Four presidents of the United States and countless members of Congress have sported their neckties. Workers at Denny’s wear their aprons. Toddlers play in their jeans. For every phone call, AT&T makes a small contribution.
Of the major child sponsorship organizations, Save the Children Federation Inc. has the fewest children under sponsorship– barely 100,000 at last count, compared with more than 272,000 for the Christian Children’s Fund. But SCF has by far the highest profile, in large part because it has begun selling its name. In effect, people who eat at Denny’s, buy a necktie or make a call on AT&T are also making a small donation to Save the Children.
In addition to selling its own merchandise, including umbrellas, tote bags and handicrafts from the countries where it sponsors children, SCF has licensed its name and logo, known to irreverent staff members as “the Red Baby Jesus,” to some 33 companies that manufacture everything from mugs to eyeglasses and bank checks to bed sheets. SCF expects to double its licensing revenues this year to some $2.3 million–tax-exempt income equal to more than 9,500 new child sponsors.
Save the Children’s biggest corporate partner is Denny’s restaurant chain, which has contributed $2.1 million to the charity in the past three years, including 10 cents from every $5.49 All-American Slam breakfast entree–which appears on Denny’s menu with Save the Children’s logo.
Five months after Denny’s agreed to pay $54 million to settle a series of race bias suits, Denny’s and SCF announced in October 1994 a partnership that would bring Save the Children annual contributions of $750,000 from child sponsorships by about a thousand of Denny’s 1,600 restaurants–the sponsored child’s picture and letters are posted in the employees’ break rooms–and other fundraising activities to aid children.
Although Denny’s concedes its association with SCF helped burnish the chain’s tarnished image, Save the Children executives say they don’t feel their name and logo are being ill-used.
Save the Children featured the Denny’s logo prominently on its popular calendar, mailed last year to all 97,834 SCF sponsors. Recent Save the Children mailings have urged sponsors to “Head to Denny’s for a great meal, and the great feeling when you make a difference in the lives of children.”
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About this special report
Between 1992 and 1996, Americans donated more than $850 million to four of the largest and best-known child sponsorship organizations: Save the Children, the Christian Children’s Fund, Children International and Childreach. That money was sent on faith that it would reach an African village, a Pacific island or a Latin American slum and, in the language of the Christian Children’s Fund, “work a miracle” in the life of the little girl or boy whose photographs and letters are the sponsor’s only evidence of the child’s existence. To determine whether such faith is warranted, in 1995 Tribune reporters and editors began sponsoring these 12 children through four organizations without any mention of their Tribune affiliation. Last May, with no assistance from the four sponsorship organizations, Tribune reporters set out to learn how the lives of the sponsored children had been affected. Part One of this special report recounts what the Tribune learned about two of those organizations, Save the Children and Childreach. Part Two, which appears next week, examines Children International and the Christian Children’s Fund.