Sponsor a child

Support a child, and you can transform a community.

When you sponsor a child with Plan International, you do more than just improve the life of a single child. Our child-centred, community-based approach means we establish meaningful relationships with sponsored children and their families to create lasting change. By pooling our sponsorship funds together at a community level, we can implement programs that tackle the root causes of discrimination, exclusion and vulnerability.

How it works

Sponsoring a child with Plan International is one of the easiest ways to improve the lives of all children, and to make sure girls have access to equal opportunities.
We are not religious and accept all children and communities into our child sponsorship program. Poverty does not discriminate, so neither do we.
Here’s how it works.

You can select the country, age range and gender of a child you would like to sponsor or alternatively select the child that is most in need of support.
Give a gift of $59 every 4 weeks. Your support will go towards that child’s community, as well as funding vital programs in countries where children cannot be sponsored.
You will receive annual updates about the child you sponsor, and the work that you are supporting in their community. Plus, you can send them a card on their birthday, and exchange letters with them throughout the years.

Have a question? Jump to our FAQs.

 

The rights of children and young people is at the heart of everything we do

 

The privacy, dignity and wellbeing of all children is our shared priority, and we take every step to ensure we – and everyone we work with – keep children safe from intentional or unintentional harm. Learn more about our Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy.

Stories about the power of child sponsorship

Sponsor a child

Introducing Kaligueta

Kaligueta is 15 years old, and is a current Plan International sponsored child living in Burkina Faso. With COVID-19 affecting all parts of the globe, Kaligueta has been taking part in sessions raising awareness on the virus and how she can protect herself from it.

“I understood that it is necessary to protect ourselves from this disease. I must wear a mask, wash my hands with soap and keep my distance from others,” says Kaligueta. “I have seen Plan International volunteers in the village, they teach people how to fight the disease. Now families know how it is transmitted and how to protect themselves. As my father is a tailor, we asked him to sew masks for the whole family.”

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we’re ensuring all of our programs are adapting to respond to this virus, so children in our sponsorship program and their families are supported with everything they need during this pandemic.

Benefits of sponsoring a child

Our Child Sponsorship Promise highlights some of the incredible benefits of sponsoring a child through Plan International.

  1. Our sponsorship approach enables us to build long term relationships with communities. This allows us to have meaningful dialogue with and between families, communities, authorities and governments. This is essential to creating sustainable solutions that ensure children’s rights and equality for girls.
  2. Sponsored children are increasingly empowered to participate in and influence the decisions that matter to them, their families and communities at community, national and global levels.
  3. Sponsorship is an opportunity to form a personal connection with a child and their family that contributes to a global community united for the rights of all children, and for girls to challenge inequalities.
  4. Sponsorship allows us to link up with other funding so we can reach more children and increase our impact both within, and beyond, sponsored children’s communities.

Frequently asked questions

Plan International’s unique child sponsorship model means we support children, young people and entire communities to drive their own change at local, national and global levels. We elevate the voices of girls, who are often excluded from decision-making, and make sure their unique needs are considered when responding to crises. Plan International is non-religious and non-political and accepts all children and communities into its child sponsorship program, regardless of their sex, race, political persuasion or religion.
In most cases, you will have the same sponsored child until they turn 18, when they graduate from the program; a bittersweet, but exciting day! After this, you will have the opportunity to change another child’s life through a new sponsorship. Sometimes, it’s necessary for a child to leave the sponsorship program for other reasons. In this case, Plan International Australia will help to match you with another child.
Your donations support programs in your sponsored child’s community. Overall, almost 80 cents in every dollar goes towards our programs and impact for children and girls. We combine some sponsorship funds with other donations, and seek to multiply this into grants and other funds that can increase our impact for children.

A portion of sponsorship funds are used to support extremely vulnerable children in places where sponsorship isn’t possible, such as conflict and fragile settings, urban areas and the Pacific.
Right now, millions of girls are being married as children. Forced out of school. Killed by violence. Half the world’s population is being held back by inequality, but it doesn’t have to be this way. When girls are supported and empowered to speak up, know their rights and lead, they can create a better, more equal world. And a better now for girls, means a better future for everyone.

When girls are educated and supported – their entire family and community benefits, including boys and men. Because gender inequality affects absolutely everyone. By standing with girls and supporting them to speak up, know their rights and lead, we’re working towards a better, more equal world for all.
We pride ourselves on being the charity for girl’s equality, but our commitment to girls is never to the exclusion of boys. We work with communities to help redefine how they view gender, and challenge the expectations that prevent everyone from realising their full potential. We know that gender equality cannot be realised without working with men and boys.

Gender inequality affects men and women, and is often made worse by other forms of social exclusion such as age, location, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and ethnicity. We are working to challenge these harmful attitudes in order to create a world where everyone can be free to pursue their dreams and reach their full potential.
Yes. Donations to Plan International Australia’s Overseas Aid Account are tax deductible.

Ready to sponsor a child?

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