Two things to create before anyone can sponsor: at least one category, and the sponsorees inside it.
Categories first
Go to Sponsorships → Categories. A category is a group of people or projects that share a monthly amount and a public page — "Children in Kenya", "Bible School Students", "Field Missionaries". Each one gets its own browse page where supporters can look through everyone available.
Then sponsorees
Go to Sponsorships → Sponsorees and add the people or projects. What you write here is what convinces someone to commit, so give it real care:
- A clear, current photo.
- A story in specifics rather than generalities — what their days look like, what they're working toward.
- Whatever details your program shares: age, location, school, interests.
Think about what you publish. A sponsoree page is public, and for children that means being deliberate about surnames, precise locations, and anything that would let a stranger find them.
Watching the queue
The overview page shows sponsorees waiting longest — the ones listed but not yet sponsored. That list is the one to work from: the person who's been up for eight months usually needs a better photo or a rewritten story, not more traffic.
Putting it on your own site
Go to Sponsorships → Embeds to generate a snippet that displays your sponsorees on your existing website, so supporters can browse and commit without you rebuilding anything. Regenerate an embed if you ever need to retire the old code.