International Charities May Find It Hard to Attract ‘Child Sponsors’ Due to Recession

Typically a consistent source of revenue for the nonprofit groups that rely on them, child sponsorships may even be suffering as a result of the recession, according to a study conducted for World Vision.

One in five people surveyed in August said they were less likely to sponsor a child because of the economic climate. More than half said they would be more likely to sign on to a sponsorship program if they had more money, according to the poll of more than 1,000 adults by Harris Interactive.

Lana Reda, vice president of donor engagement with World Vision, said that fewer people feel comfortable making a long-term commitment to a charity when the economic situation is so fragile.

“Americans have a great heart for those that are downtrodden,” she said. “But it takes discretionary income, as well as the ongoing ability to commit.”

Her charity, which provides relief to poor people in the United States and overseas, has seen fewer people sign up to sponsor children. Support among existing sponsors, however, has remained strong, despite the recession.

The study also found that donors want information on how their money is spent. Sixty-one percent said they might contribute more if they had greater knowledge of how their dollars were used, while 58 percent said they might do so if they knew their money was making a difference.

People in the survey cited the following as the main benefits of sponsoring children through a nonprofit group: knowing they are helping a child (70 percent); knowing that their money is helping a child’s community (61 percent); and promoting values among their own children and grandchildren (56 percent).

Less important was the personal relationship with a child through a sponsorship program, cited by 40 percent of survey respondents.

The study found that the economy, the worst since the Great Depression, was causing people to rethink their giving. Seventy-five percent said they had changed their donations.

Thirty-six percent said they were donating less, and 20 percent said they were doing less volunteer work. Ten percent, however, said they were giving more money.