Together, we can conquer poverty

But it takes courage

How we work

We believe the smartest path out of poverty is a self-directed one. Our team listens to the children, elders and families we serve, helping them develop personalized plans based on their unique challenges, needs and skill sets. We partner with sponsored friends as they set and achieve their own goals. Learn more about our approach, where we work and the positive impact we have.

Families as decision makers

No one understands what a family needs to overcome their challenges better than that family. That’s why your sponsorship helps them set personal goals.

Goal development

With social workers' support, sponsored friends and their families determine how to use their sponsorship funds to achieve those goals.

Strong communities

Parent groups work to foster leadership skills, learn new trades and start businesses. Over time, families become agents of change in their local communities.

Our results

We’re dedicated to ending human poverty in all its forms. That’s why more than 92 percent of our expenses support our programs. We keep our costs low, so we can devote the maximum amount of support to our sponsorship, scholarship and other programs. And guess what? It’s working!

Our progress

$1,596,527,858 distributed to the field882,984 sponsored friends helped over time. 66,777 Elders helped over time 51% of sponsored children stay in school more than a year longer than their peers.76% of sponsored girls achieve at or above their national average in school. 90% of mothers believe they have the power to change the lives of their families. See more results and learn how we measure our impact.

See more results and learn how we measure our impact.
Educational Attainment and Community Participation and Empowerment statistics are from 2013.

Cash Transfers

Ninety-three percent of sponsored friends participate in Unbound programs that utilize cash transfers as the primary way to deliver benefits.

How they work:

Cash Transfers Process 1 Cash Transfers Process 2

Why they work:

Cash transfers give sponsored friends and their families the most flexibility in how and when to use their benefits. They promote dignity, leverage the ingenuity of mothers in stretching their family budgets and create greater economic stability for families.

Where we work

We work in three main regions around the world: Africa, Asia and Latin America. Political climate, exchange rates, poverty levels and economic activity are key factors that influence where we choose to focus our efforts. It’s our goal to provide support in areas where children, elders and families need it most. Click on the map to learn about the countries where we work.

close Latin America

From Mexico through Central America to the Caribbean and South America,
we work with more than 190,000 sponsored friends and their families.

  • Mexico,
  • Guatemala,
  • Honduras,
  • El Salvador,
  • Costa Rica,
  • Dominican Republic,
  • Colombia,
  • Ecuador,
  • Peru,
  • Bolivia,
  • Chile
close Africa

In East Africa, we work with more than
41,000 sponsored friends and their families.

  • Kenya,
  • Madagascar,
  • Rwanda,
  • Tanzania,
  • Uganda
close Asia

We work with more than 77,000 sponsored friends
and their families in Asia.

  • India,
  • Philippines