Frequently Asked Questions
These are some frequently asked questions. If you can't find the answer to your question here please do not hesitate to CONTACT USAbout Donations and Sponsorships
What will my Sponsorship achieve?
What will I receive as a Sponsor?
Can I contact the child I sponsor?
How can I pay for my Sponsorship?
When does my payment fall due?
What if I need to cancel my Sponsorship?
Accountability
How much is spent on Administration?
How much is spent on Fundraising?
How much is spent on the children supported?
How much do the Director's get paid?
All of our programs are based on poverty reduction activities. That is, the aim of anything that we do is to overcome the barriers that are created by poverty and give the child the opportunity to participate, on a equal basis, in activities they otherwise couldn't attend.
Your Sponsorship, together with the work of our community volunteers, makes this possible.
The money that you provide through your monthly Sponsorship is used to purchase the supply and/or services that the child requires. This may include: school supply; uniforms; footwear; bedding; medical or counselling services; tutoring; membership to sporting or social groups; camp fees; etc.
The type of activities and/or services that the child receives is determined by a program plan that is worked out by a community volunteer in consultation with the child and his or her parent/s. While it's a bit more complicated, basically the plan is based on a measurement that looks at what the child needs in order to have an equal chance, with children not affected by poverty, of succeeding in his/her future life.
In order for a child to be accepted into our Sponsorship programs his or her parent/s must agree to actively participate in our "Moving Forward" program. The "Moving Forward" programs is conducted entirely by volunteers so there is no direct cost. It is a mentoring and coaching program that assists the child's parent/s to develop the goals that will enable the family to escape the poverty cycle. Volunteers work with the parent/s to develop the goals and motivations and then support them to achieve the goals that will free the whole family from welfare dependency.
All of this is only possible because of your Sponsorship. Your sponsorship provides a child and his or her whole family with a hand up that breaks the poverty cycle and overcomes the barriers to self sufficiency. Together we are all working to a point in time when our support wont be required any more because the family will have succeeded.
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What will I receive as a Sponsor?
As a Sponsor you will receive:
Within the first 2 months - A profile of the child you will be sponsoring together with a report of the agreed activities and/or services the child will be receiving together with the goals to be achieved for the child. And a laminated certificate of Sponsorship issued by Family Focus International.
Every 6 months you will receive a progress report from the volunteer/s supporting the child providing updates on how the program is proceeding and milestones that have been achieved. With this report you will also receive communications from the child and his or parent/s.
Sponsors also receive our e-newsletter "Friends of the Family" which is published every second month and keeps members and Sponsor up to date with activities, news, and special events
At the end of each financial year Sponsors will receive a tax receipt for the total amount of their payments for tax deduction purposes.
In order to ensure the maximum amount of your sponsorship goes to your child, where ever possible we will communicate with our Sponsors by email.
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Can I contact the child I sponsor?
Absolutely yes!
In fact we encourage our Sponsors to have communications with the child they are sponsoring as we find this has a positive and motivating effect on the whole family. However, for reasons of child safety and protection we do not provide the direct contact details of the child (nor do we provide the contact details of the sponsor to child or his/her parents) and request that all communications are sent via our National office. In addition to safety issues this also ensures that the child's family does not create any direct dependency links, which is the very issue we are all working together to overcome.
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How can I pay for my Sponsorship?
Sponsorships and donations may be made:
Online by credit or debit card using our secure payment site located here.
By cheque, money order, or credit card posted to our National Office using the form found here
By Credit Card over the phone. Our office phone numbers can be viewed here
Or by Direct Debit to our bank account. To receive our banking details please use the form email found here
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When does my payment fall due?
While you can arrange to pay your sponsorship in advance on a quarterly or yearly basis, most sponsors contribute on a monthly basis via their credit or debit card.
The first payment is made on the date your details are processed. The second payment is then processed on the last working day of the month after your first payment and then on the last day of each month thereafter. For example, if you signed up as a Sponsor on the 12th February your first payment would be on that date, your second payment would be on the last working day of March, and then each month thereafter.
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What if I need to cancel my Sponsorship?
There are all sorts of reasons why a person may need to suspend or cancel their Sponsorship, and we do understand this. All you need to do is email us advising that you wish to suspend or cancel your Sponsorship and quote the name of the Credit or Debit Card holder from which your payments are drawn. Do not email us your card number, we only need the card holder name to suspend or cancel payments. Please allow 2 working days for the cancellation to be completed.
In the case of Direct Debit arrangements simply email us that you need to suspend or cancel your sponsorship and then contact your Bank to cancel the Direct Debit arrangement. Please note that each Bank has a different amount of notice time required to cancel a Direct Debit.
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How much is spent on Administration?
Obviously it costs money to run any Organisation. But because Family Focus is a Volunteer based Organisation we are able to keep our Administration costs very low. All of our administration tasks are undertaken by volunteers, we don't have any staff doing admit stuff.
With the exception of our National office all of our State and regional offices are either co-located (a desk stuck in the corner) with other businesses or a volunteers home at no cost to the Organisation. In the case of our National Office this cost is met by a corporate patron who pays the lease costs on our behalf.
Our Board of Directors have established a standing rule that prohibits the Administration costs of the Organisation from ever exceeding 10% of income.
In the year ended December 2006 the total cost of Administration for the Organisation was only 2.6%. So less than 3 cents of every dollar received goes to Administration.
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How much is spent on Fundraising?
The old adage, "You have to spend money in order to make money" is true for any enterprise and a charity is no exception. However you came to know about our Organisation cost money. We are very fortunate that many businesses give us discounts for advertising etc. We do not employ fundraising staff and rely on our volunteer base for the labour of our fundraising activities.
Our Board of Directors have established a standing rule that prohibits the cost of Fundraising from ever exceeding 15% of total income. In the year ended December 2006 the total cost of Fundraising was only 5.6%.
So less than 6 cents of every dollar raised goes to Fundraising.
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How much is spent on the children supported?
Family Focus is a Public Company Limited by Guarantee and is endorsed by the Australian Tax Office as Public Benevolent Institution. Put quite simply, what isn't spent on Administration and Fundraising must, by law, be spent on the people we serve, in our case that is the children of Australian disadvantaged by poverty. Each year we are audited by an external and independant auditor (which accounts for some of the Administration costs) and we are required to file our financials with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and a number of Government departments, all of which ensures that we are doing what we say we are doing.
In the year ended December 2006 more than 91 cents of every dollar received was applied to the children we support.
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How much do the Director's get paid?
The position of Director is purely voluntary. Our constitution and the law prohibits any Director of Family Focus from being paid for their efforts. Our Directors give a considerable amount of time, energy and expertise to the Organisation as a gift to Aussie kids in need and because of a firm belief in the future of our country.
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