Understanding the different child sponsorship programs

Child Sponsorship means different things to different charities. Many charities do not operate orphanages but have child sponsorship programs. The donations collected from the child sponsorship are used for a project which benefits the community and from which the child will have an indirect benefit. For example, the donations may be used to construct a well or a school for the community. These kinds of sponsorship are very different from OHF kind of sponsorship where the child has a direct benefit and is staying in the orphanage where everything - food, shelter, education and healthcare are provided. We thus have fixed monthly operating costs unlike a community based program where the cost is a one time affair such as construction of a well or school. 

For community-based child sponsorship programs, the cost per child actually depends on the project. For example, the cost of the school is divided by the number of child sponsorship received. Also for subsequent years, a different project with a different cost will be implemented. There is a greater flexibility in managing the cost whereas for OHF, the cost actually increases year by year due to increased needs of the child and salary increments for the staff. In OHF, your donation goes primarily for the care and support of the child as shown in the estimated budget.