Frequently Asked Questions
Best Western and World Vision have joined forces in Australia and New Zealand to encourage all Best Western Members (properties), Guests, Employees and Family and Friends to sponsor a child through World Vision.
World Vision is a global relief organisation dedicated to helping children and their families by combating poverty.
The best way to change a child’s life is to change the world in which they live.
By sponsoring a child, you will help create long-term benefits for the child, their family and community for just $43 per month ($40 in New Zealand). Your support will help to fund vital development work in the child's community, such as digging wells, improving sanitation and building health clinics.
This work ensures impoverished communities can provide their children with the basics they need to grow up in a healthy environment, and gives them the chance of a better future. With your approval, your sponsored child will know your name and can write to you to form a connection.
Click here to sign up for the program or read below for answers to Frequently Asked Questions. If you have any other questions, please contact majorsupporters@worldvision.com.au or enquiries@bestwesternaustralia.com.au.
About Child Sponsorship
- How do I sponsor a child?
- What does the sponsorship commitment entail?
- How is my sponsorship donation used?
- What if I need help once I have sponsored a child? (e.g. If I sponsor a child online and do not receive my welcome letter within a few weeks, or if I want to change my method of payment?)
- What happens if my child grows up, moves, or I can no longer continue to sponsor him or her?
- Can I sponsor a child living in Australia or New Zealand?
Sponsorship Payment Options
- How much does it cost to sponsor a child?
- How do I pay for my sponsorship?
- For tax purposes, how do I determine if my sponsorship is personal support or corporate support?
- Can we raise funds as a group to sponsor a child?
- Can I pay for my sponsorship through a payroll deduction?
- Can sponsorship be paid through other Best Western International financial mechanisms, such as monthly billing statements?
Best Western Specifics
- Why is it so important that I sponsor a child through the special website www.worldvision.com.au/bestwestern?
- Why is it so important if I live in Australia or New Zealand to select the right link from www.worldvision.com.au/bestwestern?
- I'm a Best Western guest. Can I sponsor a child?
- How should I promote child sponsorship at my Best Western property?
- How can we engage hotel staff who cannot individually afford to sponsor a child?
- How might sponsoring children contribute to my business?
Partnership Goals
- Why is Best Western encouraging its members to sponsor children?
- What are the goals of the partnership with World Vision?
- If I already sponsor a child through World Vision, can it count toward Best Western's goal?
- Will support of World Vision in other ways besides sponsorship be included in Best Western's goal?
- Why did Best Western choose to partner with World Vision?
- Did Best Western look at other child-sponsorship organisations?
- How does Best Western International support the partnership with World Vision?
About World Vision
- What is World Vision?
- Is World Vision financially responsible with my sponsorship dollars?
- Does World Vision serve communities in Australia and New Zealand?
- How can I learn more about and communicate the needs of children and communities in poverty?
- World Vision is a Christian organization. How does this impact its work and mission? Do only Christians benefit?
How do I sponsor a child?
Go to www.worldvision.com.au/bestwestern, select the child you would like to sponsor (based on the child's birthday, age, country, gender or level of need), and enter your contact details and credit card information for donations as prompted.
It is important that you sponsor a child through this website – which World Vision has created especially for Best Western – so we can track the number of children being helped by Best Western.
What does the sponsorship commitment entail?
Sponsorship is an ongoing financial commitment. You can make donations monthly, quarterly or annually, by credit card.
Sponsorship allows you to develop an ongoing relationship with a child living in poverty by exchanging letters with them – as many or as few as you like.
How is my sponsorship donation used?
While your sponsorship builds a relationship with a single child, your sponsorship dollars help transform more than one life. World Vision combines sponsorship gifts in a specific community to provide long-term resources for lasting change – things like community water wells, new health clinics, and income-generating opportunities that benefit sponsored children and other community members.
What if I need help once I have sponsored a child? (e.g. If I sponsor a child online and do not receive my welcome letter within a few weeks or if I want to change my method of payment?)
World Vision has customer service professionals on standby to answer questions about your sponsorship. Call 13 32 40 in Australia or 0800 800 776 in New Zealand.
Make sure you have your supporter number handy so the customer service professional can access your account
What happens if my child grows up, moves, or I can no longer continue to sponsor him or her?
If your sponsorship of a specific child is interrupted for any reason, you will be notified by World Vision, at which time we hope you will seek out a new child in need.
If you must end your sponsorship for financial or other reasons, World Vision will seek to reassign your child, and they will continue to benefit from World Vision funds devoted to his or her community. However, every sponsorship has a direct impact on World Vision's ability to provide access to food, water, health care and education.
Can I sponsor a child living in Australia or New Zealand?
No. However, World Vision has a number of programs in Australia including KIDS HOPE and Indigenous programs.
How much does it cost to sponsor a child?
In Australia, the cost is $43 per month. In New Zealand it is $40 per month.
How do I pay for my sponsorship?
Donations can be made monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annually and are made automatically through credit card debits.
When you sponsor a child at www.worldvision.com.au/bestwestern, you have the option to set up the payment plan that is most convenient for you.
For tax purposes, how do I determine if my sponsorship is personal support or corporate support?
If your donation is from your personal credit card, it is considered personal support.
If sponsorship is being paid by the business from its budget with its bank account or corporate credit card, then it is considered corporate support.
- If you are a Best Western member, please write your property name starting with "Best Western…" in the first line of the address field on the online sign-up or any response envelopes selected from a child sponsorship picture folder.
- Make sure you have your supporter ID number if you ever call World Vision for customer service questions, otherwise your account may be difficult to locate.
Can we raise funds as a group to sponsor a child?
No. One person or member must commit to sponsor each individual child.
However, there are other ways to engage groups of employees or Members in Best Western's partnership with World Vision. Click here.
Can I pay for my sponsorship through a payroll deduction?
No. Donations must be made from the sponsor directly to World Vision via credit card.
Can sponsorship be paid through other Best Western International financial mechanisms, such as monthly billing statements?
No. Donations must be made from the sponsor directly to World Vision.
Why is it so important that I sponsor a child through the special website?
World Vision has created this website especially for Best Western so we can track the number of children being helped by the Best Western program.
Why is it so important for you to know if I live in Australia or New Zealand?
Only World Vision's Australian office and systems can process and service Australian sponsorship and donations. The same is true in New Zealand.
Also, national tax laws stipulate that only a home-based non-profit organisations (i.e. those located in your home country) can provide a receipt that serves as proof of a tax-deductible donation. Currency differences require that sponsorship be made and processed in your home country and sponsorship materials and customer service are provided by your home country office.
I'm a Best Western guest. Can I sponsor a child?
Absolutely, World Vision and Best Western are encouraging Best Western Members, Staff, Guests and Friends and Family to get involved. Please note, to contribute to Best Western's goal, you must sign up via www.worldvision.com.au/bestwestern.
How should I promote child sponsorship at my Best Western property?
A sponsorship toolkit is available on mybestwestern.com. The toolkit contains a press release template, ideas and more.
For additional resources and consultation on your ideas, please contact majorsupporters@worldvision.com.au or enquiries@bestwesternaustralia.com.au.
How can we engage hotel staff who cannot individually afford to sponsor a child?
Staff who can't individually sponsor a child can still enjoy the emotional connection formed with the Member’s child. All Members should consider posting sponsorship materials and correspondence or photos from the child in a staff or public area of the hotel.
In the coming months, we will introduce additional ways to get involved with World Vision such as supporting our Smiles catalogues which has gifts for sale from as little as $6.
How might sponsoring children contribute to my business?
Corporate social responsibility is becoming an increasingly important factor in customers’ purchasing decisions. In fact, 77 per cent of Australian consumers would prefer to purchase a product associated with a cause (Cavill & Co et al. Heart & Sold 2001). When you sponsor a child through World Vision, you prove that you care about children and communities that are living in extreme poverty. Also, supporting World Vision can help your organisation attract and retain good staff and motivate employees; 61 per cent of employees say they would like their company to do more to support causes or charities and 88 per cent say they would feel proud to work for a company that offers significant support to causes or charities. (Cavill & Co et al. PassionPeople, 2004).
Why is Best Western encouraging its members to sponsor children?
Best Western Members have demonstrated time and again their generous support in helping people in need. Our partnership with World Vision gives us a united platform to pool our generosity, allowing the Best Western brand to make a major difference in the lives of children.
Furthermore, while some consumers can be skeptical and difficult to reach through traditional marketing channels, they are heavily influenced by corporate social responsibility.
What are the goals of the partnership with World Vision?
In its first year of the partnership, Best Western's goal is to sponsor 100 children through World Vision. This number will be increased each year.
If I already sponsor a child through World Vision, can it count toward Best Western's goal?
Many members and staff have sponsored children through World Vision for years. Unfortunately, there's no way to track previous sponsors in same way as those who sign up through the Best Western promotion. To make sure your child is counted in the goal of sponsoring 100 children, contact World Vision on majorsupporters@worldvision.com.au.
Will support of World Vision in other ways besides sponsorship be included in Best Western's goal?
Absolutely, while Child Sponsorship will be the main focus to begin with, the partnership will extend to include a variety of opportunities including World Vision’s Smiles Gift catalogue and allowing members of Gold Crown Club International – Best Western's Rewards program – to donate their points to World Vision.
Why did Best Western choose to partner with World Vision?
Best Western looked at a number of reputable child sponsorship organisations and selected World Vision based on several factors:
1) The broad global reach of its child sponsorship program,
2) Distinctiveness, as Best Western is World Vision's only large-scale and hotel child sponsorship partner,
3) Existing member support for World Vision,
4) World Vision's strong brand and solid reputation within Australia and New Zealand.
Did Best Western look at other child-sponsorship organisations?
Yes, Best Western staff spent several months researching and evaluating the child sponsorship programs of other non-profit organisations.
How does Best Western International support the partnership with World Vision?
World Vision has the support of the Best Western Board of Directors and the MAC Committee. As an organisation, Best Western has also earmarked resources to build the partnership infrastructure and to drive member participation.
What is World Vision?
World Vision is an International overseas aid and humanitarian organisation. As well as providing relief in emergency situations, World Vision works on long-term development projects with local communities to address the causes of poverty and help them become self-sufficient.
World Vision partners with individuals and communities, empowering them to develop sustainable access to clean water, food supplies, health care, education and economic opportunities. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender.
Is World Vision financially responsible with my sponsorship dollars?
World Vision's proven commitment to stewardship has earned the trust of more than 400,000 child sponsors across Australia and over 83,000 in New Zealand. The organisation's overhead rate has steadily declined throughout the last decade and World Vision is audited annually by PricewaterhouseCoopers in accordance with Australian Auditing Standards.
Does World Vision serve communities in Australia and New Zealand?
In Australia, as well as working overseas, World Vision funds development projects, such as health and education programs for disadvantaged indigenous people living in remote areas in Australia. In addition to Indigenous Programs, WVA supports disadvantaged school children through the KIDS HOPE program, which is a nation wide mentoring program aimed at creating a positive impact in the lives of vulnerable Australian children and their families
World Vision New Zealand has decided to assist the poorest of the poor and determines where their projects should be based on the United Nations measurements of poverty. Therefore, the focus is on Africa, Asia and Latin America, according to the needs.
How can I learn more and communicate the needs of children and communities in poverty?
Visit www.worldvision.com.au (or www.worldvision.co.nz if you are living in New Zealand) for stories, statistics and other resources about combating global poverty that will inspire you and demonstrate the impact you can make.
World Vision is a Christian organisation. How does this impact its work and mission? Do only Christians benefit?
World Vision serves the world's poor – regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. People of any faith or no faith donate to World Vision to accomplish our shared mission of tackling the root causes of poverty. World Vision understands and respects the cultures where it works.
