Donation

wkt54

Hi
I am thinking of sending 1,000 pounds sterling to sponsor a child in Africa.
Does anyone know how I can do that?
Thanks

[Deleted User]

wkt54 said:

Hi
I am thinking of sending 1,000 pounds sterling to sponsor a child in Africa.
Does anyone know how I can do that?
Thanks

https://lmgtfy.app/?q=sponsor+a+child+in+africa

wkt54

What do you think of World Vision UK, 26 pounds a month?

Savvy_Sue

I would have no problem with supporting them, but you are aware they have a Christian underpinning? (Although having said that, many charities in this field do ...)

MalMonroe

That really is a lovely idea, my friend has been doing it for a few years now.

There's this one -
https://www.worldvision.org.uk/child-sponsorship/sponsor-child-africa/

Or you can just google 'sponsor a child in Africa' and lots of ideas pop up. You could have a bit of a browse. 

thegentleway

I agree it’s a wonderful idea. If you are interested in doing the most good with your generous donation then I recommend GiveDirectly 

https://www.givedirectly.org/ 
It is one of GiveWell’s top rated charities. GiveWell is a nonprofit dedicated to finding outstanding giving opportunities and publishing the full details of their analysis to help donors decide where to give.

Unlike charity evaluators that focus solely on financials, assessing administrative or fundraising costs, they conduct in-depth research aiming to determine how much good a given program accomplishes (in terms of lives saved, lives improved, etc.) per dollar spent. Rather than try to rate as many charities as possible, they focus on the few charities that stand out most (by their criteria) in order to find and confidently recommend the best giving opportunities possible.

wkt54

Since I posted I did a search on Google.
I have read some reports who said it was not a good idea.
They say if the child you sponsor has siblings, they could get jealous. Also neighbours.
The parents my seem they are inadequate.
If you start to sponsor, you cannot stop otherwise the schooling stops.
I am going to send 5 pounds a week to another charity like Red Cross, World Vision UK, or another.

thegentleway

wkt54 said:

Since I posted I did a search on Google.
I have read some reports who said it was not a good idea.
They say if the child you sponsor has siblings, they could get jealous. Also neighbours.
The parents my seem they are inadequate.
If you start to sponsor, you cannot stop otherwise the schooling stops.
I am going to send 5 pounds a week to another charity like Red Cross, World Vision UK, or another.

Yes indeed, sponsoring children is frought with issues. This is precidely why I recommended GivingDirectly; where the money is given directly to a family. This charity's effectiveness (not just costs) is backed up by lots of robust indepedent research.
I would guess the Red Cross and World Vision UK do lots of great work but being such large mega organisations, it's impossible to know which of their program your money is supporting or how effective each program is.
It fantastic that you are concerned that your donation will do good, not just because there are some charities that actually cause harm but because there is a huge disaparity in effectiveness. The best charities can be 1,000 times more effective at doing good than an average charity. So it's well worth doing your research to maximise the impact of your donation(s). If you do not have the time/resources to research it in depth yourself; then you can simply pick of one GiveWell's recommend charities as they do an incredible amount of good.

Hasbeen

wkt54 said:

Since I posted I did a search on Google.
I have read some reports who said it was not a good idea.
They say if the child you sponsor has siblings, they could get jealous. Also neighbours.
The parents my seem they are inadequate.
If you start to sponsor, you cannot stop otherwise the schooling stops.
I am going to send 5 pounds a week to another charity like Red Cross, World Vision UK, or another.

Or you could look closer to home as well?
End child poverty - Gingerbread

thegentleway

Hasbeen said:

Or you could look closer to home as well?
End child poverty - Gingerbread

Poverty in the UK generally means living on less than £195 a week for a lone parent with two children, whilst there are around 700 million people live on less than $2 per day. Diseases associated with such extreme poverty, e.g. malaria and parasitic worms, kill millions of people every year. Therefore your donation(s) has much greater impact if you choose to fight extreme poverty.

wkt54

I would guess the Red Cross and World Vision UK do lots of great work but being such large mega organisations, it's impossible to know which of their program your money is supporting or how effective each programme is.

I just want to send 5 pounds a week to any charity.
Any recommendations?