Sponsor a Child - which charity is best?

I think we're going to have to disagree here. While I can understand that peope want their money to do good, trying to do everything on a shoestring is not the way to do it. It's a bi off topic, so maybe we should have another thread for it, but let's take Oxfam as an example. The CEO runing it gets around £90,000 a year, now she worked in the government before that, I think and wuold have taken a massive pay cut to do the job, but some people would argue that £90k is too much.

Oxfa is a massive multinational organisation though, employing thousands of staff and with a complex aims - how much is a good leader worth? If there was someone doing the job for low pay, I'll bet they wouldn't have the skils to do the job so well, and ultimately, if it doesn't run itself well it's the beneficiaries who are harmed.

But as I said, it's something for another thread really.

Thanks Tig. I was actually looking at the costs related to all of the charities mentioned above, and I'll bet they're not what people expect. Too busy to prep them and post them though

My brother sponsored a child for quite some years, unfortunately I cant recall which charity this was with but I'm sure it was one of the larger ones.

He eventually got so sick of the constant letters from the charity asking for either more money, or for him to consider sponsoring another child, that he decided he'd done his bit and withdrew his support completely.

I have to say that I have had a similar experience with other charitable donations. It would seem that once you are seen as a giver, then certain charities will hound you in the hope they can get more from you.

It's a bit like the CSA targetting Fathers who are already paying and leaving alone the ones who dont. :rolleyes:

I still give to charity, but only to certain ones and only in certain ways.

I realise the fund raisers are doing a commendable job, but I really feel they should reconsider some of their tactics.

Hopefully the OP will be able to find a source to give to which will combine giving whilst also ensuring peace for herself.

I have sponsored a Brazilian girl with Plan UK for just over a year now, and have had a few letters and drawings from her over that time. I pay £12 a month and as other posters have stated, the money supports the whole programme rather than just your child. When you begin sponsoring you can choose whether to sponsor a boy or girl and choose which continent you would prefer (or let them choose). They suggest you send no more than 4 letters a year and no more than 2 gifts. They have a catalogue which sells products for your sponsored child or gifts/cards for you to buy for yourself. I would recommend Plan UK from my own experience. I have 2 small daughters myself, and I think it is quite good to get them involved - they will often do little drawings to send, and it gets them interested in other parts of the world.

Strange question in relation to this, but is it possible to sponsor/help a child in the UK? I do believe that many children live in desperate conditions in the UK and was interested if there was a way of helping them?

Thanks