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$28 now?

25 posts
cutegal
June 30, 2014

Why do you keep raising your sponsorship prices? I'll have a talk with my family bout that. 

debbies
June 30, 2014 in reply to cutegal

If you are a current sponsor at a lower rate, you are not required to increase to a higher monthly rate.  

The $28 (you probably) saw on our website is the rate for a new sponsorship.  

grandpaNicky
June 30, 2014 in reply to debbies
WHAT.....?    $28....he he !
Missing user
July 5, 2014
In the past, if a child has left the program, the "replacement child" has been at the same rate as the one who left. Will that continue to be the case, or will replacements be at the new $28/month rate?
debbies
July 7, 2014 in reply to Missing user

No change, "replacement" children are always at the same rate as the child who left the program. 

Missing user
July 7, 2014

No matter whether it's $25 or $28 every little bit helps especially when a sponsored child & family is in dire need! 

JamesFJacob
September 19, 2014
I looked around before deciding on CI, even at $28, it's still the most reasonable minimum sponsorship rate that I've seen.
Missing user
September 19, 2014 in reply to Missing user

I very much agree with you.  $3 difference is just a small amount  if we will all think of the lives we are touching and the big impact our money can go to for our sponsored child/children.

Missing user
September 20, 2014 in reply to Missing user
Very well said, Kevin, James & Doyd!
Brightspot
October 2, 2014

$28/month is not that bad, considering. My mom sponsors 2 kids through a different org. where the rates are $12.50 (for primary school) $20.00 (for secondary school) or $30.00 (for kids of either group who live in the on-site orphanage).

That program does a lot for the kids despite the shoe-string budget, but they do not provide all the services that CI does. Affordability of health care is far less likely (kids sometimes die from untreated malaria, infectious disease, etc, and one of my mom's girls was going blind until Mom paid for treatment for her eyes) otherwise, the kids rely on a healthcare general fund which is often empty. .... In their high school, for most subjects, 4-10 students must share a textbook (sponsors can buy their kid books, but it will take a while to narrow the ratio).

Basic school supplies like paper, pencils, etc. are in short supply in that org -- even basic clothing and sanitary supplies. Some lack underwear or wear shoes that are falling apart, or have the toes cut out, for lack of newer shoes that fit. 

CI provides some help with these shortages, more so than the other org can.  CI cannot cover all needs, but they do provide some school supplies, much more consistent health care, and some clothing items.

Missing user
October 2, 2014 in reply to Brightspot
Brightspot, thank you for that interesting information!  I suspect it cost many times the $28 we contribute to help each child with the many programs and services that CI provides.  With CI I don't have to lay awake at night wondering if my sponsored child's basic needs are being met!
nanawolf
October 6, 2014
whether its $25 or $28 I think the little we give helps our sponsored child's family very much
chanachi
October 7, 2014

I guess the increase wouldn't bother me so much if the CEO wasn't given nearly half a million ($479,295
) as an annual salary! http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3479

THAT is more worrisome to me than being asked to pay $3 more per child. 

Missing user
October 7, 2014 in reply to chanachi
Let's hope that he/she donates a huge percentage of that salary to CI ;).
Missing user
October 7, 2014

Even knowing what the CEO makes, I still can't say that I'm concerned with the increase.  CEO's make a lot of money; they're running an entire organization.  That's life.  Now, if I had found out that the CEO got a half a million dollar raise right before the $3 increase, I'd be concerned.  Would I be concerned enough to leave Jay and Aliyah at the base of an active volcano with no assistance?  Ha!  No.  Would I be concerned enough to leave Darlingthon in Colombia while his family of 8 struggles day to day?  Not a chance.  These are "my" kids, and I love them.  No matter what the person in charge of the people taking care of them makes.

It all comes down to this:  inflation.  It happens here; it happens there; it happens everywhere.  I understand.  And the reality is, I paid more for a gallon of milk today than the monthly increase to support one of my kids.  When I look at it like that, I'm pretty sure I can afford it.

Missing user
October 7, 2014 in reply to Missing user
Thanks for the very well expressed post!  I absolutely agree: $28 is an insignificant amount in the larger scheme of things. The salary for administering this organization is not excessive by any means.
grandpaNicky
October 7, 2014
$28? I volentarily pay $35 a month for 7 girls. It is plainly stated that goes into the general fund. The general fund is scattered all over the organization and I don't care. All I know is when I send my SNGs for everything from groceries to building wells for communities I get acknowledgement through letters and pictures that what I give the serious money for is being used for exactly what I intended it for. Look at what C.I. does even with the CEO's paycheck.
Jdwg78
April 23, 2015 in reply to chanachi
chanachi said:

I guess the increase wouldn't bother me so much if the CEO wasn't given nearly half a million ($479,295
) as an annual salary! http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3479

THAT is more worrisome to me than being asked to pay $3 more per child. 



I agree.  It seems like a terribly large amount for someone in the line of charity to be charging the organization.  Think of how just 300,000 of that would benefit ...how many children?  And the CEO would still live a great life on 200,000$ a year.

Just seems like if you want to make money, you should stay out of the charity business as it morally conflicts in my book.

-Jason
grandpaNicky
April 23, 2015 in reply to Jdwg78
Find an equally quallified person to be the CEO that will do the job for $100k and maybe they will be given concideration. Also check the pay for CEO on any other comany or organization in the U.S. or the world and then get back to us.
Missing user
April 23, 2015 in reply to Jdwg78
It's a fair wage. Much less than CEOs generally make. I believe last time I did the math it was less than 1% of total expenses. 

The fact is, people with higher responsibilities deserve higher paying jobs. Being a CEO is a lot of responsibility. Being a CEO of CI, having to coordinate all of these international services and distributions, fundraise, select children, and then answer to us sponsors, scary thing that. 
Missing user
April 23, 2015
I'm just happy to be a sponsor
Missing user
April 24, 2015 in reply to Jdwg78
CI replied about this at one point when I asked, but they use an outside agency to set fair wages to ensure they keep qualified people.  I used to view this similarly until I realized that I *don't* believe that people who want to do good in the world should be paid less than what their labor would be valued at otherwise.  I do think it's ridiculous to pay people millions to pass a ball around, but to pay the people who educate our children relatively little . . . I have no problem with paying someone who runs an effective, efficient global organization a salary that is appropriate for that position though.  And compared to what the CEO of my org (also a large global org) makes, what CI pays their CEO is relatively little actually.
Missing user
April 30, 2015
It's a very reasonable price. It's not about the prize, is about what they do with the money.
And it's obvious prices will need to rise in the future, as everything does.
ak9999
May 25, 2015
I've been impressed as hell with CI as an organization. I want the community centres to remain as beacons in those communities and for the kids to feel valued. I'm glad to spend the tiny portion of my $28 per month per child to fund a CEO who's being paid competitively and seems to be doing a fine job. I've seen organizations who operate on a shoestring budget. They can't do for the kids what CI does.
Missing user
July 11, 2015
Years ago when I first sponsored Nelly from Ecuador, the sponsor fee was $15. Then it was increased to $18 but I still stayed at the $15 rate until she graduated. I was skeptical about starting over again because of the increase in rates. Not that it really bothered me, but because of my limited income that SSA gives me being on disability but I went for it because out of all the other organizations, Children International is still the cheapest around. My husband says I shouldn't because we have our own family to care for right now and we are "poor" also. I laughed. I don't think he knows what being poor really is. We have a roof over our heads and can provide meals. I have medical insurance for my dialysis treatments. Only thing poor about us is have NO car and me trying to get on transplant list for a new kidney but considering what these children and their families endure and go through, it is all worth it. No amount of money can tell me NO.
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