I am concerned that by the time the info is received, he will be sponsored by someone else. Is there a way to make sure this doesn’t happen?

When a child's packet is at an event or church, that packet exists in only one copy and the child is essentially held from sponsorship unless Compassion is contacted by a new sponsor holding the packet. The child's photo doesn't appear in the online database on Compassion's website; only that new sponsor would have the child's information. In fact, as seen on this page, if a previous sponsor of the child is trying to re-sponsor the same child after the sponsor's finances improve, but the child's packet is out, the previous sponsor must wait until the packet is returned to Compassion unused or until the packet's expiration date, usually a few months. This is my understanding as a long-time sponsor.

I know sometimes there are problems if someone holds onto the packet too long. So that children all get a sponsor eventually a certain amount of time after the event if they don't receive the packet they reprint it because they assume it's not coming back. It's sad because we always ask at the event for people not to take packets if they aren't going to sponsor but some people take them and then don't do anything with them. When that happens if the packet isn't reprinted the child would never get a sponsor. So it's not perfect but there is a good chuck of time that the packet is valid for so if you filled it out and returned it you should be fine.

Brianna, thank you so much for choosing to love and support a child in poverty through sponsorship! While it does happen sometimes that a child is accidentally sponsored by multiple people in error, this is rare. Usually everything goes through but it does take time at events. The best way to quickly secure your sponsorship is to visit: www.compassion.com/firstpayment. This way the information for your sponsorship is received immediately in our office as opposed to waiting till the form reaches us in the mail. If you have your child's ID number I would be happy to also check on and confirm your sponsorship for you.