FAQs

Save the Children International is the world’s largest independent global movement for children. A rights-based organization, Save the Children International is a federation of 30 national organizations and operational programs in 117 countries.

Our team builds local, regional, and global partnerships to establish a broader movement to save and improve children’s lives. We work collaboratively to support and implement children’s rights.

Wherever possible, we partner with local organizations, communities, government bodies and international organizations — these partnerships help ensure effectiveness and lasting success of the programs we help implement.

In many countries, Save the Children International works with coalitions of children’s rights organizations to develop awareness of children’s rights. We are also piloting a variety of methods to enable children to participate more actively in decisions that affect them.

Advocacy plays a critical role. We lobby governments, the international community and members of society to highlight failures in public policy and private practice that represent violations of children’s rights. We promote awareness and action as a key custodian of children’s rights, sharing the responsibility to fight for their recognition and defense.

Our organization works in 117 countries, including Canada.
Find out Where We Work.

There are historical reasons why we work in particular countries and not in others. In some cases, our long-term development programs arise out of experience in one part of the world which leads to similar projects being set up in other countries with similar needs (such as our education work with Indigenous children).

We have limited resources and must steward those resources with great care. We strive to identify, develop and spread examples of best practices to maximize the impact of our work throughout the world.

Our team at Save the Children Canada is part of the Save the Children International, which is a partnership of 30 member organizations working in nearly 120 countries.

As a member of the Humanitarian Coalition, we work with a large number of other local and international partners, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and government departments. Our team strives to help children by co-operating with and influencing other organizations, service providers, and decision-makers. We aim to provide models of good practice that can be adopted by those in a position to make a lasting difference.

We support programs around the world. The total number of children who have benefited is in the millions. For our full impact, read our latest Annual Report.

We can designate donations and regular gifts to a particular country we work in, to a particular theme of work globally, or to the area of greatest need. During emergencies caused by natural disasters or conflict, we can designate one-time donations to work related to that emergency.

Although it is possible to designate donations, donations to our general, unrestricted funds are the best way to contribute to the success of programs for children in need. Such donations require less administrative time, and are therefore more cost-effective. Your general gift enables our team to ensure all projects receive enough funding, and that no projects are over-funded. General donations offer us the flexibility to respond to developing situations and emergencies quickly and efficiently.

YES. All donations to Save the Children are eligible for tax receipts. Tax-creditable receipts will be automatically issued for all donations of $20 or more, and for lower amounts when requested.

Yes. It is 10795 8621 RR0001.

Your tax receipt may have been sent to a different address. If you move, please ensure that you contact the donor services department at 1-800-668-5036 ext.264 so that your address can be updated.

If you are a monthly donor, you will receive a consolidated tax receipt at the end of February for all donations from the previous year.

Thank you for thinking of us. Unfortunately, we do not accept these types of donations, as the shipping costs are too great.

Fundraising costs are those incurred while seeking voluntary contributions and include costs such as salaries to fundraisers, agency fees, design, printing and postage. They do not include the costs of disseminating information in support of charitable activities.

We spend money on fundraising so that we can continue to receive financial support to save and improve children’s lives. We view this as an investment, which enables us to gain new supporters and to retain existing donors.

Please select the emergency you would like to support from the donation drop-down box. Please note that in the event of the emergency being fully funded, we may apply your generous gift to support the area of greatest need.

Certainly. You are in complete control of your donations. You would be supporting our work for as long as you are able. We look for a minimum commitment of one year, but if you have any issues with your participation in our monthly giving program, you may revoke or make changes at any time in writing or by calling Donor Services at 1-800-668-5036 x264 with 10 days’ notice.

This varies annually. Please see details in our Annual Report.

Fundraising costs are incurred while seeking voluntary contributions and include creative development, printing, advertising, postage, telemarketing, vendor fees as well as salaries to fundraisers. We invest in fundraising so that we can continue to receive financial support to save and improve children’s lives.

Administration costs include office supplies, utilities (such as electricity and hydro), IT support, computers, employee salaries and organizing meetings to run the charity.

You can see more details in our Annual Report.

On average over 3 years, 83.5% of our costs are spent on developing and delivering programs.

You can see more details in our Annual Report.

Press releases are located here.
For more information, contact us.

Please contact: Jessica Bryant, Head of Communications, Media & Public Relations

Tel: 647-973-1185

Email: jbryant@savethechildren.ca

Yes! Another great way to volunteer with us is to host a fundraising event and help make a difference for children in urgent need. If you’d like to get more information on hosting an event, please visit Join Team Save.

We do not provide volunteer opportunities outside the country. Our role in overseas work is funding and managing development programs that are initiated locally, which provide long-term benefits to communities. Our programs operate in partnership with local organizations that implement our projects.

If you want to volunteer overseas, we suggest you visit the website of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation for a list of organizations and resources.

We recognize that Canadians are interested in seeing development in action, but it is difficult when visitors drop in for short periods of time. Visitors or volunteers may unknowingly place burdens on the limited resources of our field offices and our partners.

When you come to Canada, please contact us and we will consider your request. We do not, however, give references for visas, nor do we guarantee being accepted as a volunteer.

We need motivated young people like you! There are many ways you can help. You can learn about child rights and inform others. You can start a club at your school, or hold a special fundraising event like a party or bake sale. Please visit Join Team Save to learn about the many ways people of any age can make a difference.

We are delighted that you would like to support our efforts by raising money to help children around the world! Please contact us.