Writing your sponsored friend

Let's make 2008 the year that every child gets a letter!

Chamanthe in India writes to her sponsor, Tom.

Your encouragement and support are very important to your sponsored friend. Praying for him or her and writing letters are just as important as your monthly contribution. Sponsored friends hold special places in their hearts for sponsors. Postcards, holiday cards, letters and photos from you become treasured possessions. Notes and pictures from sponsors are often displayed in the homes of sponsored friends.

Request pre-printed mailing labels

We provide pre-printed labels to make it easy for you to write your sponsored friend. Once your letter is complete, enclose it in an envelope, affix the labels and add a postage stamp. A 90-cent stamp is required for letters weighing up to one ounce for all countries where CFCA has projects, except Mexico which requires a 69-cent stamp for letters up to one ounce.              

Postage rates

Postage rate per ounce 1 ounce--all countries $0.94 except Mexico $0.72 2 ounces--all countries $1.69 except Mexico $1.27 3 ounces--all countries $2.44 except Mexico $1.82 4 ounces--all countries $3.19 except Mexico $2.37

What to write about...

Sponsored friends are very grateful for any letter you send them, no matter how brief. You can write about yourself and your family, your friends, what your typical day is like, and your hobbies. Ask questions about their family, school, country, etc. and offer encouragement.

Please do not give personal contact information such as your e-mail address, mailing address, or phone number.  Also, don’t send cash or checks. If you want to give extra money to your sponsored friend's project, you must do this through the CFCA office in Kansas City. Because of our commitment to protect the safety and privacy of our sponsored members and our sponsors, CFCA projects monitor all correspondence.

Download and print a sample letter form with an easy format for sharing information about yourself with your sponsored friend.

Photos motivate sponsored friends, too. Read more. >

Read how letter-writing skills were put to good use by two sponsored girls in Costa Rica. Read more. >

How long does it take for my sponsored friend to receive my letter?

Letters to sponsored friends can take up to a couple months to be received. The time depends on the country's postal service, the project's ease of access to the post office, and translation time.

Translations

Staff in Guatemala carry sponsor letters to be sorted and distributed to sponsored friends.

Our projects have staff and volunteers who translate your letters to your sponsored friend, and their letters back to you. English-speaking CFCA scholarship students often help with translations as part of their service work.

Let us know if you don’t need your letters translated.

If you read Spanish and you do not need letters from your sponsored friend translated, please let us know.

We will mark your translation preference as “no translations necessary.”  This will help the project save on translation costs. The letters you write to your sponsored friend may be written in Spanish or English. If the project receives a letter in English, they will be happy to translate it before passing it on to your sponsored friend.

We ask that you never use online translating software because it translates words literally and can result in an unintelligible translation.

You can change your translation preference at any time by contacting Sponsor Services at

(800) 875-6564, (913) 384-6500 or mail@cfcausa.org and you can receive your letters without the translation.