Give a Special Gift

You’re already doing so much for your sponsored child. But perhaps you yearn to provide something extra – something wonderful. That’s what Special Gifts are all about.

Your sponsored child might need a new school uniform, a bicycle, or a goat to provide nourishing milk and cheese for years to come. Your Special Gift of $100 or more can empower your child and their family to decide. Whatever they pick, your gift will help bring about real and lasting change in their lives!

Changes to Special Gifts
Our field staff have been providing feedback about how Special Gifts are impacting children and their communities. In response, we’re making some changes:
 
  • We’ll limit Special Gifts to one gift per child, per calendar year.
  • As before, Special Gift donation amounts exceeding $200 will go towards a community gift. What’s new? Starting April 1, 25% of Special Gift donation amounts under $200 will also go towards a gift or activity that benefits all the children in the community, such as new school supplies or playground equipment. This means that, as of April 1, 75% of Special Gift donations between $100 and $200 will be used to purchase gifts and items that will benefit your sponsored child and their family. The other 25% will be used to benefit the community.
What won’t change? You’ll still feel the joy your gift unlocked, when you open a thank you letter from your sponsored child a few months after donating. You’ll also receive a photo of the gifts in the mail. Talk about special!  

For more information about these upcoming changes to Special Gifts, see the FAQ below or call us at 1-866-595-5550.


World Vision Volunteer high fiving a little boy a job well done, smiling

Send a gift with ease

Login or create a My World Vision account to send your Special Gift today.

See what your gift has meant

Your sponsored child will send you a personal thank you letter and photo of them with the items your Special Gift has purchased.

 

Have your questions answered

How do Special Gifts work – and why are we making changes?  Scroll down to learn more!

Encourage your sponsored child today with a Special Gift.​


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Frequently Asked Questions

Here’s what we’ll be doing, based on feedback from our field staff:
  • welcoming Special Gifts just once per calendar year, per child
  • earmarking 25% of any amount between $100 and $200 toward a community gift or activity
Here’s what we’ll continue doing the same:
  • Welcoming Special Gifts of $100 minimum
  • directing Special Gift donation amounts exceeding $200 toward a community gift or activity.

For the sake of your sponsored child, and those around them! Our field staff have been letting us know that:
  • too-frequent Special Gifts have the potential to remove staff from activities which benefit the entire community
  • multiple gifts per year can create jealously amongst children, creating challenges for your sponsored child.
Shifting some benefit to other children in the community will preserve the joy of Special Gifts, while improving life for all children there.


If you sponsor more than one child, you’re most welcome to give a Special Gift to each child, once a calendar year. This would celebrate your sponsored children, while still empowering field staff to focus primarily on programming that offers maximum benefit to the whole community!

Your gift helps provide something your sponsored community’s children may never otherwise receive. Here are just a few examples:

  • playground equipment
  • a small library
  • a group birthday party for all children!

Special Gifts also help provide critical items like agricultural tools, building supplies, or a water tank. Your gift might also support a local school, clinic or other important needs in the community that require funds over and above sponsors’ monthly donations.

All the powerful benefits of Special Gifts will remain – including the ever-stronger bond between you and your sponsored child. But you’ll also preserve harmony and improve the overall environment in which that child is growing up. Here’s how:
  • Your sponsored child and their family will receive the gifts they need most
  • The community will benefit from your gift, improving life for all children
  • You will enjoy the powerful connection that comes from giving a Special Gift, including receiving a photo of the items purchased and a thank you letter from your sponsored child.


Yes, in a small handful of cases. If a sponsored child is facing an emergency, for instance, or urgent health or education needs. For more information on these exceptions, please call us at 1-866-595-5550.
 

When you give a Special Gift, you do something wonderful. You offer a child the power to participate in a decision. In families that are struggling financially, money goes toward essentials. Clothes are usually hand-me-downs. School supplies are often just out of reach, as are toys and games. Your child will help choose the gift, along with his or her family.

That’s the really fun part! World Vision staff spend time with your sponsored child and family, listening carefully and discussing options. Imagine counting down to the day they receive the Special Gift! It’s an experience your sponsored child will never forget.

Due to the remote location of many of our sponsor-supported communities, please allow for at least six months after making your Special Gift donation to receive your thank you letter and photo.

Starting April 1, 2019, 25% of your Special Gift donation, and any amount over the first $200, will go towards a community gift or activity that benefits all the children in the community. This might be new school supplies or playground equipment.

Absolutely! Birthdays are important times for children in developing countries, just as they are here in Canada. Be sure to give a Special Gift well in advance of your sponsored child’s birthday, so our staff can make the arrangements. Christmas is another good option!

Purchasing gifts in your sponsored child’s own community brings business to local merchants. They’re working hard to support their children, grow their businesses and hire more workers. Buying locally is a great way to support the work we’re doing together, through sponsorship.

Helping children and families choose and purchase the items they need most is a joy for our staff. But it can take a fair bit of time, in communities with a great many needs. The $100 minimum ensures that the Special Gift provides real and lasting value to the child, their family—and starting in April 2019—the entire community.

There’s no limit! But it’s important to note that starting in April 2019, 25 per cent of each gift under $200 and all amounts over $200 will go towards a community gift. For a community that’s been waiting for a water tank, or equipment for a medical clinic, these larger gifts can be a wonderful blessing.

Lebanon is the only country we have sponsorship programs in that is unable to process Special Gifts.

Yes, you will. You’ll also receive a wonderful picture of your sponsored child with her new purchases. One will go in your files. The other will very likely go on your fridge!

Yes you can, through your regular sponsorship correspondence. Small, inexpensive gifts can be mailed to your child’s World Vision country office, to be opened with surprise and delight by your sponsored child! Here’s how you do it.