Are the negative reviews true? Cancel Title is required

Hello.  I've been a sponsor now for almost 24 years.  I believe I originally signed up by calling a phone number from a TV ad.  I recently read these reviews about how you use young women to pressure into signing up by blocking them in the streets in Kansas.  I am way out here in the northwest so I obviously never experienced this.  Please confirm how much is accurate or not.  Read the 1 star reviews.  This is very concerning.  http://www.yelp.com/biz/children-international-kansas-city

This has been brought up before (last year in another thread) and I can't believe that it's still going on and nothing has been done about it. From what I understand these are college kids that are part of some recruitment to get new sponsors and they are not employees of CI in any way, shape or form. I've seen a lot of comments, reviews and such about the methods (all forms of harassment) being used to get new sponsors and I think it's awful and does not look good at all for CI and I cannot believe after it being brought to their attention, which I am sure has been many times, that they have failed to do anything about it or just stop such recruitment altogether, which I think they should. Actual sponsors would do a much better job and actually know what information to give and what they're talking about. Thanks for posting about this as CI needs to see it and deal with it. 

Yeah, this isn't the first time I've read reviews such as these and I have to agree, whoever does the recruiting of new sponsors in that area seems to be very unpopular and is definitely giving CI a bad reputation. I think they need to be dropped. I understand the need for finding new sponsors, but there are better ways to do it than blocking people's path as they try to pass by on the sidewalk and then trying to bully them into signing up.

Luckily I don't have to face this kind of aggressive marketing, since I live on another continent, and therefore my view of CI has remained positive. However, I opened the link given by lorielc and what surprised me most was Sylvia C's (4-star) review, at the top. She writes that "Sending gifts is forbidden, because it creates jealousy amongst the other children in the C.I. homes - totally understandable." If she has been sponsoring for 10+ years, as she says, how has she not found out that we can send gifts to the children?

maybe she has never read the guidebook that is supposed to be in every info packet. It's like the same repeated questions on here. Didn't anyone get an info packet?

Maybe she meant she was advised not to send DPs.

That line about jealousy reminds me of one of the articles about what not to put in letters to our sponsored children. If I remember correctly, it says not to mention the extra gifts we send in the letters, because children often share the letters with others and if their sponsors never send them gifts, it might make them jealous. Maybe she confused that to mean we are not allowed to send gifts. 

Children International contracts with an agency called Dialog Direct in several cities in the US. DD employees talk to people on the streets, hand out fliers, go door-to-door, etc. I've seen negative comments about interactions with them on the CI Facebook page ... but I've also seen some very POSITIVE comments about the interactions with them (in fact, my sister's best friend has just recently become a sponsor after speaking with a DD representative who approached her on the street).

I take all negative comments with a grain of salt--the same as I do with negative reviews on products. Some people have legitimate complaints or issues ... a lot of people like to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

I definitely understand how reading this would be concerning @lorielc…...it is for us as well! As @Saddare mentioned, in the past, we have contracted with other companies to help spread the word about CI and find new sponsors. However, we have ended all of these contracts and currently do NOT have representatives canvassing for us on the streets. While many of these representatives did an awesome job explaining our program, as often times the case, unfortunately there were some not-so-awesome experiences as well. Please know that we did follow up on each negative review and complaint to assure that the representatives were complying with our quality standards and appropriate action was taken, even removing representatives from our account when necessary.

And just to confirm, you are still welcome to send extra gifts to your child(ren)!  :)

I was approached by a man on the street in downtown Los Angeles.  He had to be one of the nicest people I have ever run into in LA.  It was remarkable how nice he was.  He explained to me that he was a teacher who did this on his summer break. I didn't sign up right away as I am skeptical of everything anyone on the street says to me regardless of how nice they are.  Then the following week I saw another member of the crew a couple of blocks away.  He just complimented me on my shoes and tie and didn't try to sell me at all.  I then approached him and told him about how his colleague was so nice and understanding.  He said he knew the guy and texted him.  I then signed up immediately.  The ​other gentlemen came over and we were joking about hard sell vs. soft sell.  So the two individuals I met representing CI in downtown Los Angeles (where people are apathetic, crazy or a little of both) were amazing individuals who represented the orginization well. This is one of the reasons I signed up for CI and continue to support.  

I am sorry to hear that not everyone has this same approach.  Maybe these guys should be hand picked to train other groups.

@PaulandTiffany - thanks for sharing! We're so glad you signed up and so happy to have you as a part of CI! :)

I don't know if the negative reviews are true. However I DO advise that CI be sure to train potential recruiters in "soft sell" (if they don't already.) If someone approached me in an "in-your-face" way, it would turn me off for sure, especially if the local crime rate is noteworthy. A background check wouldn't hurt, either. 

24  years is great sponsoring time.  I have been doing this for 11 years and have 9of them.  3 whom graduated from the program.  The next one is next year.  Shes will  be 12 years with me and the ine this year had 12 years.  From there the next one will be in six years.  I am proud to hear that you have 25 years doing this i wish i can last that long. God bless you 

I was recruited in NYC in 2005  in a normal and friendly way and I signed up on the spot because I always wanted to sponsor a kid but didn't know a trustworthy non profit org so I took a risk with Children International.

I moved back to France later  and I found out last year that all my extra gifts for my girl Memory's Birthday,Christmas,education,..didn't go exclusively to her after 10 yrs with this org but shared with other kids from the same area,I was shocked and very upset with them!

From the beginnining they told me not to send gifts because it was not guarantied she 'll get it and also others will be jealous so I never sent anything and always gave EG.
I sent at times more than a 100$ to her as EG and I never received pictures of her with her gifts and letters before and last year on a FB group about sponsorship,I had this girl from CI showing her pics and telling how she send her kid gifts, so I started wondering and got a little upset about it.

What upsetted me more is founding out that all my EG was not for her only,I felt stupid because everybody was telling me that it was a known fact and I was like no,they never told me when they would send me emails or letters to ask me for an extra donation and I would always check on the site,it never mentionned this so called known fact!!

So I contacted CI and expressed my disappointment,they apologized and said that they thought I knew and bla bla,I felt so bad because all these years I thought Memory was the only one benefitting from my EG!

To make it up to me ,they told me that from now on any EG  of 50$ to her,I'll get pics of her with her gifts and a letter and they gave the adress of the  Program Office in Zambia where I can send gift to her but it still bothers me that she had to share my EG with other on her special day and that I was misled in a way!
Oh well now I am good and I still trust them!

This is interesting. Is this "sharing" unique to sponsored youth in Zambia? I ask because I have been with CI from 1990's and have always gotten pictures when EG's sent and for birthday donations above what is asked for on-line. I was always under the impression though that the B'day contributions on line were pooled with others if they were in the recommended amounts. Same with other on-line recommended donations.

I think there was some confusion either on the part of the sponsor​ on the type of donation she was making or on the part of CI as that what the sponsor's donation was intended for. There is a difference between "extra gifts", which used to be called special needs gifts (SNG) until recently and which do go only to the sponsored child, and the extra donations solicited, for example, on those cards for special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas, which are pooled and not given to just one child.

I don't think there was any confusion,the thing is that CI never clearly stated in the letters &emails they sent me all these yrs that all my EG to my girl for her BD,Easter,Christmas would be shared with other kids!I gave also donation for special needs,I gave for kids waiting occasionally!
 English is not my first language but I think I would have understood well if they had mention that my EGs would be shared!

From my experience, I can only defend CI on this one with respect to solicitations for birthdays, Christmas and such. I think the wording they use is pretty clear, at least it was to me. Perhaps, it could be made more precise.

It was not for me and after I found out about it, I read again some of old emails&letters they sent me for BD and all and it never mentionned my EG was to be shared with other kids.
They were saying my EG will be only for her and her family!

Extra gifts (EGs )are never shared with other children,unless the family themselves decides to share part of it with other family members. They may purchase items for siblings or sometimes the parents.  I think you have the monthly sponsorship fees and EGs mixed up. EGs must be clearly designated by you to be used for your sponsored child Otherwise they can end up in the general fund. The page to donate money for you sponsored child is on a different page. You may have gotten them confused. I'm sure there are sponsors who could do a better job of explaining.

When I say extra gifts I meant birthday,easter,christmas donations,those are the EG I was not told it would be shared with other kids from the same community program!I have sponsoring my girl 10 yrs and they failed to mention that to me!They always said they will work with her family to see what she needs and that my donation was for her only and her family!

It is stated in the sponsorship guide book. All holiday donations, including birthdays will be combined. And the next section describes how to send a donation to be used solely for your child for these occasions.

Any money raised for Easter, Christmas and Birthdays is not an EG. All money donated is used to provide a gift for every child in the program because no child should be left out. For birthdays I believe it is for every child having a birthday that month.? Otherwise many children wouldn't get anything. Not all sponsors are as generous as you. And they all deserve to get something on their special days.

I don't know if it was written clearly in the  sponsorship book I got in 2005 or maybe  but all i know it is that when I would get email requesting an extra donation for her BD and holiday EG,it was never mentionned there!,it was actually to me at least very misleading and a bit deceiving.
I thought I was given a donation only for her and her family,even in the website where I made EG donation,they said it was for her only.

From what I have read a Special Needs Gift is the one that would go directly to the child. However, recently (that I have noticed) they have made a change and are calling a special needs gift an extra gift. And I think birthdays and Christmas's used to be called extra gifts. So maybe that is where the confusion lies? Also,I have been a sponsor here since before 2007 and I have read that the christmas's b-day contributions would be pooled together to buy in bulk for all the children. One year I had made a contribution that was supposed to be for the child and her family only ($100 donation) and it says you where suppose to get a picture of what they received and a letter but I never heard anything back and I did ask my sponsored girl about it and she just thanked me for all the shoes she received.. That confused me because they get shoes for Easter,and birthdays. I may have called it an extra special gift when sending the check..maybe they where confused?

I don't know for sure but what I know is that in more than 10yrs sponsoring my girl,I thought   my BD,Easter,Christmas donation was exclusively for her and her family like they told me it would be. After I found out it was not,I went through to some  letters&mails about it and it never mentionned it would be shared.Also they changed their website not so long ago and also I gave more than once a 100$ as EG and special need gifts and I never had pictures of her with her gifts and they always told me not send gifts because it was not secure whereas i found out some sponsors got to send to their kids.
When I contacted them about it,they admitted their mistake with me at least.