World Vision is a Christian relief and development agency helping children and their
communities towards a wholesome future filled with hope, dignity, justice and peace. Reaching out to
the poorest of the poor in India without respect to caste, creed, race or religion, World Vision
works through partnerships to bring about lasting change and build our
nation.
Internationally, World Vision emerged out of a faithful expression of God’s love by
Robert Pierce, a war correspondent during the Korean War in 1947.
World Vision’s work in India
began in the year 1962, in a small way in Calcutta. Today, our staff work in close to 5000
communities, touching the lives of over 24 million people in India. World Vision is a registered
society under the Tamilnadu Societies Act 1975, with its National Office in Chennai.
World
Vision is an independent entity within our country with a distinctly national identity. An active
Indian Board of Directors govern World Vision.
World Vision India is a member of the
international partnership of World Vision, which works in around 100 countries. World Vision has
consultative status with UNESCO as well as official relations with key UN agencies including UNICEF,
WHO, UNHCR and ILO.
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2. What does World Vision do?
Children are the focus of World Vision’s work. We
work together with the communities, families and children in their journey towards
development.
We do this by working with the communities to help them reach the basic standards
of physical, intellectual, socio-economic and moral well-being. World Vision facilitates the
formation and growth of community-based organisations (CBOs), which are able to identify the
problems faced by the community, especially children, and work with them to find solutions. This is
our strategy for sustainable development.
World Vision also responds to disasters due to
natural calamities in the country. World Vision has responded to every major disaster, starting from
the cyclone in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh in 1977 to the floods in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. World
Vision stays in the disaster struck area until the community is back on its feet.
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3. Where does World
Vision work?
World Vision’s work in India is spread over 24 states across the country.Today
our staff work in close to 5000 communities, touching the lives of a more than 24 million people,
which includes 1,65,000 children directly benefiting through Child Sponsorship. 93 lakh children are
benefited through various other programmes of World Vision around the country through the dedicated
work of our staff in India.
We work along with the communities, families and children in their
journey towards reaching self-sufficiency. Our unique way of doing this is through integrated
development programmes that bring about lasting change in the communities. World Vision works in the
communities through 106 Area Development Programmes (ADPs). Each ADP touches the lives of over
20,000 to 1,00,000 people.
World Vision India’s nine project offices are based in Delhi,
Lucknow, Bhopal, Ranchi, Guwahati, Kolkatta, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai and they coordinate the
work in these projects.
World Vision International works in around 100 countries across the
globe. In 2003, World Vision was active in the following countries:
Africa
Algeria •
Angola • Burundi• Chad• Democratic Republic of Congo• Ethiopia• Ghana• Kenya• Lesotho• Liberia•
Malawi• Mali• Mauritania• Mozambique• Niger• Rwanda• Senegal• Sierra Leone• Somalia• South Africa•
Sudan• Swaziland• Tanzania• Uganda• Zambia• Zimbabwe•
Asia
Bangladesh• Cambodia•
China• East Timor• India• Indonesia• Japan• Laos• Malaysia• Mongolia• Myanmar• Nepal• North Korea•
Philippines• Singapore• South Korea• Sri Lanka• Taiwan• Thailand• Vietnam•Central Asia• Afghanistan•
Pakistan• Uzbekistan•
Europe
Albania• Armenia• Austria• Azerbaijan•
Bosnia-Herzegovina• Denmark• Finland• France• Georgia• Germany• Ireland• Kosovo• Macedonia•
Serbia-Montenegro• Netherlands• Romania• Russia (Chechnya/Ingushetia) • Spain• Switzerland• United
Kingdom
Latin America
Argentina• Bolivia• Brazil• Chile• Colombia• Costa Rica•
Dominican Republic• Ecuador• El Salvador• Guatemala• Haiti• Honduras• Mexico• Nicaragua•
Peru
Middle East
UAE (Dubai) • Iran• Iraq• Jerusalem/West Bank/Gaza• Lebanon• Syria•
Jordan
North America
Canada• United States of America
Oceania
Australia•
New Zealand• Papua New Guinea• Solomon Islands• Vanuatu
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4. What is Child
Sponsorship?
Child Sponsorship is the commitment you, as a sponsor, make to change the life
of a poor and needy child and his or her community through regular contributions. It is a
relationship between you, your sponsored child, your sponsored child’s family and community. This
relationship is aimed at giving a better life not only to the child but also to the whole family and
the entire community as well while you have the satisfaction of not only the relationship with the
child and his or her family, but also of having invested in building a new India, through our
children.
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4.1 Is
Child Sponsorship an effective way to help?
Yes. The best way to change the life of a
child is to change the world in which he or she lives. By sponsoring a child, you will help to bring
about a lasting change in the child’s community and enable the child to grow up in a much happier
and healthier environment.
Your sponsorship helps fund areas such as healthcare, agriculture,
and education—whatever the community needs most. We do this in partnership with the local people.
The most vulnerable children are selected by the community to be a part of the Child Sponsorship
programme.
When you become a child sponsor, you can see for yourself the progress of your
sponsored child's development and also that of the community.
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4.2 How can I be sure that the
money I send is managed correctly? Who audits World Vision’s accounts?
World Vision is
committed to the highest levels of stewardship of all its resources. Through systematic monitoring
and evaluation of all its programmes, World Vision seeks ongoing improvement of the quality of its
programmes. In addition, World Vision has systematic financial audits (internal and external) each
year of all its programmes. Deloitte Haskins & Sells are our current external auditors.
In
addition to these annual reviews and audits, World Vision maintains a high level of accountability
to its key stakeholders starting from the communities that we work in, the government and our
sponsors and donors. Total transparency in transactions with the government and our supporters is
the norm.
Further, any sponsor is free to visit the child or children that he or she sponsors
to see the impact sponsorship is making in the lives of these children.
Our annual report
contains the audited financial statement and is available on request. Reports are sent to the Home
ministry / Income tax office.
Many sponsors have visited World Vision projects to see for
themselves that the money they donate gets there and is used wisely. Our sponsors receive a
community newsletter each year, which reports on how sponsors' money is helping to change people's
lives.
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4.3 How
does my sponsored child benefit?
World Vision aims to promote lasting change in the
life of the sponsored child and our aim is to benefit and encourage every person in the child’s
community to become a strong and productive member, thus moving the whole community towards
self-reliance. Your support will provide a child with supplementary nutrition, education and health
care, and also help the family as well as the community that your sponsored child lives in. This
gives a chance for children to experience a normal, healthy and happy childhood.
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4.4 Why should I
help a child who lives with his/her parents?
World Vision is about building sustainable
communities for children so that they have a better and different future. World Vision assists
children living with parents because such assistance enables them to remain as a family unit. In
many families, either the father or mother is dead or disabled or one of the parents has abandoned
the family. In other instances the parents are very poor and the income is too little for
survival.
Therefore World Vision helps to keep the family together and the children have one
or both parents with whom they can share their love.
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5. Child Sponsorship in operation
Child Sponsorship is
generally a long-term commitment, up to 10 years or more. You can sponsor the same child for as long
as the project continues or as long as the child remains in the sponsorship programme (often well
into their teens).
Once the sponsorship project meets its objectives, it is time to celebrate
the many achievements—healthier children and better living conditions, educational programmes that
work and a community with greater confidence for a more positive future.
On occasion, there
may be a change in the circumstances of either your sponsored child or you, which may reduce the
period of sponsorship.
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5.2 Is there a specific age for a child to be sponsored?
Not really. Normally
school-going children are sponsored. However, you are free to request a younger child. However, if
there are specific requests from the sponsors we try our best to comply with their wishes.
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5.3 What are
Partner ID and Child ID? Do I need to mention this whenever I correspond?
When you become a
Sponsor, we will send you a reference number, which is called the Partner ID. This is useful for
processing transactions quickly. In the same way, when a child becomes a part of the Child
Sponsorship programme, he or she is assigned a reference number, which is called the Child ID. We
will send you these when you become a sponsor.
It is necessary that you mention your Partner
ID and Child ID in all correspondence. It helps us to sort and process correspondences quickly,
especially when you send your contribution.
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5.4 Do I get a progress report on my sponsored child and his or
her community?
When you become a sponsor, you will receive a pack containing a photo along
with the personal details of the child and his or her family and also information about the
community where he/she lives.
A year later, you will receive your sponsored child’s annual
progress report. The community newsletter and a greeting card will also be sent to you during the
year. The child will also write back to you if you write to him or her.
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5.5 How are children chosen for
sponsorship?
As a norm, World Vision works with the communities forming a group of community
members that make collective decisions for the community. The most vulnerable children in the
project area are selected by the community group to take part in the Child Sponsorship
programme.
Families are also asked if they want to be part of the sponsorship programme, with
the understanding that all the children and families in the community will share the benefits across
the community.
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5.6 Am I the only sponsor for my sponsored child?
Yes. World Vision assigns
only one sponsor per sponsored child.
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5.7 Can I sponsor more than one child?
Yes. You can
sponsor as many children as you wish to. There are many children waiting for sponsorship.
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5.8 Can I sponsor
an orphaned or handicapped child?
World Vision does not run orphanages. However, if there are
orphaned or handicapped children within a community, you can sponsor them if you wish to.
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6.1 How do I send my contribution
(sponsorship gift) to World Vision?
The sponsorship gift amount is payable monthly,
quarterly, biannually or annually; whichever is most convenient to you. You can send it by money
order, demand draft, cheque or credit card (even through the Internet).
You can send
post-dated cheques or authorize monthly deductions from your credit card until further written
notice from you. Please do not send Postal Orders and also avoid sending cash through mail. Always
make your cheques / DDs favouring “World Vision India”.
To make it more convenient for you,
you can make your payments through our new payment gateway online.
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6.2 How can I be sure my payment
through the Internet is safe?
You can be assured that all transactions on our site are safe.
Online security is a primary concern and that is why the World Vision India site is certified as a
VeriSign secure site.
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6.3 Can I send money to the child directly or to the local World Vision office where I
live?
Receipts for all contributions are issued only by the department for Donor Relations at
the National Office in Chennai. To avoid unnecessary delays, please send your contributions directly
to the Donor Relations department at the Chennai office for quick receipting.
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6.4 How do I update my payment
details or change payment method?
If you wish to change your payment method to credit card or
update your credit card details, please contact our Donor Relations department at the National
office in Chennai.
You can call us on 044-24807070 or fax us at 044-24807242 or you can write
to Donor Relations, World Vision of India, 16 V.O.C. Main Road, Kodambakkam, Chennai - 600 024. You
can also e-mail us at indiasponsors@wvi.org.
For further details you can always get in touch
with us through our Toll Free Number 1600-425-4550 (during business hours between 9:00am and 5:00
pm)
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6.5 Do I
need to inform you about my credit card expiry date?
Yes, this would help us to process
transactions quickly and avoid unnecessary delays. For any change in the credit card details, you
have to fill a new authorization form.
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6.6 How much of the contribution I send is tax
exempted?
All donations to World Vision are tax exempted under section 80G of the Income Tax
Act. Our receipt carries this message and the receipt will suffice for claiming tax exemption. The
tax rebate is 50% of your contribution to World Vision.
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6.7 How do I update my contact
details?
If you have changed your postal address, contact phone number, email address or your
name, please contact our Donor Relations department at the National office in Chennai.
16,
V.O.C. Main Road, Kodambakkam, Chennai - 600 024
You can also e-mail us at
indiasponsors@wvi.org
Phone: 91-44-2480 7070 or Fax: 91-44-2480 7242
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6.8 What if I cannot continue my
sponsorship payments? What will happen to the child?
We understand that financial and
personal situations change. If you need to cancel, just let us know and we will find another sponsor
for your child. Your child will not be neglected. World Vision will ensure that the funding
commitment to the project is maintained. The benefits as planned for the children in the community
will be carried out.
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7.1 Can
I write to my sponsored child?
You can certainly write to your sponsored child. In fact,
we encourage our sponsors to write to their children so as to get to know them and their family
better. Your sponsored child can also write to you. Many sponsors and sponsored children find this a
rewarding experience. If the child is very young or does not know how to write, someone will
probably help him/her to write or the project staff will write on their behalf.
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7.2 To whom should
I address the letters and cards I send to my sponsored child?
Any communication to your child
should be addressed to Donor Relations, World Vision India, at the Chennai Office.
Our address
is:16, V.O.C. Main Road,Kodambakkam,Chennai-600 024.
For quick reference and easy
processing it is also important that you write your full name, Sponsor Reference Number, the child’s
name and ID Number either on the envelope or in the correspondence.
Your Sponsor Reference
Number is always found on the right portion of your receipt, after your name, e.g. 1000318 or
994536. You can find your Sponsored Child’s ID number in the Picture Folder.eg. DODAPPA, Lakshmi -
ID. No: 167760-0025
We do not encourage sponsors to write directly to their sponsored children
as the address of sponsors may fall into wrong hands and be misused.
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7.3. How can I help you process
receipts faster?
It is sufficient if you mention your full name and Sponsor Reference Number
on the reverse side of the Cheque or DD. Please mention the address and pin code of the bank for
outstation cheques.
When we receive Cheques or DDs without names or addresses they are put
into an Anonymous Account. We correct the receipt to the sponsor’s name only when the sponsor asks
for the receipt. Therefore, please write your full name and address on the envelope or in your
letter.
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7.4 Can
I send extra gift money to my sponsored child?
Extra gift money either for the child’s
education, medical needs or project needs is always welcome.
But, extra money for a
particular child or family is not encouraged as it can cause jealousy among other members of a
community. If it is meant for the needs of a project, the benefit extends to the whole community and
this is acceptable.
If the gift amount is too small, the administrative cost for sending the
money is very high, therefore we suggest that your gift money be a minimum of Rs. 500/-. You can
include this amount along with your regular monthly sponsorship gift.
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7.5. Why do you waste money on
glossy and frequent mailers and appeals?
People lead such fast paced lives these days and
have very little time to spare. Bearing this in mind our materials are designed to attract the
attention of the recipient. Also, much of our printing costs are subsidised by our printers, who
charge the lowest that is possible for them—sometimes even at the cost of losing out on their
profits.
We try to average about eight mailers a year. This includes the appeals that are sent
during a calamity.
In fact, if you could share these appeals with your friends and relatives,
it would cut our costs even further.
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7.6 Can I visit my sponsored child?
Yes. You are most
welcome to visit the child you sponsor and meet the whole family.
A visit means you can also see
how much the people have been able to accomplish with your sponsorship support. A visit also makes
your sponsorship more meaningful for you as well as your sponsored child.
Kindly write to The
Manager, Donor Relations, at National office in Chennai, well in advance so that we can arrange for
the visit. In some cases, when the project is too inaccessible, or you have time constraints because
of which the child is to be brought from the project to meet you, then you will have to meet the
travel cost, boarding and food for the child and escort.
We request all our child sponsors to go
through our Child Protection Policy before visiting the child.
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7.7 Can I adopt my sponsored
child?
No. World Vision does not organize adoption. All our children live with their families
in the community and the goal of sponsorship is to build up their community around them rather than
relocating the children.
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8.1 World Vision receives foreign money,
why are you asking Indians to contribute?
Sponsorship is more than making a monthly gift to a
child. It is investing in a different future for our nation through these children. We believe that
this is an opportunity for all Indians to partner with us in this nation-building
process.
Further, your regular gifts not only bring lasting change to a community, but also
give you the joy and satisfaction of having made the difference. We want to give Indians a chance to
make a meaningful gift that will change the life of a child. Today World Vision has 26 ADPs*
supported exclusively by Indians.
*ADPs (Area Development Programmes)- Each ADP touches over
20,000 to 1,00,000 lives which includes children
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8.2 World Vision calls itself a
Christian organization, what does this mean? Is World Vision involved in conversions?
No.
World Vision is not involved in conversions. World Vision works to serve the poor because of our
faith. By policy and practice, we extend help to all deserving people regardless of caste, creed,
sex, religion or community. We know that as important as it is for us to maintain our own identity
as Christians, it is also necessary to recognize and respect the cultural identities of the people
and communities with whom we work. World Vision does not engage in offering inducements or pressures
to change faith. Our policy forbids this.
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8.3 Do only Christians receive help from World Vision?
No.
World Vision serves the poorest of the poor without any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed
or religion.
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