CHILD SPONSORSHIP FAQ
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What is Child Sponsorship?
Child sponsorship is a program enabling individuals to financially support a ‘child at risk’ in a third-world country on a monthly basis.
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How much does it cost?
Be A HERO has two levels of commitment:
- Partial sponsorship at a cost of $33.00 per month. This contributes towards the child’s food, home, and clothing
- Full Sponsorship costs $63.00 per month, which contributes towards the child’s food, housing, clothing, medical care, and schooling
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Does that mean that children who are only partially sponsored don’t go to school or get medical care?
No, our children’s homes ensure that every child goes to school, and receives medical care as needed. The money would come from non-designated funds. When all the children are fully sponsored, the non-designated funds can be used for other necessities such as school equipment, furnishings and bedding, vehicle repairs etc.
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What percentage of the sponsorship money goes to administration?
Be A HERO keeps $3.00 per month to offset our handling charges such as wiring and credit card fees. The rest of the $30.00 or $60.00 per month goes towards the care of the child. Be A HERO’s administrative costs for the child sponsorship program are covered by our donors to the Hero Partnership and Pillar Programs (specifically designated for administration).
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What methods of payment do you accept?
Options for monthly support are:
- Automatic Withdrawal – provide us with a VOID cheque, and we withdraw your sponsorship on a set day each month. This is our preferred method of payment, as it is the lowest cost to process.
- Credit Card – provide us with authorization to charge your credit card each month for the amount of your sponsorship. We can accept payment through Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. This is convenient and easy, but we must pay a percentage to the credit card company for their processing.
- Post-Dated Cheques – provide us with 12 post-dated cheques.
Options for annual support are:
- Credit card authorization for the full year: $396.00 for a partial sponsorship, and $756.00 for a full sponsorship
- Cheque for the full year: $396.00 for a partial sponsorship, and $756.00 for a full sponsorship.
Unfortunately, we cannot accept month-to-month sponsorship as the administrative costs are too high.
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Will I receive a tax receipt?
Be A HERO is a registered charity in Canada and USA. We will issue you a tax receipt early in the following year of your donation. We are in the process of obtaining tax deductibility in Australia.
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How do I get started?
- If you would like to authorize payment on your credit card, just click here and fill out your contact information and payment details. We will mail you the photo and short biography of a child, and deduct the charge from your credit card each month.
- If you would like to pay using automatic withdrawal, MAIL a VOID cheque to us, along with a note requesting to sponsor a child. We will mail you the photo and short biography of a child, and deduct the charge from your bank account each month.
- To pay with post-dated cheques, please MAIL your cheques to us, along with a note requesting to sponsor a child. Upon receipt we will mail you the photo and a short biography of a child, and process your cheque each month.
- Annual sponsorship by credit card - click here and fill out your contact information and payment details. We will mail you the photo and short biography of a child, and deduct the charge from your credit card.
- Annual sponsorship by cheque - please MAIL your cheque to us, along with a note requesting to sponsor a child. Upon receipt we will mail you the photo and a short biography of a child, and process your cheque.
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Why does the Be A HERO sponsorship program cost more than some of the other sponsorship programs?
The vast majority of children in the Be A HERO sponsorship program are orphans, living in residential care at one of our children’s homes. Many of the other sponsorship programs provide for children who are living in a foster family situation, or with their own parents who are unable to financially provide for the child’s needs. As you can imagine, residential care is more expensive as care-givers, cooks, and other staff must be paid, and campuses must be maintained. Frankly, sponsorship does not cover the entire cost for children in residential care, but it sure helps!
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Does each child have only one sponsor?
Our goal is to have each child fully sponsored, either by one sponsor who commits to a full sponsorship, or two partial sponsorships. In some countries we may have a third partial sponsorship, as the cost of living in that area is higher than in other countries.
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Does the child personally receive the sponsorship money?
No, the sponsorship funds are sent monthly in one lump sum to the children’s home Directors, who then purchase food, clothing, pay school fees, pay care-givers and other staff, procure medical care etc. for the child.
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Can I correspond with my child?
We try to facilitate communication for those sponsors that wish to correspond with their sponsored child. Be A HERO is working to make correspondence easier between our sponsors and our children. Many of our homes are in non-English speaking countries, and they may not have a staff person who can do the necessary translating. Another hindrance is that they don’t have access to such things as digital cameras or email, (or even electricity!) which means that we have to wait for one of our staff or friends to travel to the Home and take updated photos of the children. In all cases, we will provide you with a mailing address.
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Can I visit my child?
Yes, we can help you arrange to visit your child. Please note that it would be best to start the planning for your trip at least three months in advance, as different countries have different requirements. The larger the group traveling, the more time we need to facilitate them.
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Which countries can I sponsor children from?
Be A HERO has children available for sponsorship in Kenya, Uganda, Ecuador, Zambia, Ethiopia, India, Swaziland, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Thailand, Burundi, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Indonesia, Malawi, Cambodia, Nepal, Romania, Russia, Burma, Liberia, and Mexico.
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Do I get to choose which country I sponsor from? Can I specify a boy or a girl?
Yes, we will do our best to accommodate your wishes.
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I know someone who has an orphanage in another country. Can I sponsor one of their children through Be A HERO?
No, unfortunately we cannot facilitate this. We are required to have legal agreements in place with every Home that we fund, and we have strict reporting and accounting demands that must be met.
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I have another question that wasn’t answered here…
Send us an email at info@beahero.org and we’ll do our best to answer it!
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