Child Sponsorship Charities - Where do your donations go?

Many of us are aware of the term ‘chuggers’ - you know, those delightfully chirpy people who have volunteered to spend their time raising as much money as they can by approaching you in the street. Love them or hate them, they do a lot of good and raise some well needed funds for a variety of extremely worthy causes.

But what actually happens to your money once you’ve handed it over? Many people give their donations in good faith that they will be spent responsibly. However, there are urban myths surrounding some of the larger charities that suggest that more than 75% of the money raised goes towards advertising for more donations.

Image source Plan UK

That said, Plan UK have decided to combat this uncertainty by publicising exactly how every single penny is spent when a person is good enough to sponsor a child through their scheme. Firstly, you’ll be very pleased to know that just 17% of their total income is spent on further fundraising and administration. The remaining 83% goes directly to the communities and developments they are supporting. They have provided some very in depth figures on their finances – a great example for other charities to follow. If more of them were so forward with the books, then perhaps more people might be willing to donate.

Of course, there is a slight misconception about sponsoring a child, too. People don’t sponsor a single child, with all donations going directly to that one person. What actually happens is that donations are pooled to provide materials for building schools, buy books and training teachers, even digging a new well or providing healthy crops. What matters is the community, the framework and support system for the sponsored children to live a fulfilling life.

While donors might like to think our money has got to help a specific individual, what’s important is that the right amount of people have access to clean drinking water. It’s not unusual for us to want a connection with another human being to feel justified in donating money, but the bigger picture is far more valuable. To say ‘I contributed to building a prospering new community’ is a very important statement and, of course, it’s down to charities across the world, which help make it all possible.

To find out more about what they do, or even just to take a look at their numbers, 

visit www.plan-uk.org.