Child Sponsorship NGO Experiments with Online Social Network of Its Own
World Vision advocates for the world’s poor by providing technology that empowers them to freely create content and share it online.
Relief organization World Vision is rooted in child sponsorship and has been the first of its kind to experiment with existing digital technology to improve communication between child and sponsor online.
Typically donors receive tangible letters and photos through the mail from community organizations, called Area Development Programs (ADPs), on behalf of their sponsored child. But now, through a trial online project called “mySponsorship,” donors of sponsored children in Senegal, Columbia and the Philippines can also navigate online videos, photos, drawings and stories of those communities.
“The idea is, if we give sponsors a better connection to their sponsored child’s community, they will stay on and sponsor longer,” said WV Director of New Media Robert Coronado, who managed the creative execution for mySponsorship.
In order for this closed social network to work, all of WV’s community programs needed to be wired. Last year WV International launched SandukaNet, a global satellite communications network that enabled every ADP (280 locations in 24 countries throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America) to access the internet through “very small aperture terminals” (VSATs). However, the connection quality is not consistent among ADPs and, in Coronado’s experience, “it’s only a little bit better than dial-up.”
MySponsorship is no Facebook or MySpace. Sponsored children do not have the individual technology or know-how to update their status, post digital notes or tag themselves in picture albums. Trained community program staff are equipped with video cameras and mediate all content created and uploaded online. MySponsorship is not designed to allow direct contact between child and sponsor, and information about a child is only accessible by the donor. WV is partnered with more than half a million child sponsors.
“Child specific content is only available past login,” said Director of mySponsorship Eric Showell. His team worked closely with the field office’s Child Protection officers to ensure security and privacy for the children.
User analytics for mySponsorship are promising: high email click-through, and 41 percent unique visitation with 35 percent returning. Results show that the program was meeting the donor retention goal (improved by 7 percent on first year cancellation) and also made significant progress in donor acquisition (8.2 percent higher for “first gift givers” and 7 percent higher for “autogiving”). And in the midst of national financial crisis, the means of mySponsorship are economically beneficial—uploading digital content to the internet is free.
“I think it’s really amazing that you can actually interact further in some way with a child you are sponsoring by reading stories and watching videos and everything about the community they live in!” wrote a donor in an email, “Will there be any more countries and communities available in the future, specifically in Haiti or Zambia, and if so, do you know when?”
MySponsorship has not been publicly launched, and is still in its pilot stage. The prototype was up-and-running in July 2007 by in-house creative services and its slightly improved beta version is the current platform used today. Any further expansion is “on hold for the time being,” said Showell after a meeting with WV President Richard Stearns, who conceived the idea.
World Vision has more than 30,000 staff serving close to 100 million people in nearly 100 countries. Stearns wants to establish a unified vision for mySponsorship with WV International before he gives the nod for a “general roll-out” that would expand the program to more than 50 additional ADPs.
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5 Comments, Comment or Ping
margerynabors
Thank you for sharing the news of mySponsorship. From a business perspective, using the internet to mediate the sponsor and child relationships seems viable; decreased cost of forging relationships and increased donor acquisition and retention (because of enhanced emotional investment).
From a sidelined perspective, however, it seems more vacant. From what you said, the children have no direct contact with their sponsor because they “do not have the individual technology or know-how to update their status, post digital notes or tag themselves in picture albums.” Is World Vision not committed to teaching them? If not, that is in direct contrast to their purported commitment of “providing technology that empowers [the underprivileged children].” Second, the fact that the children have to rely on trained staff to upload and create their content, undermines the authenticity and value of the one-to-one relationship. Supervising the children, I understand. Standing in for the children, I don’t.
I have no problem with the staff reporting (in good taste) on behalf of the community the sponsorship is benefiting – taking photographs, creating videos, and writing stories. But, I would like to know, what is the reason, beyond a business one, mySponsorship is seeking to make sponsor/child relationships more intimate?
Feb 11th, 2009
Nicole Collins
Thanks, Margery, for your input. I agree, one-sided communication is not happy.
It wasn’t clear in the article, but the children actually do create content, such as artwork and letters, that are uploaded online for their donors to see. It is just mediated by community program staff in order to keep the kids safe. Unfortunately people do exist who like to take advantage of the young and the poor. A recent example of online communication gone awry is MySpace, who shut down and blocked accounts because they are “a gold mine for child predators.”
Ideally the children would have the opportunity to use the technology as freely as you and I do, but that is a long time coming– we are still working on providing something as simple as writing and reading skills for all children around the world, not to mention nutritious food, clean water and medicines.
It is important to note that 97 percent of ADP staff are native to the nation’s they serve, so they are arguably a valid voice for their communities. The idea that all of these communities have the means to access the internet is exciting to me, and the multimedia training the ADP staff receive is pretty cool.
MySponsorship is essentially using a different medium to communicate content that is already shared between a child and sponsor through traditional means (email and snail mail). The only thing that has changed is the amount of content, and the immediacy of the child to submit content and the donor to access it online.
Also, if child/sponsor communication makes a big transition to digital, think of all the savings from postage and paper! Not to mention saving some trees. That donated money can instead be used more efficiently and can be directed to current causes with the most need.
Feb 11th, 2009
margerynabors
The clarification you offered is encouraging. In particular, I am happy to know that the majority of staff are native and the children, in fact, are creating some of the content! Very cool.
I look forward to following the success of mySponsorship as it rolls out, as the children it is fiscally benefiting is ultimately who I have at heart.
Feb 12th, 2009
rubir
I think more and more non-profit organizations will start using this online social network model.
Feb 13th, 2009
kabali samsaon
am samson kabali a student in makerere university uganda persuing a bachelors in computer science but i have run short of tuition after ma mother seelling the onlyy plot of land that she had that helped me 1st and 2nd semister but vow i have nothing 4 second year i beg 4 yo help pliz.
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Aug 17th, 2011
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