Journey of Transition Toolkit

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Revising Fundraising Approaches

Transitioning requires consideration of how the transition will be funded and sustained, and how the organization’s assets will be reallocated. This begins with a careful assessment of current financial and human resources, and those resources that will be needed for the transition and for whatever services the organization plans to offer going forward.

Family care is generally recognized as more cost effective than residential care. However, the initial phases of a transition may involve higher costs related to building organizational and staff capacity, hiring specialized staff for case management (such as trained social workers), maintaining residential care until all children are transitioned into families, and offering family support services.

Transition to family care often requires new funding arrangements with donors and new methods of fundraising, especially if the previous business model depended on practices inconsistent with the new model (such as short-term mission trips that offset orphanage costs and child sponsorship).

A transition to family-based care will likely involve significant changes with assets such as property and buildings, staffing, and fundraising models.

Unlike residential care in which most services are typically provided in-house, family care relies on a more decentralized approach with different partners in the community providing a range of child and family services. Some transitioning organizations decide to shut down their facilities once the transition process is completed. Others reallocate their assets and facilities to provide services that are needed to support children and families in the community, such as day care, parent education and support, rehabilitation centers, youth clubs, or vocational training centers. Working in partnership with other local service providers helps ensure that children and families get the support they need and reduces unnecessary overlap in programs and costs.

Cultivating funding sources to support the transition and sustain any new or continuing programs or services is vital. Donors, ministry partners, and volunteers have important roles to play and careful thought will need to be given to how best to engage their support of family-based care for children.

Engaging Donors and Ministry Partners

A transition from residential to family care cannot be implemented and sustained without the necessary financial support. Bringing along current donors and cultivating new donor relationships are essential to supporting the costs associated with the transition process. Some donors may initially be resistant to change, especially those who have directly engaged with the children, or feel emotionally and spiritually invested in the current model of care. Raising awareness to build a shared understanding of the importance of family care and engaging donors in meaningful and appropriate ways help to ensure a smooth and successful transition.

Donors and ministry partners may also contribute to the transition process by helping develop the business model, funding new projects that strengthen families and children, and offering technical expertise and training relevant to family care. Inviting donors to participate in these specific ways lays the groundwork for a new kind of partnership aligned with best practice.

Transitioning Donors: Bring your supporters on the journey to a new model Includes five steps to bring supporters on the new journey to transition, because a good transition requires stable funding. The guidebook also answers how to fund initial costs. (Christian Alliance for Orphans)

Transitioning Donors Checklist A companion piece to the Transitioning Donors Guidebook to help track progress. (Christian Alliance for Orphans)

Child Sponsorship: Exploring Pathways to a Brighter Future (for purchase) Reviews the remarkable growth, diversity, and challenges of child sponsorship. It features the progress in child sponsorship practice and necessary tensions experienced by some organizations as they seek to maximize impact. (Watson, B., and Clarke, M.)

When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor…And Yourself Articulates a biblically based approach to poverty alleviation, promoting the idea of walking with people in ways that lead to lasting change. Used by church and ministry leaders to design international ministry. (Corbett, S., and Fikkert, B.)

Promoting Family Care Provides tools and resources that will assist efforts to raise awareness and educate all members and actors involved in the organization. (Faith to Action Initiative)

Transitioning Donors Effectively Offers guidance to bring your supporters on the journey to a new model on transitioning donors away from funding orphanages and toward supporting family strengthening and family-based care. (Christian Alliance for Orphans)

Determining Best Practices for Volunteers and Short-Term Mission Trips

Short-term mission groups and volunteers to residential care facilities tend to inhibit a transition to family care by perpetuating business models that rely on the donations of visitors. Furthermore, while the love and attention of volunteers may at first seem positive, it can put children’s development and ability to form healthy attachments at risk.

More appropriate use of volunteers during a transition to family care may involve partnering with local churches or organizations to promote family-based alternatives, building staff and organizational capacity to work with children and families, running meaningful community-wide events for children, or providing technical expertise in social work and family strengthening.

Short-Term Missions: Guidance to Support Orphans and Vulnerable Children Provides guidance and better practice standards for short-term missions to ensure positive outcomes for vulnerable children, their families, and their communities. (Faith to Action Initiative)

Protecting Children in Short-Term Missions: A Guidance Manual and Toolkit for Churches and Christian Organisations Focuses on protecting children and upholding their best interests in short-term missions programs and reflects the most common scenario, which involves sending and receiving organizations working in partnership. (ACCI Relief)

Ethical Volunteering with Vulnerable Children Highlights ethical considerations around working with vulnerable children and including alternative ways of supporting families and communities. (ACCI Relief)

Guidelines on the Deployment of Volunteers Working with Children Abroad Includes brief sections on being aware of children’s attachment, ensuring that volunteers are trained and experienced, codes of conduct and policies on protecting children, preparing and supervising volunteers, and choosing partners. (Better Care Network Netherlands)

The Love You Give Showcases the movement already in place in all countries to move away from using orphanages towards strengthening families and communities to prevent children from being separated from their families. (Better Care Network)

Going on a Short-Term Mission Trip Explores ethical short-term missions trips that support vulnerable children in families and strengthen communities. (ACCI Relief)

How Volunteering Abroad in Orphanages is Harmful to Children Explains how volunteering in an orphanage can be harmful to children, including encouraging families living in poverty to send their children to an orphanage and problems with brain development (Global Service Learning and Kindea Labs)

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