FAQs

When you order a printed gift card you can choose to have a personalised message printed inside the card, or if you would like to handwrite your message you can leave the 'message' section blank.

When you order a printed Smiles card you need to enter the card recipient details which are used to post the card to the recipient. These details (name and postal address) are not printed on the gift card. You can enter your own details if you would like the card posted to yourself.

No, if you want to be chosen by your sponsored child, you will not get to request specific characteristics of the child who will choose you. The empowering part of the process is that children get to choose their own sponsor. 

After the choosing party, you'll get to find out why your new sponsored child chose you! If you would prefer to sponsor a child with certain attributes – such as a child from a particular country or with a special birthday, you still have the option to choose a child yourself.

We do need a photo if you wish to be chosen by a child. A core component of the chosen experience is that children get to choose their sponsor from a display of photos. It's incredibly empowering for them, and we’ve heard many inspiring stories of what drew individual children to their sponsors.

Our field workers can come from anywhere in the world. In fact, over 95% of World Vision staff are locals, hired to work in their own home regions as a way of building stronger communities.