Frequently-Asked Questions
Welcome to the FAQ and general information page for OSI sponsors! Below you will find answers to common, consistent questions asked by OSI sponsors. These are compiled here for your convenience and reference, though you are always free to contact us via email with any other specific questions that you may have. We hope the below is useful to you!
Index
General
OSI and Religion
Are children obligated to write?
OSI and Religion -
For every child, we believe in fostering their belief in the greatest
power in their lives, which is themselves. Our mission of
encouraging the child's sense of individuality does not allow us to foster any other ideology in our children. We highly respect
the existing diversity in our
children's cultural, ethnic, and religious backgrounds,
and are proud to have the same diversity amongst our staff and sponsors as
well.
OSI and Child
Protection - The security and protection of our children is
of utmost importance and legal necessity. To satisfy this, we are
established as legal entities at our program sites, and only our trained
liaisons are permitted direct interaction with the children (in lieu of
background checks for every incoming sponsor). Thus all
communication (email, postal mail, and sponsor visits) with the children
must be via the site liaison or OSI staff, without exception, and this is
by necessity strictly enforced. While providing this necessary
protection and meeting this legal obligation, we have also gone to great lengths to
make this system as transparent as possible, so that the child and sponsor
can still enjoy a virtually direct relationship, which is actually augmented by the
encouragement and involvement of the liaison.
OSI and Child
Privacy - To the extent allowed by law in the countries in
which we work, OSI is as open as possible with the information it provides to sponsors regarding their sponsored
child. Information, photos, and child correspondence are provided
with the assumption that they are for the private knowledge of the
sponsor, or to be shared very prudently. The child knows only of
their sponsor, and assumes a private relationship with them. Out of
respect for the child and the relationship, sharing of the child's
information with others via email, internet, or otherwise, should be done
with the same considerations one might give to sharing their own
birth-child's photos, communications, or personal information.
Are
children obligated to write? As our focus is on the
child's happiness and welfare, it is not obligatory for them to
correspond, though we strongly encourage them to do so and give them every
means! In most cases, our children are very willing and pleased to
communicate, and this in fact can have the greatest impact on their sense
of individuality, which is the core of our mission.
How often may I write to my child?
The ideal is that a frequent back-and-forth correspondence is
established between sponsor and child, in which case both sponsor and
child are encouraged to reply to each other as promptly as they wish!
-making the long-distance relationship as close, -and the communication as
real-time, as possible. However, every sponsor-child relationship is
unique, as both sponsors and children have varying interest and need for
communications. As a guideline, sponsors may let the child dictate
the frequency of correspondence, readily replying to the child's letters
as an encouragement to the child to write more. The sponsor can also
encourage the child to write by asking questions that serve as material
for the child to reply to (as children often just don't "know"
what to write).
How long should my letters be?
As with the frequency of correspondence (see previous
question), the best gauge for this is the child's own letters. The
child who is sharing a lot is inviting the same, and sponsors are
encouraged to respond accordingly! But common sense prevails here as
well. Accurate translation of letters is a tedious, time-consuming
process, and while our liaisons are very committed to this task, prudence
on the part of the sponsor is much appreciated, and can make their task
much easier!
Are
letters "edited" in translation? Sponsor
letters are translated as accurately and completely as possible, 100% in
most cases. Content is only edited if the liaison is certain that
the child will not grasp what is written, in which case it is simplified
to what the child can comprehend. Inappropriate content is not
permitted, of course (nor political or religious opinions). Finally,
any content that may be accidentally sensitive to the child's personal
experience or history may be edited. Again, most letters are
translated in full, and the sponsor is informed in cases where substantial
editing is required. Related item: OSI
and Child Protection
Why has correspondence from my child become less
frequent? It is quite common that there is a rush of
correspondence in the early stages of the sponsor-child relationship,
which wanes somewhat as novelty subsides. This is NOT a decline in
interest from the child! Simply, they have already shared their
favorite colors and favorite foods, and their remaining daily lives in the
orphanage are not full of adventure. It is frankly a maturing of the
relationship, and it's now time to try to dive into their thoughts a bit
and to ask questions which give them material to respond to. They
often have a strong interest to communicate, but as with most children,
they don't know exactly what to communicate. If you've written but
haven't heard back from your child in a while, don't hesitate to write
again to "check" on them!
Can I send postal-mail and gifts to my
child? Sponsors are free to send postal mail for
their child, and addressing, customs, and other information is accessible
from the sponsor's personal page on the OSI web site. We strongly
recommend mailing photos! -as the children are always greatly interested
in seeing into your faces, families, and lives, and photos are cheap to
send and low-risk to lose if they are lost in the mail. Sponsors are free to send gifts, though
for numerous reasons this is not generally recommended. Mail to
these remote, developing locations often does not arrive, and parcels are
often seized by customs and can only then be retrieved by a costly,
complicated, time-consuming procedure that we do not expect our liaisons
to pursue. Alternatively, material items and gifts can usually be
obtained by the liaison on-site at lower cost and without the
cost of mailing, and the child usually assumes the item was sent by their
sponsor. Finally, regarding gifts, our kids are wonderfully
un-spoiled and un-materialistic! They need thoughts, and these are
absolutely and truly as effective, if not more so, sent in a card or with
some photos than in any material item! Expensive gifts and frequent
gifts quickly destroys this virtue, and presents the problems of envy and
equality amongst the kids.
When is my Financial Record updated?
Your Financial Record is updated every time there is either
expenditure or deposit activity on your account (see next two questions).
When do my deposits appear on my Financial
Record? For the most part, deposits are recorded on a
weekly basis. Thus, your deposit will generally be posted within a
week at most of when it is received. We do occasionally allow our
voluntary treasurer a much-deserved week off! -in which case we try to
notify sponsors that recording may be delayed. Sponsors are always
free to email if they are concerned about the status of their deposit.
When do expenditures appear on my Financial
Record? While the site liaisons make expenditures
throughout the month, these are compiled and reported at the end of each
month, and usually appear on the sponsor's Financial Record within a few
days thereafter. If there are no expenditures on your child during a
particular month, no update is made to your Financial Record.
When should I send my funds?
OSI is intentionally informal, and there is thus no monthly
"bill" or reminder regarding your sponsorship payment, nor is
there a monthly due-date for when funds must be received. Funds may
be sent weekly, monthly, yearly, or in whatever inconsistent increments
are most convenient for the sponsor! We simply ask sponsors to keep
track of their funds in their Financial Record and to ensure that the
monthly amount they have pledged is provided for. At the top of your
Financial Record, you will see your monthly "budget," which is
the monthly amount pledged, and upon which we budget to serve the needs of
your sponsored child. If a sponsor falls delinquent in funding, we
will usually send a kind reminder by email, as we understand that it is
easy for the sponsor to lose track, and yet it is also important for us to
be able to serve the child's needs. In cases where a sponsor is
temporarily unable to send funds, we are very understanding and simply ask
to be informed so we can determine an alternate method of serving the
child's needs. If a sponsor is permanently unable to send funds,
please see below.
Why is my PayPal
deposit slightly less than what I
actually sent? PayPal automatically deducts it's fees
from the payment amount, so that the amount received by OSI is slightly
less than the amount sent by the sponsor/donor. The deposit amount
posted on your Financial Record is the full amount OSI has received from
PayPal (OSI does NOT deduct any fees or "admin" expenses from
child sponsor funds!).
Why
is my monthly budget sometimes exceeded, and sometimes under-spent?
Your monthly budget is the average of what is necessary
to provide for your sponsored child's needs. Your monthly budget
will often be under-spent to save for months when there are greater needs,
during which months your budget will be over-spent (for example, at the
beginning of the school year when supplies, books, and uniforms might be
needed all at once). Even when funds are under-spent, we still
depend on the sponsor's monthly budgeted amount to be able to budget for
the child's needs over the long-term. Over the course of a year,
average monthly expenditure should be very near your monthly budgeted
amount.
Are my contributions tax-deductible?
OSI is a US-registered 501(c)(3) non-profit charity. As
such, contributions made by US residents are tax-deductible. For
non-US residents, the tax deduction depends on the laws of each particular
country, though many European and other countries indeed provide a tax
deduction for US-registered charities. Receipts are mailed by OSI at
the end of each calendar-year to every OSI sponsor worldwide, to be filed
with your tax returns, if necessary.
Will I receive a receipt for my contributions?
At the end of each calendar year, receipts for the entire
year's contributions are sent to every OSI sponsor worldwide. These may be
filed with your tax returns, if necessary, or kept for your records.
Can I visit my sponsored child?
Certainly! It's an incredible experience for the child
and their long-distance sponsor to be able to meet each other at last.
We are happy to assist a visiting sponsor as best as we can and even to
help as
much as possible with local arrangements, accommodation, and transportation.
It is necessary for the OSI liaison or staff to be present during sponsor
visits to the child or home (see OSI
and Child Protection above) and visits are arranged around the schedule
of the home. However, it is our priority to maximize the time
the sponsor is able to spend visiting their child and the home.
Is it possible that my child may leave the
orphanage? OSI focuses on children who will most
likely be in the orphanage long-term. However, we can never be
certain in every case, and it does occasionally occur that a child leaves
the orphanage and our program prematurely, either taken in by a relative,
or adopted, or other unpredictable circumstances. We do try to
maintain contact with the child if at all possible. In any case, we
hope that the sponsor will consider sponsoring another child who is
waiting.
What if I must end my sponsorship?
While sponsorship is ideally a long-term relationship, we do
understand that things can change unexpectedly. We never want a
sponsor in changed circumstances to feel burdened. If for any reason
you cannot continue your sponsorship, please simply let us know so we can
find other means to accommodate the child's needs. In cases of
financial difficulty, if you have established a good communicative
relationship with your child, we are happy to continue maintaining this
for you! -while assigning a second sponsor to serve the child's physical
needs. Please do not be afraid to let us know in any case, so that
we can accommodate both your and the child's needs.
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