Setting Sponsorship Sights on 100% and Beyond

Have you heard about shrinkflation? Even if you haven’t heard of it, you’ve seen it. It’s what happens when companies conceal higher prices by creating new packaging that contains less of whatever product they’re selling. Less cake mix per box. Smaller cans of vegetables. Lighter rolls of paper towels. It’s a tricky business for the customer because you may not always realize that your dollar isn’t going as far as it used to. Sowers4Pastors is not a business. It’s a mission organization. And they strive to always, always be open and aboveboard. Sometimes that means they have to give you news they’d rather not give.

When the sponsorship program first started, Sowers4Pastors was able to say that one sponsorship fed an extra fifty unsponsored kids. As prices have increased, the number of additional kids being fed through each sponsorship has decreased. Unsponsored children are still being fed, but it’s more challenging to find the financial resources to do so. That means that finding sponsors for children is more vital than ever before.

Fortunately, places like Edgewater Alliance Church in Edgewater, Florida are stepping up their game. Through its sister church program, Edgewater Alliance has been sponsoring around 300 children. For the past year or so, the kids in their program have been almost consistently 100% sponsored. That means that if a sponsor leaves the program, their child is quickly picked up by another sponsor.

At registration time, there are always some kids who leave the program and some who join. This year, there was a net gain. Pastor Lorenzo, who runs the Honduran side of the sister church program for Guacutao and EAC, mentioned that there’s a small community not too far from his home that he would like to include in the program. That’s how it works. Kids are often brought in from surrounding communities as the pastors see the need. This particular community is only about a mile down the road from Guacutao.

Sowers4Pastors took the request to Edgewater Alliance. At first, the church wasn’t sure it could take on fifty additional kids. After all, all would happen if they couldn’t remain at 100% sponsorship. Isn’t that the goal? Well, not exactly. Trish was able to explain that having 100% of the kids sponsored is fabulous. But if you set your goal for 100% while failing to set your sights higher, then you don’t achieve as much. Trish compared it to a student who wants to have a 4.0 GPA so badly that they refuse to take challenging classes. 

Edgewater Alliance is having a big kickoff for the program in a few weeks. They have decided to take on the challenge of seeking sponsors for fifty additional children. It is truly a win/win situation. Remember that every child will receive a backpack and attend school even if they aren’t sponsored. And every one of the additional children to be sponsored will help cover the cost of any unsponsored kids. Sowers4Pastors wants to thank EAC for expanding!

It’s also time to do a shoutout to Lighthouse Church in Maryland. They had their big program kickoff for three consecutive Sundays. The sponsorship program was mentioned from the pulpit and they had a table set up with pictures of available children. Although it is not the goal, per say, it is exciting to see their sister church program is at 100% sponsorship!

-posted by Christi