This is the second time I’ve seen additional incentives offered for child sponsorship.

The first was with Compassion (’Uncomfortable about child sponsorship’). The second I came across today, courtesy of Children International. This was the ad I saw on the Bible Gateway website:

If I sponsor Maria, I’ll get a free copy of Rick Warren’s ‘The Purpose Driven Life’.

Here’s what I said last time I saw this technique being used:

“I'm all for getting more child sponsors, but something about this promotion made me feel a little uncomfortable. Perhaps I feel uncomfortable because this kind of promotion is so common in our world (e.g. "buy two pizzas, get a free coke and garlic bread"). Perhaps I feel uncomfortable because the intrinsic value of the children themselves should be a good enough incentive to sponsor a child. I can't put my finger on it, but it just doesn't sit well with me as a marketing strategy.”

I don’t feel any more comfortable with it 7 months on. How about you?