FAQ

What is Train Up a Child?

Train Up a Child is wellness coaching program that leverages a crowdfunding platform with partners that enables anyone to donate as little as $5 to directly fund life-changing wellness programs for children in need that are fighting childhood obesity. Train Up a Child is in the process of becomng a registered U.S. 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Why Wellness?

We believe that every child deserves to live a long and healthy life, regardless of their nationality, religion, or socioeconomic status. 21st century lifestyles have ushered in a new set up diseases – type 2 diabetes, asthma, sleep apnea, coronary heart disease and even social discrimination . We envision a world where people no longer die from conditions that society has the knowledge, resources, and power to prevent.

What does “Train Up a Child” mean?

It comes from Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. When I was young my parents raised me in a Christian home with the belief that the habits we learn as a child stay with us all our life. I want todays children to have that same opportunity.

How do we fund our day to day operations?

100% of every donation made directly funds programs for the person you choose. We cover our overhead separately through product sales, private donors, foundations, and corporations.

Do we plan to become financially sustainable?

Yes. Financial sustainability is very important to us. We will never take a cut of donations made to families, but our goal is to be 100% financially self-sustainable within three years of launch. Despite being a new organization, we are already implementing various activities to raise organizational funds, including asking donors for an additional contribution to Train Up a Child when donating to a family, forming corporate partnerships, and licensing software.

Can I see your financials?

Of course! We are 100% transparent. Period. All of our financials are publicly available on our Google Transparency Document. If you have any questions, please email us and we’ll be happy to help.

Who is eligible for Train Up a Child funding?

Children who are or will become obese if left alone leading them to a life with diabetes or heart disease that will severely impact their standard of living.

For a child or family to be eligible for the TUC program register by going to our Contact page and submitt your name, email address and subject as why you feel you should be part of the Train Up a Child program. Every participant will be required to pay a deposit to be in the program that will be refunded as time goes on.

Who decides which Children receive funding?

When we get a childs profile, we confirm that they meet our criteria. We cannot see and evaluate the children ourselves, so we trust that our Partners will help in this process. Then, we post the profiles as we are able. In the instance we have more profiles than we can fund at any one time, we are committed to posting the lowest-cost, highest-impact profiles first.

What if a profile isn't funded?

Profiles are posted until they are fully funded. We work closely with our Partners to determine how many profiles we will be able to fund based on current donor demand. If donor demand increases, we increase the number of profiles our partners can submit for funding, and vice versa.

How do I know the program will be a success?

Every profile posted is considered to have a high probability of success by the Partner that submitted it. We trust their local knowledge and expertise to make that decision. That said, we can’t guarantee that every program funded by us will be successful.

Why do we operate only in the United States?

Our mission is to impact childhood obesity here in the states. While we’re not opposed to working in other countries, we currently focus our efforts where we will affect not only our children’s health but the economic future of our country.

What is a Wellness Partner?

Partners are on-the-ground organizations that provide reliable wellness programs. In order for us to form a relationship with a Partner, they must maintain the highest of ethical standards and fit the following criteria:

Must be a registered legal and licensed entity.
Must have a history of providing reliable wellness programs.
Must have a strong positive reputation within the local community.
Must agree to allow Train Up a Child to perform due diligence, initial and ongoing, to ensure compliance with specified financial, legal and ethical regulations.
Must be willing and able to designate a staff member to upload profiles and provide updates to donors.
Must have a successful working relationship with at least one US-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

How does an organization become a Partner?

If you know an organization that is interested in partnering with us, please feel free to email us at Contact TUC. We are always looking for quality Partners that align with our values.

Donations

100% of my donation goes to the chosen child. Yes, 100% of your donation covers the cost of the programs. Your donation is not pooled into a general programming fund, your donation does not go to help run our operations, and your donation does not go to fundraising activities.

GENERAL

PROGRAMS

How do I know my money will go to fund the program I choose?

Being completely transparent about where your donation goes is one of our highest values. We ensure 100% transparency in a number of different ways:

Publication of all financial transactions: We post all of our financials on our Google Transparency Document, including screenshots of funds transfers for every patient.
Real updates: You will receive an update and photo about the outcome of the treatment you funded.
Partnering with the best: We work with organizations that have received distinction for their work and are well-respected in the health community. To learn more about our Partners, you can view their information on each childs profile
Double Due-Diligence: We have strong personal relationships with each of our Partners but we always perform initial and ongoing due diligence to ensure they meet our Partner Criteria (see “What is a Partner”). Because all of our Partners are affiliated with a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the US, they are also subject to the tax-exempt rules and regulations of the Internal Revenue Service and are required to release all of their financial information for inspection on an annual basis. Therefore, all of our Partners undergo due diligence investigations by both Train Up a Child and the US Government to ensure that they are organizations of the highest integrity.
Direct transfers: All funds are transferred directly to our Partner for the purpose of covering the cost of the patient’s medical treatment. They are never handled by the family and are never released to anyone for discretionary spending.

How do the donation logistics work?

The Partner identifies a family that needs high-impact program and submits the profile to us. If the profile meets our criteria, we accept it and guarantee the Partner that we will cover the cost of providing care to that child. We post the profile online, donors fund it, and the Partner provides care. The Partner sends us an update about the outcome of the program. Once we receive the update, we send it to the donors who supported that patient and transfer the funds to the Partner’s PayPal account to cover the cost of the program.

Why are funds transferred to Partners via PayPal?

Train Up a Child transfers funds to each Partner’s verified PayPal account. It’s up to the Partner to withdraw and/or transfer those funds however is most cost effective for their organization. The majority of our Partners withdraw.

Why don't we transfer all the funds before care is provided?

We did this in the beginning, but after conversations with our Partners and counseling from trusted advisers, we decided that it actually makes more sense to transfer funds immediately after care is provided. All patient profiles are accepted by us before the child receives care. This enables Partners to treat patients whenever makes the most medical sense, operating under the guarantee that we will cover the cost of care. For a detailed description about how we arrived at this conclusion, see this blog post.

Do I have to use PayPal to fund a treatment?

You can use any major credit card or your PayPal account to fund a treatment. Either way, PayPal will process your payment so that your financial information is secure.

How do I know my financial information is protected?

Your safety and privacy are important to us. We use PayPal, an internationally trusted financial services company, to process all transactions in order to ensure that your information remains secure.

Is my donation tax deductible?

Yes. All donations are tax deductible in the U.S. After making a donation you will receive an official tax-deductible receipt at the email you provided.

Do you have a question that wasn't answered here?

If you have a question that wasn’t answered here, please email your question to connect@goTrainUpaChild.org and we will respond to you as soon as we are able. If we receive multiple questions about a similar topic, we will add that topic to this FAQ so that it is easily accessed by other people.

FUNDING