FAQs
Are you looking for more information about our work? See if our Frequently Asked Questions provides the answers you're looking for. If you don't find what you need, we're only a click or a phone call away. Contact us through email or call us at 1-800-556-7918.
What is Plan USA?
How do programs work?
How can I make a difference?
Can I sponsor a child?
Is it possible to visit a sponsored child?
What steps does Plan take to protect sponsored children?
Can I contribute to a project?
What types of projects are implemented?
How will I know my contributions make an impact?
How is Plan USA different from other organizations?
How much of each contribution is used for program work?
What is the Children's Fund?
What is the history of Plan?
What is Plan USA?
Plan USA is an organization committed to helping children, their families and communities in 49 developing countries around the world. Established in 1937, we give people and communities in the poorest countries tools to help them effect real change—improving life today and offering children a chance for a better tomorrow. We are part of a global network of more than 60 donor and program countries. Plan's projects are primarily funded through donations and our child sponsorship program. The impact of Plan USA donors is multiplied many times over through the combined resources of donors around the world.
back to top
How do programs work?
Plan works directly with community members to design and implement programs that help families break the cycle of poverty. We do not provide direct monetary assistance or hand-outs to families. Instead, contributions from child sponsors and donors are pooled, which means they are multiplied many times in value. A potable water system that costs about $12,000, for example, is made possible through the power of child sponsorship funding.
Projects are designed to help communities develop long-term solutions to real issues affecting their lives. Programs are comprehensive. They are designed to have lasting benefits. For example, a growth monitoring program doesn't just care for babies in the first year of life, but provides for a child's overall health to be monitored from birth through age five. Growth monitoring includes immunizations, weight and growth checks, and education for mothers about proper nutrition and parental care for their children.
Each program is designed and evaluated with children in mind; how will children benefit; how will we measure success; what difference will have been made for the children once our work is completed.
back to top
How can I make a difference?
Plan USA offers a number of ways for people to help make a difference in the lives of children, their families, and communities in developing countries. One such way is through child sponsorship. For $24.00 each month, you can sponsor a specific child and will receive information about that child, his or her family, and the community in which they live. Learn more about child sponsorship.
Or you can sponsor a particular project, like clean water, by giving a regular contribution in any amount. Individual donations to ongoing projects are always welcome. For information about projects in need of funding, visit our Make a Donation page. If would like to know more about contributing through Plan, contact our Donor Relations staff at 1-800-556-7918 or via our Contact Us page.
back to top
Can I sponsor a child?
Yes, child sponsorship is the cornerstone of our work with children and families in 49 developing countries around the world. Sponsoring a child is not a hand-out to a specific child, but is an approach to long-term development that invites a sponsor to build a relationship with an individual child and family while helping an entire community realize its full potential. Each sponsor receives the profile and photograph of the child she or he is sponsoring and has the opportunity to get to know that child and his or her family through the exchange of letters, small gifts, holiday greetings or even a personal visit. Individual child sponsors make regular donations, which Plan combines with funds from other sponsors, to implement programs in the sponsored child's community. Learn more about child sponsorship!
back to top
Is it possible to visit a sponsored child?
Yes, sponsors have told us many times that meeting their sponsored child was among the most rewarding experiences of their lives. We are delighted to help arrange special visits between sponsors and sponsored children. All visits must be approved by and arranged through Plan USA. For more information, please read our Visit the Field page.
back to top
What steps does Plan take to protect sponsored children?
Plan has a child protection policy in place for the express purpose of protecting the privacy and security of the children and families with whom we work. We strongly encourage you, as a child sponsor, to review this child protection policy.
Many of those sponsoring children are able to take a trip to their sponsored child’s country and arrange a personal meeting with the child and family. These visits are most often life-changing experiences for both parties. It's through this cross-cultural exchange that deeper understandings are gained and stronger bonds are formed. Plan has protocols in place for such visits which are documented within our protection policy. During a visit an adult must be present with the sponsor and child at all times. This is most often a Plan staff person and/or an adult member of the child's family. A sponsor is not permitted to take a child, unaccompanied, out of his/her community. We trust that you can understand the reason for such a policy.
Our policy is not meant to hinder the personal connection you have with your sponsored child, but to promote a healthy and safe interaction.
back to top
Can I contribute to a project?
You can support a child-centered project through a one-time donation or through our new project sponsorship program. For a minimum contribution of $10.00 per month ($120.00 per year) you can sponsor a project by "Theme," or area of child need—Child Survival, Child Trafficking, HIV/AIDS, Disaster Relief & Recovery or Education. Your Project Sponsorship contributions will always go to the neediest project within your chosen project theme. The results: a community of children is vaccinated against a deadly disease; a school is built where none existed before; or a mother's tailoring shop triples the family's income. For more information about Project Sponsorship, visit our Sponsor an Issue page or contact our Donor Relations Executives.
Project sponsors receive updates throughout the year on achievements they've helped make possible. Project support can be made anytime, in any amount.
back to top
What types of projects are implemented?
Plan works in five critical and interrelated areas: Growing Up Healthy, Learning, Livelihood, Habitat, and Building Relationships. Some of the specific projects Plan helps to implement include vaccination and immunization programs; comprehensive HIV/AIDS programs; training of health workers; provision of safe, clean water; classroom construction; scholarships and school fees; vocational training; agricultural programs; and home construction and repair, among other projects. Projects vary from country to country, and community to community, depending on their particular needs.
Each sponsored family has the opportunity to participate in the design and implementation of the projects underway in their respective community. Children are made active participants in their own community's development. This approach is known as Child-Centered Community Development.
back to top
How will I know my contributions make an impact?
Plan USA keeps sponsors and donors informed of the progress being made in their sponsored child's community through Annual Progress Reports, updated photos, and Program Reports. In addition, those sponsoring children are encouraged to correspond with their sponsored child to exchange information and obtain the latest updates on their progress. Our Donor Relations Executives can help answer questions or concerns regarding your contributions. We are accountable to you.
back to top
How is Plan USA different from other organizations?
Through Plan, Plan USA is committed to long-term development programs to help children and families achieve their full potential. Except in emergency situations, Plan USA does not provide direct assistance. Instead, we help communities develop, grow and, ultimately, support themselves. In addition, we believe a vital part of a child sponsorship program is the relationship that a child can have with his or her sponsor. We also provide the opportunity and encourage sponsors and children to write to each other to share and exchange information. Founded in 1937, we have many years of experience helping people help themselves.
back to top
How much of each contribution is used for program work?
Plan USA is proud to have met the standards of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance.
Through careful management and avid planning, Plan USA's program allocation was 81% for fiscal 2007. Your contributions help build communities to a point where they can sustain themselves without Plan's assistance. For more information, please visit our financial page. To obtain a copy of our most recent financial report, please contact us at DonorRelations@planusa.org or call us toll free at 1-800-556-7918.
back to top
What is the Children's Fund?
The Children's Fund was created in 1938 by the founders of Plan during the civil war in Spain. It was called the "Milk Fund" then-used for what was most essential for orphans of war in the early days of our program. Today the Children's Fund continues to provide what's most essential for children, their families and communities. Your tax deductible contribution to the Children's Fund helps provide child-centered programs in health, education, family income and healthier homes & habitats for:
back to top
What is the history of Plan?
In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, British war correspondent John Langdon-Davies found a small child wandering alone through the ravaged streets of Santander. In the child's pocket was a note that read: "This is Jose. I am his father. When Santander falls I shall be shot. Whoever finds my son, I beg of him to take care of him for my sake."
Deeply affected by the plea, Langdon-Davies took the child by the hand and took the first steps to establishing what is now Plan.
Langdon-Davies conceived the idea of a personal relationship between an orphaned child and an English sponsor. He and refugee worker Eric Muggeridge, horrified at the number of sick and starving children they encountered, began an operation to provide food, accommodation, and education for some of the thousands of children orphaned by the war.
From these beginnings, Plan has grown from an organization focused on children affected by war to one of the leading international development organizations, with more than 1.4 million sponsored children throughout the world.
back to top
What is Plan USA?
How do programs work?
How can I make a difference?
Can I sponsor a child?
Is it possible to visit a sponsored child?
What steps does Plan take to protect sponsored children?
Can I contribute to a project?
What types of projects are implemented?
How will I know my contributions make an impact?
How is Plan USA different from other organizations?
How much of each contribution is used for program work?
What is the Children's Fund?
What is the history of Plan?
What is Plan USA?
Plan USA is an organization committed to helping children, their families and communities in 49 developing countries around the world. Established in 1937, we give people and communities in the poorest countries tools to help them effect real change—improving life today and offering children a chance for a better tomorrow. We are part of a global network of more than 60 donor and program countries. Plan's projects are primarily funded through donations and our child sponsorship program. The impact of Plan USA donors is multiplied many times over through the combined resources of donors around the world.
back to top
How do programs work?
Plan works directly with community members to design and implement programs that help families break the cycle of poverty. We do not provide direct monetary assistance or hand-outs to families. Instead, contributions from child sponsors and donors are pooled, which means they are multiplied many times in value. A potable water system that costs about $12,000, for example, is made possible through the power of child sponsorship funding.
Projects are designed to help communities develop long-term solutions to real issues affecting their lives. Programs are comprehensive. They are designed to have lasting benefits. For example, a growth monitoring program doesn't just care for babies in the first year of life, but provides for a child's overall health to be monitored from birth through age five. Growth monitoring includes immunizations, weight and growth checks, and education for mothers about proper nutrition and parental care for their children.
Each program is designed and evaluated with children in mind; how will children benefit; how will we measure success; what difference will have been made for the children once our work is completed.
back to top
How can I make a difference?
Plan USA offers a number of ways for people to help make a difference in the lives of children, their families, and communities in developing countries. One such way is through child sponsorship. For $24.00 each month, you can sponsor a specific child and will receive information about that child, his or her family, and the community in which they live. Learn more about child sponsorship.
Or you can sponsor a particular project, like clean water, by giving a regular contribution in any amount. Individual donations to ongoing projects are always welcome. For information about projects in need of funding, visit our Make a Donation page. If would like to know more about contributing through Plan, contact our Donor Relations staff at 1-800-556-7918 or via our Contact Us page.
back to top
Can I sponsor a child?
Yes, child sponsorship is the cornerstone of our work with children and families in 49 developing countries around the world. Sponsoring a child is not a hand-out to a specific child, but is an approach to long-term development that invites a sponsor to build a relationship with an individual child and family while helping an entire community realize its full potential. Each sponsor receives the profile and photograph of the child she or he is sponsoring and has the opportunity to get to know that child and his or her family through the exchange of letters, small gifts, holiday greetings or even a personal visit. Individual child sponsors make regular donations, which Plan combines with funds from other sponsors, to implement programs in the sponsored child's community. Learn more about child sponsorship!
back to top
Is it possible to visit a sponsored child?
Yes, sponsors have told us many times that meeting their sponsored child was among the most rewarding experiences of their lives. We are delighted to help arrange special visits between sponsors and sponsored children. All visits must be approved by and arranged through Plan USA. For more information, please read our Visit the Field page.
back to top
What steps does Plan take to protect sponsored children?
Plan has a child protection policy in place for the express purpose of protecting the privacy and security of the children and families with whom we work. We strongly encourage you, as a child sponsor, to review this child protection policy.
Many of those sponsoring children are able to take a trip to their sponsored child’s country and arrange a personal meeting with the child and family. These visits are most often life-changing experiences for both parties. It's through this cross-cultural exchange that deeper understandings are gained and stronger bonds are formed. Plan has protocols in place for such visits which are documented within our protection policy. During a visit an adult must be present with the sponsor and child at all times. This is most often a Plan staff person and/or an adult member of the child's family. A sponsor is not permitted to take a child, unaccompanied, out of his/her community. We trust that you can understand the reason for such a policy.
Our policy is not meant to hinder the personal connection you have with your sponsored child, but to promote a healthy and safe interaction.
back to top
Can I contribute to a project?
You can support a child-centered project through a one-time donation or through our new project sponsorship program. For a minimum contribution of $10.00 per month ($120.00 per year) you can sponsor a project by "Theme," or area of child need—Child Survival, Child Trafficking, HIV/AIDS, Disaster Relief & Recovery or Education. Your Project Sponsorship contributions will always go to the neediest project within your chosen project theme. The results: a community of children is vaccinated against a deadly disease; a school is built where none existed before; or a mother's tailoring shop triples the family's income. For more information about Project Sponsorship, visit our Sponsor an Issue page or contact our Donor Relations Executives.
Project sponsors receive updates throughout the year on achievements they've helped make possible. Project support can be made anytime, in any amount.
back to top
What types of projects are implemented?
Plan works in five critical and interrelated areas: Growing Up Healthy, Learning, Livelihood, Habitat, and Building Relationships. Some of the specific projects Plan helps to implement include vaccination and immunization programs; comprehensive HIV/AIDS programs; training of health workers; provision of safe, clean water; classroom construction; scholarships and school fees; vocational training; agricultural programs; and home construction and repair, among other projects. Projects vary from country to country, and community to community, depending on their particular needs.
Each sponsored family has the opportunity to participate in the design and implementation of the projects underway in their respective community. Children are made active participants in their own community's development. This approach is known as Child-Centered Community Development.
back to top
How will I know my contributions make an impact?
Plan USA keeps sponsors and donors informed of the progress being made in their sponsored child's community through Annual Progress Reports, updated photos, and Program Reports. In addition, those sponsoring children are encouraged to correspond with their sponsored child to exchange information and obtain the latest updates on their progress. Our Donor Relations Executives can help answer questions or concerns regarding your contributions. We are accountable to you.
back to top
How is Plan USA different from other organizations?
Through Plan, Plan USA is committed to long-term development programs to help children and families achieve their full potential. Except in emergency situations, Plan USA does not provide direct assistance. Instead, we help communities develop, grow and, ultimately, support themselves. In addition, we believe a vital part of a child sponsorship program is the relationship that a child can have with his or her sponsor. We also provide the opportunity and encourage sponsors and children to write to each other to share and exchange information. Founded in 1937, we have many years of experience helping people help themselves.
back to top
How much of each contribution is used for program work?
Plan USA is proud to have met the standards of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance. Through careful management and avid planning, Plan USA's program allocation was 81% for fiscal 2007. Your contributions help build communities to a point where they can sustain themselves without Plan's assistance. For more information, please visit our financial page. To obtain a copy of our most recent financial report, please contact us at DonorRelations@planusa.org or call us toll free at 1-800-556-7918.
back to top
What is the Children's Fund?
The Children's Fund was created in 1938 by the founders of Plan during the civil war in Spain. It was called the "Milk Fund" then-used for what was most essential for orphans of war in the early days of our program. Today the Children's Fund continues to provide what's most essential for children, their families and communities. Your tax deductible contribution to the Children's Fund helps provide child-centered programs in health, education, family income and healthier homes & habitats for:
- children newly enrolled who otherwise would wait weeks, even months, for a long-term child sponsor to be found,
- children who have lost their sponsor, including older children (ages 14-17) who often never find another sponsor again,
- children who have little food, no health care, no hope...and only your generosity to this Fund to help them. How can you help?
back to top
What is the history of Plan?
In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, British war correspondent John Langdon-Davies found a small child wandering alone through the ravaged streets of Santander. In the child's pocket was a note that read: "This is Jose. I am his father. When Santander falls I shall be shot. Whoever finds my son, I beg of him to take care of him for my sake."
Deeply affected by the plea, Langdon-Davies took the child by the hand and took the first steps to establishing what is now Plan.
Langdon-Davies conceived the idea of a personal relationship between an orphaned child and an English sponsor. He and refugee worker Eric Muggeridge, horrified at the number of sick and starving children they encountered, began an operation to provide food, accommodation, and education for some of the thousands of children orphaned by the war.
From these beginnings, Plan has grown from an organization focused on children affected by war to one of the leading international development organizations, with more than 1.4 million sponsored children throughout the world.
back to top
