Sponsor a child

Eighty years of experience have taught us that helping families and communities become self-sufficient is the best way to secure children’s futures. Your sponsorship contributions ensure a lasting presence in communities as long as we are needed. They also help us to secure large grants from institutional donors to multiply your contribution and reach many more children, families and communities. Rather than financial support going directly to a sponsored child, your contributions are combined with those of other caring sponsors and institutional donors, providing a steady stream of funding to all the countries where Plan works for long-term solutions, in key areas that communities deem critical.

Sponsorship is ongoing, or until your sponsored child graduates from our program on or shortly after his or her 18th birthday. In some cases, other circumstances may cause your sponsorship with a particular child to end sooner than anticipated. If such a situation occurs, we will contact you as soon as possible to transfer your sponsorship to another child. Below is an overview of some reasons why your sponsorship may end earlier than you expected:

Phase out: Plan’s involvement in your sponsored child’s community may reach completion. When it’s clear that a community can manage its own development without us, we gradually phase out our participation. This is a cause for celebration, because it means our partnership has been a success!

Security: Occasionally, if the situation in a country or community puts our staff at risk (in cases of war, for example), or if our presence in a community puts its inhabitants in danger, we may close operations and withdraw ahead of schedule.

Relocation/migration: The child you sponsor and his or her family may move away from the region where Plan operates, which means they can no longer participate in the sponsorship program.

— A welcome package in the mail about two weeks after sponsoring that includes photos of, and information about, your sponsored child, their family and community.

— Letters from your sponsored child — if you write a letter to your sponsored child, he or she will write back! Letter writing is a great way for you to get to know your sponsored child and see the world through his or her eyes.

— An annual update on your sponsored child, as well as the progress sponsorship communities are making because of your support.

— An annual tax receipt.

Writing a letter is the best way to learn more about your sponsored child! Through the sharing of letters, cards and photographs, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of each other’s lives and perspectives. Please be sure to attach photos or cards to each other using a paperclip. And remember to apply a pre-printed label on each piece you would like to send.

To send your sponsored child an email or postcard, just sign into your MyPlan account, and click on your sponsored child. You can also send a hand-written letter — mail your letter to us at the address below and we will forward it to your sponsored child.

Plan International USA
275 Promenade St Suite 225
Providence, RI 02908

We would be happy to forward a small token of friendship to your sponsored child! When choosing your gift, please keep in mind that it must be approximately 4 x 6 inches, weigh no more than 5 oz. and be relatively flat to ensure efficiency through customs.

A few gifts we recommend:

— Sunny Days, Plan’s own educational kids’ magazine! With a one-time subscription to Sunny Days, your sponsored child will receive one magazine for each month of the year

— Little Treasures, special holiday gifts offered by Plan every holiday season.

— Simple gifts: photos, stickers, postcards, hair accessories, etc.

— Writing and painting: pens, crayons, paper, small drawstring bags, etc.

— Learning and exploring: maps, small notepads, pocket calculator, bookmarks, flashcards, etc.

— Sporting and outdoor activities: inflatable beach balls, jump rope, etc.

— Gifts to share with family and friends, like travel-size board games.

Due to international guidelines and cultural differences, we are unable to forward the following gifts:

— Money and gifts that seem expensive (precious metal, jewelry, wristwatch, etc.)

— Sharp, dangerous, fragile gifts (knives, scissors, compass, thermometer, etc.)

— Skin and hair care products (soap, make-up, shampoo, etc.)

— Food and plants (sweets, seeds, pressed flowers, etc.)

— Liquids (paint, bubbles, nail polish, etc.)

— Clothing (t-shirts, hats, gloves, scarves, etc.)

Just like mailing a letter, you can send your gift to:

Plan International USA
275 Promenade St Suite 225
Providence, RI 02908

We ask that you attach your sponsor number and sponsored child’s number to your gift to ensure that it arrives without delay! If you have any additional questions regarding our gift policy, please call our Donor Loyalty team at 800.556.7918.

Yes! In addition to writing to your sponsored child, we encourage sponsors to consider a trip to visit their sponsored child’s community. It’s a life-changing experience to meet your sponsored child and his or her family, and you will be able to see first-hand the impact of our partnership. Contact us to plan a visit.

Please note that many countries may still have travel restrictions due to COVID-19.

With the support of child sponsors and institutional donors over the past 80 years, we have grown into one of the widest-reaching and most effective international development organizations. Our level of community engagement, long-term outlook and constant focus on the needs and priorities of children brings about positive and lasting changes in the lives of the world’s children and communities in a strategic and accountable way.

Plan International USA recognizes that violence against children and young people is prevalent throughout the world and in all societies. Violence against children includes physical or mental violence, injury and abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment and sexual abuse. Furthermore, children and young people may be vulnerable and at risk due to gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, age or illness.

Plan International USA is fully committed to ending violence against children and acknowledges that we have a duty to promote the gender-responsive safeguarding of children and young people, particularly those with whom we work or are in contact.

The purpose of the Safeguarding Policy is to ensure that:

— All who work for and engage with us are skilled, confident and well supported in understanding and meeting their responsibilities to safeguard children and young people from violence and to engage positively with children and young people in ways that enhance the achievement of our purpose;

— We have in place procedures to prevent and deal with the actions/behavior of our staff, volunteers, board members, sponsors, donors, partners, visitors, other associates or us as an organization that result in violence against a child or young person and/or places them at risk of the same; and

— Children and young people we work with are aware of our responsibilities to prevent and respond to any harm against them arising from actions and behaviors of our staff, volunteers, board members, sponsors, donors, partners, visitors and other associates, as well as the routes for reporting such incidents.

Read our full Safeguarding Policy.

Our Donor Loyalty team is happy to answer any questions you have. You can call us at 800.556.7918 Monday through Friday, from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm ET, or contact us.