously before now. What appeals is being able to demonstrate to our own privileged western family a connection and effect on a real person's life.

~ Have you ever considered - or do you currently - sponsor a child in a developing country? What are your thoughts and experiences?
Yes seriously considered it. What has prevented us so far (except for current financial reasons) is finding a scheme that is NOT religious and gives a direct link with a child or family - not just putting the sponship money into a bigger pot.

~ Have your heard of Plan UK before? And if so, what did you think of them/know about what they do?
Yes - heard of them and like what they do. The 'bigger pot' issue concerns us.

~ Would having a personal connection, which could include your own family & children, with a child in a developing country make you more or less inclined to give?
More.

~ Transparency and accountability are crucial when it comes to building trust in a charity; what is it that you look for when considering a charity to donate/give to?
No religious connections. No extreme political connections. Limited spending on glossy marketing. Making a real difference. No pushy begging for donations.

~ If a charity has a big 'brand' and is well known, how much does this influence your level of confidence in what that charity does? Are they more trustworthy, and are they more likely to have greater expertise because they are well known? Or would you prefer to give to a smaller charity? If so, why?
I prefer smaller in that I believe less is spent on exec level salaries at the top and there is more 'human' touch at the ground where the work is done.

~ What are your initial reactions to the idea of sponsoring a child? And what (if anything) appeals to you about this form of giving?

There are times when I cannot afford to feed myown family properly so my initial reaction is not both to find out about it.

~ Have you ever considered - or do you currently - sponsor a child in a developing country? What are your thoughts and experiences?

I have never considered sponsorship, but I did take part in the shoebox appeal last Xmas.

~ Have your heard of Plan UK before? And if so, what did you think of them/know about what they do?

No I haven't.

~ Would having a personal connection, which could include your own family & children, with a child in a developing country make you more or less inclined to give?

More, I think.

~ Transparency and accountability are crucial when it comes to building trust in a charity; what is it that you look for when considering a charity to donate/give to?

A well known charity that I have heard of.

~ If a charity has a big 'brand' and is well known, how much does this influence your level of confidence in what that charity does? Are they more trustworthy, and are they more likely to have greater expertise because they are well known? Or would you prefer to give to a smaller charity? If so, why?

Locally, I prefer small charities. For money to be sent abroad I would be more likely to trust a well known one.

~ What are your initial reactions to the idea of sponsoring a child? And what (if anything) appeals to you about this form of giving?

I like the idea of sponsoring a child. That someone less fortunate will benefit. That my own dd can see how we can help others. The idea of making a difference to someone's life is a good one.

~ Have you ever considered - or do you currently - sponsor a child in a developing country? What are your thoughts and experiences? I've considered it in the past but never taken the step.

~ Have your heard of Plan UK before? And if so, what did you think of them/know about what they do? Yes I've heard of plan. I believe they used to do individual child sponsoring but have now moved into community or village sponsoring.

~ Would having a personal connection, which could include your own family & children, with a child in a developing country make you more or less inclined to give? In one way more inclined. I'd like to see the child reaping the benefit, going to school, etc. It would be nice to send letters and build up a relationship. But then I've read about how some children are the lucky ones and benefit while others in the village still have nothing. So while for me it would be nicer to sponsor an individual child I realise that's maybe not the best thing to do. I'd also worry if my circumstances changed and I couldn't afford to carry it on that the child would feel abandoned.

~ Transparency and accountability are crucial when it comes to building trust in a charity; what is it that you look for when considering a charity to donate/give to? I look for a charity that uses as much money as possible on stuff on the ground and ideally helping people to gain skills to enable them. Not just hand outs. I want a charity to keep admin expense down as low as possible.

I think a bigger brand charity is generally more trustworthy as there are ore people there to ensure there's no wrongdoing. But if you find a recommended, good small charity then I think I might be more inclined to give to them as I feel that they'd need my money more and would perhaps make better use of it.
~ If a charity has a big 'brand' and is well known, how much does this influence your level of confidence in what that charity does? Are they more trustworthy, and are they more likely to have greater expertise because they are well known? Or would you prefer to give to a smaller charity? If so, why?

~ What are your initial reactions to the idea of sponsoring a child? And what (if anything) appeals to you about this form of giving?
I am quite positive about the idea of sponsoring a child. As a mother I think I feel more sympathetic to the idea of helping a child who doesn't have the advantages that my children have.

~ Have you ever considered - or do you currently - sponsor a child in a developing country? What are your thoughts and experiences?
I have considered sponsoring a child in Pakistan and researched it. However the charity I looked at couldn't guarantee a girl which I would have preferred so I decided not to go ahead at the time.

~ Have your heard of Plan UK before? And if so, what did you think of them/know about what they do?
No, I've never heard of Plan Uk.

~ Would having a personal connection, which could include your own family & children, with a child in a developing country make you more or less inclined to give?
A personal connection would definitely make me more inclined to sponsor a child. As I stated above I looked at sponsoring a child in Pakistan as my father is from there. I think my children would love to have updates from any child we might sponsor and hopefully it would encourage them to be more charitable themselves in later life.

~ Transparency and accountability are crucial when it comes to building trust in a charity; what is it that you look for when considering a charity to donate/give to?
I'd look at where the money is spent, what percentage of the money I give goes to the good cause, how much is taken up by admin etc. If this information is not available it would probably make me less likely to support that particular charity.

~ If a charity has a big 'brand' and is well known, how much does this influence your level of confidence in what that charity does? Are they more trustworthy, and are they more likely to have greater expertise because they are well known? Or would you prefer to give to a smaller charity? If so, why?
Whilst I may have slightly more confidence in a big brand name, I can appreciate that smaller charities have lower running cost and therefore more of my money might actually go to the good cause. There are pros and cons for both though I do feel that bigger charities sometimes might forget what it's like at 'ground level'.

~ What are your initial reactions to the idea of sponsoring a child? And what (if anything) appeals to you about this form of giving?

I like the idea of a personal connection to a child and being able to have a positive impact on them.

~ Have you ever considered - or do you currently - sponsor a child in a developing country? What are your thoughts and experiences?

I have considered it but never acted on it as I suppose I'm wary of whether the money I give is actually put towards the child that I sponsor? A lot of charity aid gets wasted - there's often corruption and a good friend of mine who lives in Malawi tells a lot of stories about aid from aid agencies never reaching the intended recipients, so I guess I'm hesitant about this kind of sponsorship/

~ Have your heard of Plan UK before? And if so, what did you think of them/know about what they do?

Have not heard of them before.

~ Would having a personal connection, which could include your own family & children, with a child in a developing country make you more or less inclined to give?

More inclined to give if I could be sure that the personal connection wasn't simply marketing and that money allocated for a particular child went just to that particular child.

~ Transparency and accountability are crucial when it comes to building trust in a charity; what is it that you look for when considering a charity to donate/give to?

It's size, how well-known it is, whether it's well-respected and how well organised it seems to be.

~ If a charity has a big 'brand' and is well known, how much does this influence your level of confidence in what that charity does? Are they more trustworthy, and are they more likely to have greater expertise because they are well known? Or would you prefer to give to a smaller charity? If so, why?

I prefer to give to larger charities as they seem more organised and accountable in my view, as well as having a wider reach to help people.

~ What are your initial reactions to the idea of sponsoring a child? And what (if anything) appeals to you about this form of giving?

I think it's a positive thing, and is something I would consider doing one day. I like the fact that you can support one child and their family specifically, and see/hear from them about how they're doing. Now I've got a child I think it's something that would be good to do one day too to show him how people live (and face struggles) in different parts of the world.

~ Have you ever considered - or do you currently - sponsor a child in a developing country? What are your thoughts and experiences?

Yes! See above. I haven't done yet though as money is very tight. That makes me feel quite guilty though as we do have it good really.

~ Have your heard of Plan UK before? And if so, what did you think of them/know about what they do?

I recognised the name and the kind of thing they do.

~ Would having a personal connection, which could include your own family & children, with a child in a developing country make you more or less inclined to give?

More.

~ Transparency and accountability are crucial when it comes to building trust in a charity; what is it that you look for when considering a charity to donate/give to?

To see where my money is going. I understand that charities have admin costs, but I like to see this upfront e.g. Xp in every £1 will actually go to the cause, the rest on keeping the charity running. Also a history of what the charity has done, experience, projects, respect from the community they're helping etc.

~ If a charity has a big 'brand' and is well known, how much does this influence your level of confidence in what that charity does? Are they more trustworthy, and are they more likely to have greater expertise because they are well known? Or would you prefer to give to a smaller charity? If so, why?

It would make me more confident in them, yes. I think perhaps they might be better run, attract better qualified/experienced staff, have the networks and profile to raise big funds for projects. However it does also turn me off them - I would definitely prefer to give to a smaller charity that doesn't get the recognition that these big charities get. I think they can sometimes 'hog' the limelight a little, and make it harder for the smaller causes to get noticed. It's difficult though because everyone seems to be fundraising for something these days - I feel a bit of donation fatigue to be honest!

~ What are your initial reactions to the idea of sponsoring a child? And what (if anything) appeals to you about this form of giving?

In general I'm not keen as I don't really want to have that benefactor-grateful recipient relationship. I'd rather support bigger projects in an more anonymous way. e.

~ Have you ever considered - or do you currently - sponsor a child in a developing country? What are your thoughts and experiences?

Yes we have been sponsoring a child in Tanzania for about 5 years now. Because we had young children and it seemed a way of supporting projects and education etc in a way they could relate to. It's been an experience my children have got quite involved in, they write letters and sent pictures etc to the sponsor boy who is a similar age to them, and get replies back.

~ Have your heard of Plan UK before? And if so, what did you think of them/know about what they do?

Yes. I see adverts etc.

~ Would having a personal connection, which could include your own family & children, with a child in a developing country make you more or less inclined to give?

Personally as I said above it makes me less inclined, but young children don't have such a good grasp of global politics so I think it helps them to have a tangible person and the letters do give them an idea of life in a Tanzanian village.

~ Transparency and accountability are crucial when it comes to building trust in a charity; what is it that you look for when considering a charity to donate/give to?

Well, yes, of course I am concerned that the charity is being transparent and honest about how it uses funds etc.

~ If a charity has a big 'brand' and is well known, how much does this influence your level of confidence in what that charity does? Are they more trustworthy, and are they more likely to have greater expertise because they are well known? Or would you prefer to give to a smaller charity? If so, why?

There are some very big brands that I have quite a lot of trust in, some I've worked for or have friends working for. So yes I am quite keen on some of the big brands.

~ What are your initial reactions to the idea of sponsoring a child? And what (if anything) appeals to you about this form of giving?
I already sponsor a child

~ Have you ever considered - or do you currently - sponsor a child in a developing country? What are your thoughts and experiences?

Started about 15 years ago received a photo of the child, but as I moved address reminded them recently so i have been "given" a new child, no photo this time I have a name, but feel less connection. i know that it is more costly for the charity to try to link one person to one child, but it does create a bond which makes me more inclined to donate more

~ Have your heard of Plan UK before? And if so, what did you think of them/know about what they do?
Sorry not really heard of them

~ Would having a personal connection, which could include your own family & children, with a child in a developing country make you more or less inclined to give?
It would be nice to be able to choose a child same age and sex as my DS - would help to get him to understand there are less fortunate people in the world that we should help

~ Transparency and accountability are crucial when it comes to building trust in a charity; what is it that you look for when considering a charity to donate/give to?
Like one with low running costs - although to be fair I don't check when donating

~ If a charity has a big 'brand' and is well known, how much does this influence your level of confidence in what that charity does? Are they more trustworthy, and are they more likely to have greater expertise because they are well known? Or would you prefer to give to a smaller charity? If so, why?

Not sure tbh it depends on the cause.

~ What are your initial reactions to the idea of sponsoring a child? And what (if anything) appeals to you about this form of giving?
I would worry about the overheads on the admin of this sort of giving.
I'd also wonder if they have a handful of kids that people nominally sponsor but all get the same letter or picture back from them and the money goes into a general aid fund for their village or project.
I would wonder how they chose the individual children and what they had to do to be chosen.

I would worry about the negatives that it might have for a child to be a 'chosen' one - and if they might outweigh the positives.
I would worry what would happen if something awful did happen to the child.
I would worry that I would start to hear about the family or friends and be sucked into sending more money than I was happy to give because of all the sad stories and feeling guilty that one child was doing so much better than the others around him or her.

~ Have you ever considered - or do you currently - sponsor a child in a developing country? What are your thoughts and experiences?
I haven't ever considered sponsoring a child in a developing country so don't have any thoughts or experiences about it really - I don't want to sign up a regular monthly commitment so haven't got as far as looking into it. There are other charities that I can give to on an ad hoc basis - I don't have that much money let alone to give it away so I'm not actively searching out new charities - especially if they want regular donations.

~ Have your heard of Plan UK before? And if so, what did you think of them/know about what they do?
I had heard of them previously and know that they are a charity that allow you to sponsor a child but not much beyond that.

~ Would having a personal connection, which could include your own family & children, with a child in a developing country make you more or less inclined to give?
Not really sure - if individual aid is being given to a particular child then I would worry how much of the money I gave was going on the admin to link me to a child, to choose a child, to get the letters back from a particular child and so on. And whilst it would be great for that child to get stuff, how would that affect them in relation to their friends or siblings that didn't get sponsored? At least if the money goes to a particular school or village then it benefits lots of people rather than just one.

I'd also worry about what would happen if I had to stop giving or reduce the amount - times are tight at the moment and whilst I might be able to commit for say 6 months, I wouldn't be able to for longer than that - I'm a freelancer so money comes in fits and starts. Therefore being able to make occasional donations to a single project would be good, to build up some sort of bond with it but not having to commit to every month.

~ Transparency and accountability are crucial when it comes to building trust in a charity; what is it that you look for when considering a charity to donate/give to?

• Results - I'd like my money to to somewhere that it really can make a difference rather than being sucked into doing admin or paying for more adverts.
• Cause that is relevant to me.
• Reputation - both from what I know of them and can ascertain from their information, but from looking them up on google and talking to friends about them.
• How much they seem to spend on offices, adverts, leaflets, websites etc
• If they use chuggers - would automatically stop me from giving to them.
• Moral/Ethics - whilst I would want my donation to be used for a cause that was morally and ethically good, I wouldn't want it to be used for religious purposes. I certainly wouldn't want it to be used to provide support for missionary work (can you tell dc's school sent him home recently with a leaflet for Samaritan's Purse - not an organisation I want to support at all because it seems to use people's generous donations to further their missionary work rather than doing then genuine Christian thing of giving the present with no strings attached).

~ If a charity has a big 'brand' and is well known, how much does this influence your level of confidence in what that charity does? Are they more trustworthy, and are they more likely to have greater expertise because they are well known? Or would you prefer to give to a smaller charity? If so, why?
I've given to a mixture of the two. Not sure that you can really equate size of charity with their efficiency - some small charities can be fantastic, others are a bit useless. Same goes for the big ones.

It comes down to what the charity does and how effectively I think they can use the money they receive to do what needs to be done.

Even if I supported a charity, I would stop supporting it if it started to treat me like a cash cow - either demanding more money (or pleading for an increase in their donation, I give what I can afford and a begging letter isn't going to change the amount of money I have available) or asking for contacts to tap for their money by invoking my name.

Thanks for all the comments on this thread, Plan UK have read them with great interest. I am pleased to announce the winner of the prize draw is katz and she wins a £100 Amazon voucher.

Plan UK are also running a Q&A at the moment www.mumsnet.com/Talk/other_subjects/1347880-Q-A-about-sponsoring-a-child-with-Plan-UKs-supporter-relations-manager-Julian-Jack - if you asked a question of Plan on this thread we will ask them and responses will form part of the Answers back from them. So please look out for this in the near future.

Best, MNHQ