One Heart is a Not-for-Profit working in East Africa to empower children to break free from poverty and fulfil their potential. With a support office in Australia, each country is its own entity with a locally led team.

One Heart empowers children to break free from poverty and fulfil their potential. We do this by taking a holistic approach that addresses some of the root causes of poverty. Our model is centred around four pillars: a safe place to call home, health and wellbeing, education and training and sustainability.

One Heart’s work is focused in East Africa, with operations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Absolutely! Every gift and contribution makes an impact. While the problem of child and generational poverty can feel overwhelming, each time we impact the life of a child, there is the potential for a ripple effect to take place.

If you’d like to conduct a fundraising event for One Heart, complete this form and one of our team will get back to you soon!

One Heart is a registered charity with the ACNC and complies with the ACNC External Conduct Standards with all relevant policies and procedures in place. In addition, all One Heart entities in-country have Australian members of the board serving alongside the local members, to ensure there is transparency and accountability on how funds are being administered.

We will use your personal information for the purpose it was collected, to help you make a difference, and to tell you about how your support is helping the children and broader communities One Heart serves.

Common situations in which we use or disclose your personal information include:

- To provide, administer, improve and personalise our communications to you (including direct and digital marketing).

- To engage in, and manage our relationship with you. For example, to:

• process your donations or payments, manage promotions and provide refunds;
• send you newsletters that you have subscribed to;
• fulfil requests to change your details;
• tell you about our work including via email, post, phone, SMS, Facebook message or other social media platforms;
• verify your identity;
• maintain and update our records.

- To help you and others to learn more about poverty and related issues and provide opportunities to partner with us – so you can make a difference in the lives of vulnerable children.

- If you have indicated that you intend to leave us a bequest or have requested information or otherwise enquired into how you can support One Heart through your Will, we will use your information to ensure your wishes can be honoured.

- One Heart takes the protection of vulnerable peoples seriously. If you engage with children via child sponsorship or participate in our immersive experiences and trips to the field, we will use your information in keeping with community expectations and best practices relating to child protection.

- To other third parties as required or authorised by law.

Importantly, we never rent, sell, or exchange your personal information without your consent.

Yes. If you are an Australian resident for tax purposes and have given through the website, you can find your tax deductible receipts in your One Heart Donor Portal. If you have given through an alternative method, given in a foreign currency or are not an Australian resident for taxation purposes, please reach out to us at hello@oneheart.co so that we can provide you with your receipt.

One Heart Child Sponsorship is your opportunity to create a lasting impact on a child's life that transforms generations. You’ll become part of the family and receive exciting updates on your sponsor child’s progress. You can even exchange letters with your sponsor child - either physical letters or digital letters through your One Heart Donor Portal.

When you sponsor a child, you are helping provide them with a safe place to call home, access to health and wellbeing initiatives, and education and training, all delivered with sustainability in mind, giving a hand-up, not just a hand-out. You become part of the village raising a child to be a resilient, powerful and positive contributor to their community.

Child sponsorship gives a child the opportunity for a life free from poverty.

For most of our children, the alternatives if they’re not sponsored are grim; life on the streets, without education and without support structures which often results in the poverty cycle continuing.

Child sponsorship has the potential to transform a child's life and create lasting generational change. Children who live in poverty are more likely to live in poverty as adults. This is a result of a lack of education, which leads to difficulty finding meaningful work that pays a sufficient sum to provide for themselves and their families. Child sponsorship places a child in a loving, family environment where they are fed well and have access to water and sanitation services. This is important as it helps keep children healthy and in a position where they can both attend, and get the most out of school. It then provides children with access to quality education - whether at a One Heart Academy school or a partner school. Children have access to education and training pathways that lead to opportunities for meaningful work. Your sponsorship also gives a child access to critical health and wellbeing facilities and programs. Many children come into One Hearts care having experienced significant trauma, and some come with health challenges. We recognise that for them to thrive, we need to care for not only their physical and education needs, but their emotional, mental and spiritual needs as well; the restore them to full, holistic health.

Child sponsorship can change the trajectory of a child’s life.

At the start:

• We will send you information on your sponsored child
• You will receive a letter, or message, from your sponsored child within 12 weeks. We’ll give you some ideas and tips for writing back!
• You will gain access to your One Heart Donor Portal. This is your personalised space where you can see information and updates about your sponsored child, communicate with your sponsored child, update your payment information, change your details and download your annual tax receipts.

During your sponsorship:

• We’ll post updates in your One Heart Donor Portal about the progress of your sponsored child, their activities, health and education.
• Connect with your sponsored child quickly and easily through the One Heart Donor Portal, or via traditional mail!
• You can participate in any number of One Heart events, including Run from Poverty and Trek from Poverty in-country with the opportunity to visit your sponsored child.
• Be kept up to date with information about child sponsorships and other updates from One Heart.

For celebrations and special times of year:

• We’ll make it simple for you to send your sponsored child a message or card for their birthday and Christmas - they love to hear from you!
• You will receive a message from your sponsored child at special times of the year, such as Christmas.
• You’ll receive annual progress reports for your sponsored child
• You’ll receive annual tax statements detailing your donations over the prior year.

When a child graduates:

• You’ll receive an update on your sponsored child’s progress, including notification of their graduation from the program
• You’ll be given the opportunity to transfer your sponsorship to another child and continue making an impact that transforms a child’s life.

One Heart Child Sponsorship costs $55 per month. You can choose to give monthly, quarterly, every six months or annually; you choose the payment option that suits you.

You can choose from a range of flexible payment options through the One Heart Donor Portal. Many sponsors choose automated credit card or bank transfers as they’re simple and reliable. If you’d like to pay by an alternative method, please reach out to us at hello@oneheart.co

It depends! It costs about $220per month to fully cover the costs of raising a child in East Africa - this includes providing safe accommodations, clothing, bedding and other personal effects, access to nutritious food, clean water and sanitation facilities, providing for the child's health and wellbeing needs, paying for their education as well as extra curricular activities that enable them to grow and learn holistically.

Each can have up to 4 sponsors at $55 a month each. Or, you might choose to fully sponsor a child or sponsor half of the costs associated with their care.

The reality is that it takes a village to raise a child, and sometimes that means one Aunty or Uncle that takes you under their wing, and sometimes it’s a group of them who surround you with love and support to see you succeed and fulfil your potential.

Yes! You can sponsor as many children as you like.

People often ask us if they can give more than $55 per month. We appreciate people’s generosity and desire to make a lasting impact on the lives of children.

The cost associated with raising a child each month totals $220. We have broken this into 4 parts of $55. While this is the set amount per sponsorship ‘part’, many sponsors decide to increase their gift by either sponsoring multiple ‘parts’ or all parts of a child’s sponsorship, sponsoring single parts for more children, or making a general donation in addition to the child sponsorship.

If you’d like to explore these options, you can do so within your One Heart Donor Portal, or reach out to use at hello@oneheart.co. We’d love to help.

Your child sponsorship funds go to covering all costs associated with the raising of that child. While One Heart has other programs that support the holistic approach to ending child and generational poverty, the farms, social enterprises and capital expansion projects are funded through our events, corporate partnerships and reinvesting of the funds generated in-country.

One Heart’s work is supported by the generosity of many people, in Australia, New Zealand and beyond.

We work hard to ensure that all our resources are used efficiently and effectively to deliver the greatest impact for the children and communities we serve.

For 2023, we are projecting that 71% of funds go to the field with 29% being invested in fundraising and administration. This is an anomaly as we’ve invested heavily in systems and processes that will enable us to build and grow our impact globally, with a goal to increase the number of children in our programs by 500% over the next 5 years.

We are also working towards a model that covers all administration, fundraising and capital expansion costs through alternative funding so that 100% of your child sponsorship funds go to the field.

We take our financial responsibility and accountability to you, our generous community, seriously. Our financial statements are externally audited every year and our annual reports compiled to comply with the ACNC standards. You can read our annual reports here.

No. When you start sponsoring a child, you are not entering a contract, but making a voluntary ongoing contribution. They do not have a fixed length or term.

We encourage you to view child-sponsorship as a long-term commitment and partnership, but if your circumstances change and you need to cancel or adjust your sponsorship, you can do that through your One Heart Donor Portal or by contacting us at hello@oneheart.co

Child sponsorships conclude, either when you choose to discontinue your contributions, or when a child graduates from the program. This may be at an age ranging from 18 years to their early 20’s.

For the most part, parents and families do not stop supporting a child when they reach a set age. Rather, they go through a process of helping that child become independent, supporting them through further education and gradually giving them more responsibility for their own affairs, until they’re able to manage themselves. We believe that it’s important for us to do the same - if we cut a child’s support off at 18 but they have not yet gained the skills necessary for them to be self-sufficient and fulfil their potential, have we achieved our mission? We don’t think so. That’s why our sponsorships are not based solely on age, rather an assessment of a child’s ability to gain meaningful employment and fulfil their potential.

Yes. One Heart is a registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits commission and has DGR status with the ATO. All donations $2 and over are tax deductible. You can access your tax receipts in your One Heart Donor Portal.

Yes! We love to see children and teenagers involved in child sponsorship, with their parents' or guardians’ support. There are some important things to note for younger supporters.

If you’re aged 15 or under you’ll need your parent or guardian’s consent for One Heart to collect and use your personal information for child sponsorship (as per our Privacy Policy). Your parent or guardian will need to sign up for the sponsorship first, agree to all terms and authorise the payment themselves. They can then contact us to transfer the sponsorship into your name.

If you’re aged over 15 (but under 18) and hold a debit card in your own name, you can sign up to sponsor a child using that card. If you don’t have your own debit card, your parent or guardian will need to sign up and pay for the sponsorship in their name, and then contact us to transfer the sponsorship to you.

Parents and guardians, we’d love to support you and your child to set up a sponsorship in their name. Please note that you, as the parent or guardian are solely responsible for the payment and child’s participation in sponsorship, and encourage you to have ongoing conversations about safe practices when it comes to using the internet and sharing of photos and personal information.

One Heart Child Sponsorship Programs in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania work closely with the local government. Our social workers have a clearly documented process and criteria for selecting the most vulnerable children and young adults in their area who can benefit from our assistance. Many of our children come from local children’s rescue centres, where street kids and orphaned and abandoned children end up or we are approached. Otherwise, particular children in need are identified by our school and assessed by the social worker. All children are registered with the government.

Supporters often say that one of the best parts of sponsoring a child, or children, is seeing the real difference they’re making in a child's life. With the One Heart Donor Portal, you have a window into your sponsor child’s world.

Exchanging letters with your sponsored child is a great way to learn more about them, their world and the difference you are making. Most children love to receive communication from their sponsors. It is often a huge encouragement for them to know there is someone far away, who has never met them, but yet cares about them and their future.

You can communicate with your sponsor child in two ways:

1. Send a message via the Donor Portal. It’s a quick and easy way to keep in touch - simply write your message, attach a photo if you want to, and then hit ‘Send’.
   Your sponsor child will usually respond to your message via the portal within 3 months.
2. Send a traditional paper letter or card, either at special times of year, or just because! The art of a traditional letter or card has somewhat been lost, but the joy of receiving one has never gone away! You write a card or letter at any time and post to:
      ADDRESS
   Your sponsor child will often write back to you via post as well. Please allow up to 5 months for this to arrive.

When your letter arrives in-country (which happens instantly for messages via the Donor Portal or can take days or weeks via post), a One Heart staff member will review your letter and then pass it on to your sponsor child.

Your sponsor child will enjoy reading the letter and prepare a reply for you, to send either via the Donor Portal or via post. Replies via the portal generally arrive within 6 weeks, but can take up to 3 months depending on the age of your sponsor child. Responses sent via post can take up to 5 months.

As part of our child protection policy, all communications between supporters and their sponsor children are vetted by One Heart team members prior to the sponsor child receiving it.

Writing letters to your sponsor child and receiving replies creates a special bond as you learn about one another’s lives. We encourage you to keep your letters simple, and write about your family and day to day life, what you do at work or school, your pets, friends or hobbies and other general topics such as the climate and native animals or plants where you live.

It will help your sponsor child if you ask them questions they can then respond to. Things like:
Tell me about school?
What are your favourite things to do?
Do you play sport or a musical instrument?
What animals do you like?

It is also important to avoid certain topics, such as religion, politics, money or expensive goods, and personal/contact information. Remember that many of our children have experienced trauma and may not have a mother or father. When asking about their family, double check your child’s family context on their profile via your Donor Portal to ensure you’re sensitive to their personal situation.

When you take on sponsoring a child, we’ll organise for that child to write to you within 3 months. We also encourage the children to take time to write to you at special times of the year, such as Christmas and during the mid-year break. However, the continuing conversation is up to you! You can do this by writing a message to your sponsor child via the Donor Portal or by sending a letter via post.

Once a child receives your letter or message, they will reply within 3 months for a message via the Donor Portal or it can take up to 5 months for a letter via post.

It can be exciting sharing your child sponsorship with friends and loved ones, and we encourage you to spread the word! But it’s important to follow some guidelines to keep sponsored children safe and protect their privacy.

If you’re not sure, please check with us before posting anything online.

What can be shared online (if your sponsored child’s country doesn’t have restrictions):

• photos and videos of your sponsored child and their community provided to you by One Heart;
• excerpts of letters and cards from your sponsored child (without last names and addresses);
• your sponsored child’s first name, age, country, language, hobbies, chores and grade level at school; and
• your sponsored child’s general health status (excluding sensitive details).

What can’t be shared online:

• your sponsored child’s surname and sponsorship ID;
• your sponsored child’s parents’ first names, surnames and occupations
• your sponsored child’s address, school name and address and community name;
• your sponsored child’s height, weight, and specific medical conditions or disabilities;
• your sponsored child’s religion; and
• images that are geotagged to your sponsored child’s location.

This information reveals too much about your sponsored child’s identity and can put them at risk.

It is exciting and rewarding to build a relationship and connection with your sponsored child, which is why we provide avenues for your to connect with them via letters and messages on the One Heart Donor Portal.

Please DON’t contact your child via any social media platform because it can put you, and your sponsored child in a difficult situation. People may pressure your sponsored child to ask you for gifts, money or other favours; other people may access your sponsored child's social media accounts leading to a compromise of your personal information and the lack of safeguards on social media may lead to inappropriate communications.

We encourage you to connect with your sponsored child through the One Heart Donor Portal or by sending letters to them - they love to receive your messages! This way, your information is kept secure and your sponsored child kept safe.

If your sponsored child or their family/connections reach out to you on social media, please do not respond; instead contact us via hello@oneheart.co and we will follow it up with the child and/or their family, providing education and insight as to the dangers associated with communicating via social media and the benefits of using the messages and letter systems established by One Heart.

You can change or cancel your child sponsorship via your One Heart Donor Portal. Or alternatively, you can contact us at hello@oneheart.co and we’d be happy to help you.

One Heart exists to empower children to break free from poverty and fulfil their potential. Our focus is on children who have been orphaned or abandoned, and if not for the intervention of an organisation like One Heart, would live either on the streets or as part of over-crowded and often poorly serviced rescue centres, lacking access to education, sufficient nutrition and other health and wellbeing initiatives that enable them to live a life above the poverty line.

When you sponsor a child through One Heart, for just $55 a month, you help to provide a hand up that lifts them out of poverty and gives them the opportunity to fulfil their potential - creating lasting, generational change.

Your gift enables the life-changing work of One Heart, providing these children with:

• A Safe place to call home
  Starting with providing life’s absolute fundamentals - things like shelter, safety, nutrition and sanitation.
  
  Our homes provide a warm and welcoming family atmosphere. Each child has their own bed and shares a room with a small group of children their own age. They have a parent, or parents to love and care for them, who know their names, their stories, their cares and concerns, their hopes and dreams, and who raise them to be young adults who can contribute to the world around them.
  
  
• Health & Wellbeing Programs
  We take a 'whole of child' approach - supporting and nurturing the cognitive, physical, behavioural, social and emotional development of each child in our care.
  
  Many children at One Heart have experienced significant trauma, which may impact on their physical, mental and/or emotional health. Supported by One Heart farms, each child has three nutritious meals a day, clean water to drink, clean clothing and bathrooms with hygiene products to maintain good health. There is access to medical treatment, vaccinations and additional community health services, as well as the stability provided by a supportive, loving and consistent home and school environment.
  
  
• Education
  We provide a quality, well-rounded education - one that spans traditional academic studies, sport, arts and STEM, as well as core life skills - problem solving, collaboration, self-knowledge and contributing to community.
  
  Quality education is provided throughout the primary and secondary years via a One Heart School or a One Heart Partner School Program, meeting each child’s educational needs. Students may go on to tertiary education or take a course through the One Heart Vocational and Skills Training Centres, which provide vital pathways for those not wanting to enter university and also offer community programs supporting women in enterprise.
  
  
• Sustainability
  We establish sustainable systems that support individuals, families and communities to thrive - breaking the poverty cycle once and for all.
  
  We look to embed sustainability in every building and project, in our curriculum, our initiatives, and in our partnership programs. Where what we take, we give back. Our schools and social enterprises in-country generate fees and income, food and skills training, removing donor dependence over time. Our operations and built environment consider the impact on the plant and we are intent on lowering our environment footprint as we work to provide the One Heart community with the tools they need to become self-sufficient.
  
  

And most importantly, your gift and connection helps provide the love and care they need, in a strong family environment to thrive.

When you sponsor a child, you empower change in their world.

Your One Heart Donor Portal is your personalised One Heart account. An easy to use platform that enables you to see updates and photos of your sponsor child(ren) from any digital device. It also enables you to update your personal details, your payment information, to add sponsorships or donations and to access your tax receipts and annual tax statement at the end of the financial year.

Your One Heart Donor Portal gives you a window into the world of your sponsor child, with letters from your sponsor child as well as general updates, photos and videos about your sponsor child.

These updates will come from the social workers and house parents who live and work in the same communities as your sponsor child. They regularly check on the child’s health and wellbeing as well as their education and will provide updates roughly every six months (the timing can vary for a variety of reasons).

We love sharing updates about the impact you’re having as a child sponsor. Be sure to check your account every now and then, and also watch our inbox as we’ll let you know when we post an update or your sponsor child has sent a letter.

Yes. One Heart Foundation Ltd is a registered charity with the ACNC with DGR status. All donations of $2 or over, made in Australia are tax deductible. If you want to donate in another currency, please email us at hello@oneheart.co and we’ll provide you with an alternative giving platform.

Our website uses secure online forms when we ask for personal and payment details. To safeguard your security, your card number is not stored on our website.

Yes, you can change or cancel your monthly donation or sponsorship at any time by logging into your One Heart Donor Portal. You can do this here.

Yes! You can set this up directly on your One Heart Donor Portal, or you can contact us at hello@oneheart.co and we’ll help you set this up.

There are many ways your business or company can make a difference. You can join our community of corporate monthly sponsors, host an event as a business to raise funds, participate in the Run or Trek from Poverty, host a speaker at a team or networking session, or explore what goods or services you might be able to offer One Heart to support our work. You could do one, or multiple of these options; or you might have another idea altogether! We’d love to hear it. Tangibly connecting people and businesses to the impact they’re making is something we value highly. To chat more about the possibilities, email us at corporatepartnerships@oneheart.co.