Why you should sponsor a child

For those living in the comfort, peace and safety of the Western world, it’s often hard to imagine how you can make a difference to nations plagued by poverty, disease and violence. Sky-high world poverty statistics are disheartening, but the issue is not insurmountable. Sponsoring a child is one of the most effective and useful ways to help right inequality and give impoverished children and their communities a helping hand. There are a number of reasons why sponsoring a child is one of the best charity options:

• You know where your money is going: When we donate to charities, often what that money will be used for is unspecified. The act of giving can therefore sometimes be unfulfilling and unrewarding.  Sponsor a child programs are tailored to individual sponsors. By being assigned a specific child, a sponsor can see that the money goes to benefit the child's community and the results it brings are traceable and real. Child sponsorship organisations give sponsors the details of their child and vice versa. Furthermore, written communication between the child and sponsor is customary and establishes a real life connection.




• You are personally giving hope to a child and investing in their future: Child sponsorship allows a sponsor to personally invest in the future and wellbeing of a child who has been born into impoverished conditions. It’s likely that without child sponsorship, that child is destined for a life of hardship. While the monetary element of child sponsorship is key, perhaps the most important element of the partnership is that the child knows that someone cares for them. Often sponsored children are motherless or orphans and the sponsor can be seen as a surrogate carer. This gives the child, and his or her community, hope and nurtures the children's growth and development.




• Easy to set up: There are a plethora of charitable organisations that offer child sponsorship programs. This means that getting involved is an easy and uncomplicated process. ActionAid Australia, for example, allows interested sponsors to sign up online. There is also often room for a sponsor to specify which country they would like their sponsored child to be from, or their gender or age. ActionAid Australia, for example, focuses on sponsor children from Cambodia and Uganda, and there is room for prospective sponsors to choose which one of these countries they would like their sponsor child to be from.




• Tax deductable: Aside from philanthropic reasons, another motivation for sponsoring a child is that the money that you spend is tax deductible. Child sponsorship can be claimed on your tax return. Not only can you significantly improve the life and wellbeing of an underprivileged child, but you can benefit come tax time.

Child sponsorship is affordable and uncomplicated, and there are millions of undernourished and underprivileged children that could benefit from both financial and emotional support. So get sponsoring today and make a real difference in a child's life.