Sewa International’s Sponsor a Child program aims to empower underprivileged children in India by providing educational support that fosters academic excellence. The primary focus is on covering school fees, but we also offer motivational activities such as Anoobhooti camps and career counseling to inspire and guide students. Our goal is to equip these children with the tools they need to thrive both academically and socially.

The Sponsor a Child program focuses exclusively on supporting underprivileged children in India. Our reach extends across India's 28 states and four union territories (India comprises 28 states and eight union territories).

The Sponsor a Child program uses a transparent and multi-step selection process:

1. Application Submission: Financially-challenged students can apply easily through our user-friendly website: https://sac.sewainternational.org.
2. Income Verification: We verify parental income to ensure the program prioritizes those in need. Students with parents earning below INR 300,000 annually are eligible.
3. Parental/Guardian Involvement: Parents, grandparents, or guardians can actively participate by helping fill out the application and providing supporting documents.
4. Eligibility Shortlisting: Once applications are verified, we shortlist students based on established criteria, ensuring a fair and transparent selection process.
5. Affordable Fees: The program maintains a fee cap of Rs. 20,000 per year per child, making it accessible for chosen students.
6. Sponsorship Opportunity: Accepted students are then listed on our donor portal (sac.sewausa.org) where donors/supporters can choose a child to sponsor and contribute to their education journey.

The students are from Grade 1 to Grade 12 (age: 6-16 years).

Yes. We do sponsor the education of orphaned children as well as students who are physically challenged.

Since its inception in 2011, the Sponsor a Child program has successfully impacted the lives of over 25,000 students. In 2023, we sponsored more than 3,600 children.

Sponsor a child program is a flagship program of Sewa International, Sewa International is a Hindu faith-based, humanitarian, nonprofit service organization registered under Internal Revenue Code 501 (c) (3). Founded in 2003, Sewa International is active in twenty countries. Sewa International has over 35 chapters in the US alone. Sewa serves humanity irrespective of race, color, religion, gender or nationality. Sewa International specialize in disaster relief and rehabilitation. Sewa International’s development programs focus on family services; child, tribal and refugee welfare; women empowerment; health; and education. In addition to our work in the US, Sewa International has undertaken development projects in Colombia, Guyana, India, Kenya, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. More information about Sewa International can be found at sewausa.org

The annual cost of sponsoring a child is $360. We encourage donors to contribute at the beginning of the school year, in June. However, we also offer flexible payment options, allowing for quarterly or half-yearly contributions.

Here is how Contributions are used to benefit the sponsored child:

1. School fee (tuition) payments: Donations are primarily used to pay school fees directly to the educational institution. This ensures the child can attend school without a financial burden.
2. Reimbursement for timely payments: If parents or guardians can pay the tuition fees in advance, we reimburse them using your contributions. This ensures the funds are channeled towards the child's education while acknowledging proactive efforts by the family.

The Sponsor a Child program operates with a low 7.5% overhead. Much of the work is done by our unpaid volunteers in the US and India. This ensures that most of your donations directly benefit the sponsored children.

Yes, the Sponsor a Child program is managed/administered by Sewa International, a 501 (C) 3 organization, and all American donors will receive a receipt once a donation is made.
We can also mail the receipt on request.

We offer multiple convenient options for making donations. You can contribute using a credit card on the sac.sewausa.org website or by Check/ ACH/ Zelle/Venmo. The easiest option is online donations by visiting sac.sewausa.org/donations. For other donation methods, please contact us at this link: https://sac.sewausa.org/contact-us

No, the recipient child's family does not have any access to any donor’s details such as your name, email, or phone number. Sewa International maintains full privacy regarding donor information.

Watch the video for step-by-step procedure: https://youtu.be/VPP5qV4rarA

• Our program offers donors flexible options to sponsor a child. Donors can visit sac.sewausa.org to choose a child from the displayed list or use search filters like location, gender, or age to find a match.
• Secondly, donors can contribute and request the support team to assign a child based on specified criteria.
• Finally, general donations allow the team to allocate support to a child in need from the current waiting list. These options provide donors with multiple ways to contribute.

Yes, the donor receives regular updates about the child who is sponsored. Once a donor logs in to the sac.sewausa.org website, information about the family, their living conditions, and the challenges they face are uploaded on the donor page. Workshops and information sessions are offered in different parts of India for the children and updates about them are shared through emails. The year-end progress report is uploaded on the donor page on the Sponsor a Child website. Donors can send emails to their sponsored children and replies are uploaded back to donors.

Only one person can sponsor a child. Once a donor sponsors a child, we remove the child’s profile from the site, making it invisible to other prospective donors.

Each donor gets a profile on sac.sewausa.org. After logging in, donors can view the child's photo and information. Use your email as the username. If you've forgotten your password, click "forgot password." For further help, email sac-support@sewausa.org.

Watch this video to know the procedure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX0ALX7tnwE

The child’s progress can be viewed on the donor’s page.

Donors can email their sponsored children through the SAC website after logging into their donor page. Children's responses are sent back to the donor via email. Periodic academic report cards are also posted on the child's profile, which the donor can view on their profile.

Donors can inquire about the family’s background, including the number of members, their location, and even their interests such as gardening, painting, singing, dancing, sports, and games. They might also ask about the child’s favorite school subjects and their aspirations for the future.

Our team is always available to respond to or resolve any issues. Please feel free to send an email to sac-support@sewausa.org or call or message on SaC support line: 302-659- 7392

Your username is the email you used to donate. To retrieve your password, click "forgot password" and enter your email. If that does not work, contact us, and our support team will assist you.

https://sac.sewausa.org/contact-us.

Please feel free to send an email to sac-support@sewausa.org or simply call or message on the SaC support line: 302-659-7392.

To protect privacy, we don’t encourage personal meetings between donors and their sponsored children. However, meeting with a group of children, whether or not they are your sponsored child, is welcomed. This helps donors understand the program and builds confidence for both children and donors.

Motivational camps (Anubhuthi), which offer valuable enrichment opportunities, are conducted throughout the year in various parts of India for children in grades 8-11. However, we do not use Sponsor a Child donations to fund these camps. We welcome additional donations to support these camps beyond regular sponsorship contributions.

Yes. Recurring sponsorships ensure that the same child is allocated to the donor year after year. That helps build relationships between the donor and the sponsored children. The allocation continues till the children graduate from the school or drop off from the Sponsor a Child program for any reason. In such a case another child would be supported by the donation.

Yes. If a donation is marked anonymous, the donor's name will not be announced by the local chapter team or anywhere else. At the same time, donors can view the details of the sponsored student and communicate with the student through the portal.

Material gifts are not permitted as part of the Sponsor a Child program, except for covering school fees. The most meaningful contribution you can offer is a motivational letter to the child you sponsor, or if possible, visiting a group of students during your visit to India.

For any financial information regarding your sponsor child donations, please contact our Sponsor a Child support line:

Call or message: 302-659-7392

Email: sacsupport@sewausa.org

We have a dedicated team that will respond to your queries within a couple of business days or even less.

We would welcome that and appreciate your continued support! Donors have the option to extend their sponsorship once the current year's sponsorship is complete. If the donation is set as recurring, the system will make every effort to assign the same child. However, if the child graduates or leaves the program, donors can choose to sponsor a new child.

The security of financial information is our top priority. The Sponsor a Child system or website does not store the donor’s credit card information. All transactions are processed through the PayPal gateway which is a globally trusted platform (top 10 US). All recurring donations are stored and processed securely through PayPal itself.

Donors’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is stored securely in our system where data is encrypted. Access is highly restricted and available to only a select group of administrators.

Donors can easily cancel their recurring donations by logging into their profiles.

1. Visit the sac.sewausa.org page.
2. Login as a donor with email ID and password
3. On the right-hand side drop-down panel of the donor page under “Manage my donations” the donation can be canceled.

Alternatively, please reach out to the support line. Contact details are availablehere. We request you allow us to resolve any issues before canceling the membership.

Unfortunately, some of the children who were previously sponsored have left the program due to the following reasons:

1. Completion of Education:A few students have successfully completed their Class 12 education and have enrolled in college.
2. Transition to Government Schools: Some students have transitioned to government schools for Class 11 or joined polytechnic institutes.
3. Improved Family Circumstances: In a few cases, the financial situation of the sponsored families has improved, making them self-sufficient.
4. Incomplete Documentation: We have had to discontinue sponsorship for some families who failed to submit the required documents for the previous year.
5. Temporary Inability to Provide Documents: There were instances where families were unable to submit the necessary documents to continue their sponsorship this year.

Due to these reasons, we have had to reassign children to some of the donors to other children who continue to require our assistance. We hope you understand this decision and will continue to support our efforts to provide quality education to underprivileged children.