It can be a wonderful experience sharing letters with your sponsored child. What you write is up to you, but we do ask that you follow our guidelines.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Ask about your sponsored child’s family and talk about your own family.
• Talk about real things in your life such as work, sports, the weather and the seasons.
• Describe your neighbourhood and what you see when you look out the window or walk down the street.
• Your garden or Australian plants may be of interest to your sponsored child, as they often live in rural areas.
• If you have children, you might like to involve them in writing the letter or include their drawings.
• Tell your sponsored child that you are thinking of them. It’s encouraging for children to know that their sponsor cares about them.

Being a sponsor doesn’t mean you have to write. That’s entirely up to you. For many people, just knowing they’re making a difference is enough.

Supporters often tell us that the best part of sponsoring children is seeing the real difference they are making in a child's life. And the best place to see this change unfold is My World Vision – your personal window into your sponsored child’s world.

Writing to your sponsored child is also a great way to learn more about them and the difference you are helping to make in their community. Most sponsored children love to receive letters and cards from their sponsors. It can be a great source of encouragement for them to know that someone far away cares about them and their future.

There are three ways to correspond and build a connection with your sponsored child:

1. Send a greeting card or letter supplied by World Vision. To make it easy to keep in touch, at special times during the year, you’ll be given the opportunity to send them a card or letter – including at Christmas and for their birthday.

2. Send an eLetter to your sponsored child from your My World Vision account. It’s a quick and easy way to write to your sponsored child. Simply type your message, attach photos if you wish, then hit ”Send”.

Your eLetter will be sent to the World Vision office in your sponsored child’s country. It will be printed, translated and passed on to your sponsored child. You can expect your sponsored child’s reply to arrive in your My World Vision account, usually within 1-3 months.

Delivery timeframes can vary due to postal delays or other circumstances beyond our control. If you have any questions about your correspondence, please call us on 13 32 40. You may also find Australia Post’s estimates of international delivery times helpful.

Information and guidelines on writing to your sponsored child can be viewed here. Or, for more ideas about what to write, you can read sponsors’ stories and suggestions about letter writing.

When you become a sponsor, you’ll receive an introductory letter from your sponsored child within the first three months. But after that, it’s up to you if you’d like to keep the conversation going by writing a letter or eLetter. Sometimes an adult will help your sponsored child write their reply – this can be for a range of reasons including language barriers and literacy levels. 

If you send an eLetter, you can expect your sponsored child’s reply to arrive in your My World Vision account, usually within 1-3 months. If you send a letter in the post, your reply will also arrive in the mail (and may also appear in your online account, depending on the arrangements in each community). Replies to posted mail usually take 2-5 months to arrive. 

Please be aware that delivery timeframes can vary. It can take a little time for World Vision staff to translate and deliver your correspondence. And internet and postal services can be less reliable in developing countries.

Sometimes things can happen out of our control that could delay you hearing from your sponsored child. If you haven’t received a reply within a reasonable amount of time, please call us on 13 32 40 and we’ll be happy to help. You may also find Australia Post’s estimates of international delivery times helpful.

Our free eLetter service lets you quickly and easily get in touch with your sponsored child. You can send eLetters by logging in to My World Vision– you’ll also find helpful suggestions and guidelines for what to write.

Simply type up your eLetter, attach photos if you wish and then hit ”Send”. Your eLetter then arrives in your sponsored child’s country right away. World Vision staff will review, translate and print your message before it’s delivered.

Your sponsored child enjoys reading your letter and writes a reply, with a little help from an adult if they need it. Their reply to your eLetter usually arrives in your My World Vision account within 1-3 months, though delivery timeframes can vary depending on circumstances in each community.

Sometimes things can happen out of our control that could delay your sponsored child’s response. If you have any questions about your correspondence, please call us on 13 32 40 and we’ll be happy to help.

Prefer to put pen to paper? You can also send a letter in the mail. You’ll find handy tips for letter writing in My World Vision or see “What should I write to my sponsored child about?” on this page.  

When you send a letter in the post, your sponsored child’s reply will usually also arrive in the mail. Depending on the arrangements in your sponsored child’s community, you may also receive a copy of the reply in digital form, in your My World Vision account. Please allow 2-5 months for your reply to arrive.