Frequently Asked Questions
Sponsorship + Giving
$38 a month – only a dollar and 27 cents a day.
We have ICCM locations and partnerships in 33 countries around the world.
ICCM children receive the benefits of sponsorship in four ways, each suited to their situation. Our approach is designed to supplement locally available resources (parents, churches, governments), which vary in our 33 countries.
1. Schools. More than half of our 20,000 children’s sponsorship is arranged directly through Free Methodist schools where the children attend. Your monthly support pays for tuition, books, uniforms and, in some cases, lunch.
2. Holistic Child Development Centers. Where public schools exist and are adequate, ICCM provides weekend programs for sponsored children, offering tutoring, games, food, and activities designed to help the children develop in all four domains of their lives — physical, spiritual, cognitive and social.
3. Hostels. Some children require residential care to access education. Orphans, children from regions without schools or where child trafficking is pervasive, and children whose parents are incapable of caring for them are welcomed into hostels.
4. Pastors’ Kids. In some countries, ICCM sponsors children of pastors and cross-cultural national missionaries. This allows parents to devote themselves to their calling of taking the gospel to new places, without sacrificing their children’s education. In these places, pastors’ pay is either non-existent or too low to cover school-related expenses.
We hope your commitment to sponsor a child will continue until the child finishes high school or turns 21.
If at any time you feel unable to continue, please call, write or email the ICCM Central Office. If the child you sponsor moves away from our school or becomes unavailable to our program we will inform you and give you the opportunity to transfer your support to a new child, with the option for you to decline taking on a new child.
Online. Many sponsors find automatic payments convenient and cost-saving. Sign up on the Login Page or call us to begin a recurring electronic funds transfer (EFT) or credit card payment.
Check. If you prefer to mail checks, consider mailing checks quarterly, semi-annually or annually to reduce your expenses. However, mail them monthly if you prefer.
Make your check payable to International Child Care Ministries.
Include your sponsor number in the memo line.
Please send checks to:
International Child Care Ministries
PO Box 51710
Indianapolis, IN 46251
A reply envelope is enclosed with each receipt. The bottom 1/3 of your receipt is a remittance form to mail with your next check. The top portion is for your tax records.
There are 3 ways to donate:
1. Set up recurring payments arranged through our website or by calling our office at (800) 342-5531 ext. 502.
2. Donate via credit card or Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) from your bank account.
3. Send a paper check (annually, quarterly, monthly). For annual checks, you may request a reminder which will come a month before your payment is due.
Cost of Processing to ICCM
We accept all major credit cards (Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Discover).
“Check” denotes personal checks or bill pay checks that are mailed to us from your online bank. The $0.83 includes our bank processing fees and the receipt, envelope, and stamp to mail your receipt back. We enclose Reflections as a “freebie” since we’re already mailing you the receipt — these cost an additional $0.12, a small cost we’re glad to absorb. EFT and credit card donations receive tax receipts in January.
EFT + Credit Card giving can be set up through your account or by calling us.
Sponsors use all means to give. We are grateful for all your gifts!
$29 is given to directly benefit the children, to support education and development.
$1.50 is invested in scholarships for secondary school students.
$1.25 is used to empower a global team.
$1.25 is used to leverage our technology.
$5 is used for support and administration.
Ideally, the middle of the month. The first week we’re wrapping up data from the prior month and sending wires around the world. If you mail your check the last week, it might not make it to the ICCM offices by the end of the month; USPS often takes a week.
Please make up that payment as soon as possible. When calculating your “paid-through date” the next payment you make is applied to the missed month(s).
You will only be sent a remittance if you send your donation via check or bill pay. Your remittance form is your reminder. If your support is 2 months or more overdue, you will receive a reminder in the mail. If you send annual checks, you may request a reminder by either using this form to contact us or by calling our office at 800.342.5531 ext. 502.
Yes. There are special needs or projects in places where extra funds are urgently needed for feeding children, medical care, or opening a new school or hostel. Our website shows many such opportunities.
No. Each child is assigned to only one sponsor at a time.
We don’t make children’s last names or hometowns public due to security reasons. If you would like to know the location of your sponsored child, please give us a call at 800.352.5531 ext. 502.
No. Nearly 2,000 are waiting for a sponsor. Please pray for more sponsors.
Writing To Your Sponsored Child
Certainly! Though you are not required to write, letters are a blessing to a child. He or she will know your name and treasure the thought that you really care. You may write to your child using this form or by mail to this address:
Sponsor Number
Child’s ID Number
International Child Care Ministries
PO Box 51710
Indianapolis, IN 46251
Send a photo of yourself and your family (even pets!) and tell about each one. A child would love to have your picture.
Special hobbies you may have
Projects you or your family are doing
Church or school activities
Celebrations or holidays
Favorite Bible verses or songs
Please do not include any part of your address, email address or refer to your material possessions or affluence.
Probably at least two months. Your letter must be translated before it can be given to your child.
Yes, under normal circumstances, 2-3 times per year. Letters may take 3 months to arrive because of travel, translation, and mail. If your child has not yet learned how to write, letters will be written by a family member or a friend. In addition, you should receive an updated photo of the child every 2 years. Please keep in mind that in countries in crisis, letters and photos are less frequent.
Monetary gifts are welcome and should be sent to ICCM directly. An adult will help the child make local purchases.
If you still wish to mail a physical gift, please keep the following in mind:
- Mailing items can cause unexpected problems, such as customs/duty fees, theft in transit, possible cultural inappropriateness, and transportation issues.
- We are unable to send food/snack items or substances that may melt (soaps, gum or other semi-solid items).
- Please confine any gifts to small, flat items that can be put into a #10 business envelope (4 1/8 by 9 1/2”) or flat envelope (8 3/4” x 11 ¼ ) no thicker than ¼”.
Please use the child’s given name. We understand that sometimes, due to cultural barriers, it may be difficult to say or write your child’s name correctly. Also, many of our donors sponsor children in memory of someone they’ve lost or in honor of someone they love. However, we do encourage you to use their given name wherever possible. Each child’s cultural background is a part of their unique design. Thank you for respecting their culture and heritage.
You are experiencing one of our biggest challenges. Children in some cultures find it easy to write about themselves, with a little coaching by their teachers or caregivers. Some even write in English, which streamlines the process a lot! But for some cultures, thinking of yourself as an individual and writing about your unique thoughts, feelings or experiences is a much bigger stretch. In certain places, it would even be inappropriate to share yourself so personally with a stranger. Finally, some settings require difficult travel through dangerous terrain for our staff to obtain the letters.
So — this gives us a chance to check our motivation for sponsoring a child. We want to help a child in poverty — yet aren’t we ultimately offering our gift to God? So, when some children are capable of writing sweet and touching words of appreciation, great! When others aren’t, let’s extend grace and understand that our expectations may not be realistic for all children. We want them to learn gratitude, and writing is a good exercise for their development. We’ll keep trying to help them do better.
WANT TO RECEIVE TUESDAY'S CHILD EACH WEEK?
MAILING
ADDRESS
International Child Care Ministries
PO Box 51710
Indianapolis, IN 46251
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IN TOUCH
WRITE TO YOUR CHILD
International Child Care Ministries is a ministry of the Free Methodist Church USA, a registered religious non-profit organization with IRS 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States of America. Also registered as such with the State of Indiana. Contributions to ICCM are tax-deductible to the extent that the law allows. International Child Care Ministries is not affiliated with International Child Care, a charity operated by International Child Care (USA), Inc.