Frequently Asked
Sponsorship Questions
FAQ: Child Sponsorship Information
Your sponsorship will guarantee that the child you sponsor is enrolled in school and has access to a quality education. Your sponsorship also addresses your sponsored child’s physical needs, through health monitoring and feeding programs when needed.
Most importantly, your sponsorship gives your child the opportunity to learn about Jesus and be encouraged through our discipleship programming. Sponsoring a child gives you a chance to build a personal relationship, but your impact will reach even further. Our model is holistic. Your decision to sponsor one child creates a ripple effect by raising the quality of education for all children in the community.
While there’s no specific timeline for your commitment, students are generally sponsored through primary school, and in some cases, secondary school. However, our program is unique in that our ultimate goal is community graduation.
We measure our success not by what we do, but by what the community is capable of doing on its own without help from outsiders. Recognizing God has gifted and equipped them to fulfill a purpose, communities become empowered to continue their development effort without us. At that time, we will celebrate graduation with them and move to a new community where support is needed and we may ask you to move with us.
The 410 Bridge and our partners work alongside communities to help them assess and leverage their gifts and strengths, not just their needs. Together, we activate a unique, holistic approach that combines Christian discipleship, economic development, quality education largely through child sponsorship, clean water, as well as health and wellness to create lasting freedom from poverty.
The goal for each community is to move towards graduation, which means the community is able to indigenously sustain itself without help from outsiders.
We’re not associated with a particular denomination. We’re committed to a calling that surpasses denominational lines and unifies the body of Christ in such a way that God would be glorified and people would experience His grace and love. for your sponsored child.
In addition to physical and educational needs, we work to meet the spiritual needs of the children we serve. Our discipleship programs are central to our Sponsorship Model. Click here to visit our website to learn more about discipleship programs like the Discovery Kids Program.
One of the things that makes our model unique and effective is multiple sponsorships. Having multiple sponsorships for each child allows us to make a deeper impact. The first sponsorship addresses barriers to education like school fees, textbooks, desks, school supplies, uniforms and feeding programs where needed.
Additional sponsorships improve the quality of education by employing additional teachers, providing teacher training, and offering leadership and discipleship opportunities. Our model ensures that your sponsor child is able to attend school, and that he or she is receiving is a quality education. Sponsors create a ripple effect and improve opportunities for all children in our communities.
We work in some very difficult and remote places in the world. Children are very poor with daily challenges beyond what we will ever experience or understand.
Despite the opportunity they receive from our sponsors, children run away, drop out of school, become pregnant, get married, leave without notice or don’t show up to write letters. You should know that your child might leave before they reach the end of their sponsorship. While this happens with less than 10% of our sponsorships, we want to be transparent and sharing this possibility with you is important.
If that happens, we will select another child in the same program for you and provide you the opportunity to continue sponsoring and thereby supporting the education program in the same community. Additionally, if your child graduates out of the sponsorship program by completing the highest level of education available in that program, we will ask that you continue with us in supporting another child in the program. This continuity allows us to continue to improve the quality of education for all the children in the community.
FAQ: Donations & Payment Information
Sponsorship is $39 per month and is a monthly, recurring donation. The easiest way to donate is online with a credit or debit card. We can also set up recurring withdrawals from your checking or savings account.
If you prefer to pay by check, you may mail your donations to:
410 Bridge Child Sponsorship
P.O. Box 450
Alpharetta, GA 30009-0450.
Your donations are used to address direct barriers to education, for example: school fees, textbooks, desks, school supplies, and school uniforms. Indirect barriers, like lack of access to safe water or a health clinic, are also addressed. Sponsorship funding also improves the quality of education your sponsor child is receiving, through programs like teacher training.
The funding also makes the discipleship program possible. Good stewardship is extremely important to us and we strive to use your donations in ways that will have the greatest impact on your
sponsored child, as well as other children in the program. Each community we serve has unique strengths and challenges, so we customize sponsorship programming in each location.
You can discontinue your sponsorship at any time by emailing sponsorship@410bridge.org or by calling us at (770)-664-4949 ext. 316. Once we’re notified, we’ll begin finding a new sponsor so your child’s support can continue uninterrupted. We appreciate you giving us as much lead time as you can.
FAQ: Child Communication Information
Our students are always excited and encouraged when they receive letters and photos from their sponsors!
Regardless of how you send your notes, they are printed, translated (if necessary), and delivered by teams traveling to the country where your sponsor child lives.
There are 3 ways to write:
- Log in to your sponsorship account at sponsorship.410bridge.org to write a note and upload photos.
- Send your letter and pictures directly to our office:
410 Bridge Child Sponsorship, P.O. Box 450
Alpharetta, GA 30009-0450. - Email your letter and photos to sponsorship@410bridge.org.
We encourage you to send your child letters and photos! Your support, prayers, and encouraging words are a wonderful gift for the child you sponsor. Some children may have difficulties with English so please write clearly, be brief, and try not to use slang or terms your sponsor child may not understand. Relationships are at the heart of what we do. We make every effort to make sure you receive letters from your child. With that said, the communities where our students live are remote areas of the developing world and regular correspondence is often challenging.
Healthy giving is central to The 410 Bridge Model. We separate giving from our desire to feel good about ourselves. While well-intentioned, gifts often disempower our communities, undermining their progress and causing lots of problems for the child, school, and other children.
If you become aware of a special need outside the scope of your monthly donation, we’d love to help you give in a healthy way. If you have further questions around our gift giving policy, please get in touch! We’d be more than happy to discuss this policy with you in greater detail or help facilitate giving to a special need.
Yes! It’s a special moment when sponsors are able to meet the students they sponsor for the first time. Service trips are the perfect chance to catch a glimpse into your sponsored child’s daily life. Contact us HERE for more information.
FAQ: Financial Integrity & Tax Information
Financial integrity is central to our mission. We keep our administrative costs low and evaluate our programs often to make sure your donations are being used where they will have the greatest impact on your sponsored child.
Click HERE to view our financial statements which are reviewed by outside auditors.
We work hard to be good stewards and keep our administrative costs low so your donations can go further. Approximately 82% of the sponsorship funding we receive goes directly towards programs.
Yes! Your sponsorship donation is processed by Child Sponsorship Services and executed by The 410 Bridge Sponsorship Program. Child Sponsorship Services is a division of BrightPoint for Children, Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) organization, and long-time sponsorship administration partner of The 410 Bridge. All donations and sponsorship payments made to Child Sponsorship Services are 100% tax deductible. Child Sponsorship Services will issue your year-end donation statement for sponsorship gifts.
