Sponsorship FAQs

Back2Back is unique in that we are committed to going deep with each child we serve.  Back2Back’s Child Sponsorship Program supports the 24-hour holistic care for the children we serve.  By considering the child as an individual, we are able to go beyond just physical needs to meet the spiritual, educational, emotional, and social needs of the child.

Another distinction of our Child Sponsorship Program is the constant oversight of the children’s homes and communities by Back2Back staff.  Back2Back’s tireless commitment to transparency and devotion to high-quality holistic care for each child ensures a sponsor’s sacrifice is truly making a difference in every aspect of their sponsored child’s life. Learn more about Back2Back’s holistic care.

No money is given directly to the children sponsored in our program. Back2Back partners with the caregivers of the child to determine the individual child’s needs, and your donation goes to meet the need.  The money you donate each month will be combined with those of other sponsors whose children live in the same children’s home or community to benefit all who live there. Back2Back ensures that 91% of all donations go directly to meeting those needs, and 9% is used for operational expenses. Learn more about Back2Back’s stewardship.

Back2Back primarily serves orphaned and vulnerable children who live in children’s homes or with a family member. As a result, we are supporting the 24-hour holistic care for the children we serve. Back2Back strives to meet all of the children’s needs by focusing on the spiritual, physical, educational, emotional, and social needs of children.  This commitment to go deep, by developing the whole child, requires more of a financial commitment than other child sponsorship programs.

Back2Back is unique in that our primary focus is serving orphaned and vulnerable children. Orphans are defined as children without one or both parents, a definition which also encompasses children who have been abandoned.  When Back2Back began in 1997, we ministered solely in children’s homes.  Over the years, we have evolved to also work with single mothers who are trying to keep their family intact.  We believe this is a proactive attempt to prevent children from being left in children’s homes.

Back2Back chooses where to send missionaries and get involved based on God’s leading and the need of a particular area. Back2Back staff develops a relationship with the directors of the children’s homes, communities, single mothers, churches, and pastors that we partner with before starting our sponsorship program. This ensures Back2Back and those we partner with have the same goals in mind for the children we serve. Learn more about our approach.

All the children in the children’s homes Back2Back serves receive full, holistic care. No child is denied any of their basic needs based on whether or not they have a sponsor. Back2Back provides for unsponsored children through the Back2Back Care Fund. Learn more about the Care Fund.

The cost of meeting one child’s needs for an entire month is actually more than $100. With this in mind, we allow each child to have either two or three sponsors, depending on where they live.

You are welcome to write to your child as often as you like.  Four times a year we will translate any letters you have written and hand deliver them to your child.  Your child will then write you a letter back, which we will translate and pass on to you.  You will receive between 2 and 4 letters a year from your sponsor child, based on how often you write.  The children love seeing who is writing them, so feel free to include a photograph of yourself and your family.  You are welcome to use the Back2Back Child Sponsorship Letter template (click here to download) (https://back2back.org/wp-content/uploads/Back2Back-Child-Sponsor-Letter-Template.pdf)to write on, but it is not required. Please see Back2Back’s Letter Writing Tips for more ideas on what to say. Please keep letters to an appropriate length, keeping in mind that a staff person will translate it. You are welcome to email a letter to your sponsor child to childsponsorship@back2back.org or may mail it to: Back2Back Ministries, P.O. Box 439, Mason, OH 45040. We hand deliver all letters due to postal services in the countries we serve often being unreliable.

For sponsored children and families who use social media accounts, Back2Back does have social media and communication guidelines. Please click here to read our Sponsorship Safeguarding Covenant Agreement.

Yes! Back2Back makes it easy to meet and visit your sponsor child by joining us on a mission trip.  Many child sponsors have had the opportunity to build a deeper relationship with their child by meeting them and seeing where they live.  Click here to learn more about taking a mission trip with Back2Back.

Yes! Due to the high cost of mailing gifts to sponsor children, we offer sponsors the opportunity to make a donation above and beyond their normal giving amount to be used for a gift, a special outing, or a birthday party for their child. By giving generally, sponsors allow us to celebrate each child in unique ways.

To donate toward a gift to your child, simply mail in a check or make a donation on Back2Back’s website for the gift amount. Be sure to write your child’s ID# and write “gift” in the donation memo line.

It may take up to eight weeks for your gift to be given to your sponsor child, due to the amount of time it takes to transfer funds internationally to the site staff. If you would choose to include a gift with your letter, we ask that the gift be able to fit into an 9×12 envelope. Sponsors should abstain from giving monetary gifts or expensive items to their sponsor child.

As a sponsor, you have many opportunities to communicate with the child you sponsor and we encourage you to do so. When you communicate with him or her, however, we ask you to provide comments and materials consistent with the Christian values and philosophies we share with our partnering churches. We will not forward photographs and other materials depicting activities that:

• Might be considered inappropriate in another culture.
• Promote lifestyle choices that we view as unhealthy and inconsistent with biblically based lifestyles or otherwise inappropriate for sponsored children.
• Might threaten the safety of the sponsored children in any way.

For example, we will not forward materials that depict or describe the use of alcoholic beverages, tobacco, unlawful drugs and materials, or activities we regard as dangerous or unsafe. We will not forward materials or communications that advocate another religious worldview. In addition, we will not forward materials depicting persons dressed in immodest clothing or engaging in activities inconsistent with our ministry values and beliefs.

Our Child Sponsorship Program offers you the opportunity to stay with a child for a number of years, usually through the school year in which the child reaches the age of 18 to 22 (varies by country,) and sometimes for a short season after graduation while they transition out of the Child Sponsorship Program.

While we hope that you will be able to continue your support of your sponsored child until he or she completes the program, we recognize that circumstances sometimes change. You may discontinue your child sponsorship at any time.

Please understand that a sponsored child’s circumstances may change, too. For example, sometimes a child leaves a partner children’s home to be reunited with a family member, or sometimes a Strong Family may move beyond the reach of our program.

We will inform you as quickly as possible if any such circumstance affects the child you sponsor, and we’ll offer you the opportunity to support another child in need of your help.

You can contact the Back2Back Child Sponsorship team by emailing sponsorship@back2back.org or by calling (513) 754-0300 ext. 1705.  You can cancel your child sponsorship at any time.

Many of the children Back2Back works with come from a background of abuse and/or neglect. We ask that as their sponsor, you do not ask your sponsor child about their past. We want the children to focus on today and their future rather than dwelling on negative memories. Most of the children we serve meet with a psychologist to work through woundings from their past. Learn more about the impact of trauma.

Many of the children Back2Back works with have some biological family with which they are in contact. They often will visit these family members on weekends and/or holidays, and some may be reunified with family in the future.

Many of the children have had gaps in their education– whether from not being able to attend school, or by struggling with an undiagnosed or untreated learning disability. Therefore, many of the children are behind in school compared to their age, and are working to get caught up.