If finances is the primary reason they are attracted to Compassion, Im not sure youre attracting the right people. Im saddened to see that youre so disappointed and frustrated with us so soon into your sponsorship. There is much going back and forth about the integrity of the organization and looking for proof that one should sponsor a child through Compassion or not. If you have any other questions, please feel free to email our team directly at [emailprotected] and we would be happy to help! I am very interested in sponsoring a child, but dont understand why the CEO is paid so much. Compassion is accredited with the Better Business Bureau and meets the 20 standards for charity accountability. For a given child, when does the sponsorship program end, i.e., at what age? Just remember what a blessing you have been to her, even if the distance or conditions did not allow a final note to you. There have been multiple accounting problems with this charity. For example, if your child lives with the same guardians during the duration of their time in the program, this will not be updated. In other words, your sponsorship helps provide your child with: -educational opportunities to defeat illiteracy We do take new pictures the children every 2 years and update their information so that you can see how they are growing. 1. I am sponsoring a young man. Thank you for the role you play as a caregiver and nurturer of those who are sick. Something has happened now its the same thing every time I ask questions and it seems the letters are exactly the same as the last There is no emotion in them I have 4 sponsored children and I miss the letters I use to get where they were responsive and you were carrying on a conversation To me its all about the relationship with my child and them knowing Jesus. I would think the person who deals with the child and writes for them would know which gender they are!!! Thank you for verifying that there is no pronoun for he or she in the Philippines. EG, I am so sorry that you have felt duped and have concerns about Compassions use of funds because of the salary our CEO makes per year. I am going to email it to you right now! Compassion International Go And Make Disciples Mission Work Travel Humor Human Connection Straight from the mouths of Compassion-assisted students in Rwanda, here's what children really want to hear in the letters from their sponsors. Please hop on over here for more information about letter writing and some of the issues you are encountering. Hi Lindsay! I always receive a picture of my child with her gift from the extra money I sent for birthdays. Is there some addition to the system that could be added to let sponsors know that a letter is in translation (on the way) to us as well? Ask questions. See our 2018 Annual Report to see where your money goes. Private Donations $1.1B. When i visited their home my family picture, the only picture we ever sent almost 4 years ago was hanging on their wall. Prepare strong reasons for canceling your membershipthey'll do their . I woke up the next day with so much love and concern for the children living in poverty I immediately went online and I sign up to sponsor Juana from Honduras in Aug. 2009. I got an LDP scholarship instead and I was supported by funds from other sponsors. I agree with the concern for legitimacy of letters as Brian stated from November 2019. I currently sponsor 6 children, but unfortunately will no longer do that. This means that your letter was written on September 3 and not March 9, which would make sense as a first letter if you started in July. Sponsor a child. God is ultimately the one who touches us and provides for us. For example, he said that he finished the first semester of College and that he was on vacation with his family. I just received a letter from her and it looks very much like all the letters from the past 10 years (the same very generic details anyone could write) but it said she is currently in grade 5. Our statement on stewardship says the following: The ministry of Compassion belongs to the children, our Implementing Church Partners, our sponsors and donors, our Supporting Church Partners and ultimately to God. I do want to encourage you that your child received 100% of your generous graduation gift, birthday gifts, family gifts, and other child gifts sent over the years, each letter, and sticker that you encouraged her with, and we are grateful for the impact you made in her life. Hi Pam! We have put measures in place to make sure that these goals are being accomplished. Hello. In April 2016, Charity Navigator informed us that we had once again achieved their 4 Star rating based on the 2015 990 forms filed with the Internal Revenue Service as well as transparency and accountability provisions in place at Compassion. I regularly receive updates from another organisation my wife supports and the change is visible in the children MONTH on MONTH. The goal is to ensure Compassions ability to attract and maintain the expertise required of a President & CEO equal to the scope and complexity of the global ministry. Your gift was such a blessing to his project, and I cannot wait for you to hear just how grateful they are for you! This time it was from my sponsor child, Teya SUBSCRIBEEE IF YOURE NEW! I think those are the only third-party letters I have received. Hi Lana! i speak in tongues with perfect prayers for you all in the name of Jesus Christ AMEN, I enjoy Compassion magazine and its importance If you are on Facebook, follow their pages and get to know some of those who comment on posts. Our statement on stewardship says the following: The ministry of Compassion belongs to the children, our Implementing Church Partners, our sponsors and donors, our Supporting Church Partners and ultimately to God. Lets really think about this: they send emails, right? As a Christian organization, everything we do needs to be worthy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and we want as much as possible to get to the children we serve. Some leave after high school and begin working, helping their families, or go onto reach other goals they have. Thank you again for your comment and for your heart for these children! So, reluctantly, I will have to say goodbye in February 2014 the same month an automatic levy was set up to take more out of my finance to deliver more of the same. My wife and I chose to sponsor a child through compassion international 8 years ago and have committed to continuing until our sponsor child is 18. Compassion International Engaged Employer Overview 412 Reviews 14 Jobs 339 Salaries 80 Interviews 189 Benefits 24 Photos 99 Diversity + Add a Review Compassion International Reviews Updated Feb 6, 2023 Find Reviews Clear All Full-time, Part-time English Filter Found 308 of over 412 reviews Sort Popular Popular COVID-19 Related Highest Rating I do know what Im asking, given the sheer numbers of children, and I dont expect it will be done, but that is the kind of update I received in the first two years of my first sponsorships. If you werent getting responses, did you ask the child why? I too, am in a similar position. I want to double check on something. Compassion provides holistic child development spiritual, physical, social and economic supports. I was involved in 2 childrens lives who grew up and left the Compassion program. I am also learning so much through Compassion about various cultures. Compassion International our blog we wrote about communicating with your child through social media. All rights reserved. Now, other than the photo updates, I get grade reports on my girls in TZ, and from none of the other countries where we sponsor, or have sponsored children. Please let us know if you would like us to do this. Because these children have grown up in impoverished conditions and are often times malnourished when they first come to our center, it can be difficult to estimate an accurate age. If you share that you see value in that and encourage them to be able to do so, you may be able to help them feel confident to write on their own. If theres one thing Ive learned in my life about computers and computer systems, it is that nothing ever goes as planned and there are always glitches. Look at their facilities, nothing wrong with a nice work place but it is obvious they put themselves in front of the children they claim to help. Hell be thrilled to hear from you and get to know you. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. I began sponsoring a child in Indonesia after reading of the late President George H.W Bushs sponsorship of a young Mexican boy when he had passed away. Letter Writing GIF by Compassion. Just search social media and you will see trips all over the world. This revised system altered Compassions overall 4 Star rating to a 3 Star rating. I am doing that, and I will never let you down let me ask you how many times do yoou need a child to say that to you before you actually get the message! So please have patience and hang in there and please keep writing your children!! I cannot afford the $3,000.00+ price to visit for a meal, then fly all the way back home. I did notice that this was brought up by an external reviewer and Ill be interested to see how Givewell incorporates that feedback into their selection process. The letters I received were obviously written by someone much older. Hi Barbara! Their pages under My Sponsorships are often several years out of date. Were I on the other end of the phone, Id be asking the same things. Not that I dont trust Compassion, but rather that I do trust Compassion. My child finally aged out and today I got another letter from him. I hear you and understand where you are coming from, and Im very sorry to hear that these are things that are causing you to leave Compassion. Thats between them and God. We sincerely look forward to earning your trust and proving our hearts for serving our sponsors and children with excellence. She would have received these gifts in the beginning of April when she was completing the program. For the case of Lisa, the said child is supposed to be leaving the program if she is 22 years of age. Other references: Imagine how generous sponsors would be if they knew what they were doing was going directly to that child!! I have been a sponsor for almost 7 years now. However, for your monthly donations (the $38 you send for your child), 80-85% goes towards programs that directly benefit your child. I fully believe you will be greatly encouraged. This marked the 15th consecutive year of 4 Star ratings. Of course, there are so many factors that could explain why your letters seem impersonal and we couldnt possibly include every scenario in that blog post. Can you please reduce the paper mail coming into my mailbox as well? The initial information that was given to me was that he lived with his mother. Only in the US would this mean 9 March. With the scope of various cultures, languages, traditions, beliefs, systems of government, values etc., anyone could be forgiven for thinking that trying to make a positive difference causes more problems than it solves. If you received letters in February, I can send inquiries for you this month to check on both of them. The children are required to write at least two letters a year and reply letters to each letter their sponsor writes for up to six letters a year. I just got my child today, Jacob. Please send us an email at [emailprotected] with your sponsor number and we would be happy to see whats going on. And Psalms 1:27 There are only 6 verses in Psalms 1. At Christmas time I sent a packaged gift in the usual size envelope we are allowed to send. and as compassion says its the Lords money so why panic if you know its going directly to a child in need. Compassion Internationals profile at the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, Compassion International meets the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliances Standards for Charity Accountability, https://www.compassion.com/donate-to-charity.htm, https://www.compassion.com/multimedia/2015-2016-form-990-compassion-international.pdf, https://www.compassion.com/about/financial.htm, see what we do firsthand and meet your child, Why Do My Sponsored Childs Letters Seem So Impersonal, https://www.compassion.com/newsponsor/visit.htm, our other post about our new letter guidelines, Charity Navigators, has given us a 4-star rating for over 14 years in a row. We are so grateful that you responded to God tugging at your heart to sponsor Uwimana Josiane 10 years ago. I suppose the ICP where she attends the Program must have given her livelihood skills for survival if she really is in grade 5. Thank you so much for your kind words and support. Can I give Edith a financial gift? Thank you so much for taking on this crucial role as a correspondent for Edith! Please know that our desire is for every sponsor to have this opportunity to develop a relationship with their child. http://christiannews.net/2012/12/23/non-profit-organizations-feeding-impoverished-children-serving-up-six-figure-salaries-to-ceos/. Thank you so much for your heart for this ministry, and we are incredibly grateful that you have chosen to bless Jhunior with your love and support! Susan could you please do that for me, too? I completely agree with many of the concerns expressed here about the CEO salary. In March 2010 we also sponsor Daniela from Ecuador. If 6 months passes and a sponsor has not received a letter from their child, we will send a notification to the childs project to determine why the child has not written. You HAVE blessed Susi and her family significantly, and I cannot wait for you to receive the thank you letter regarding that family gift! God Bless Contribution Reliance Ratio: 0.831 vs. 0.991 Additionally, your sweet boy is showing to have an education of about a 5th grade level, so he should begin to write on his own soon. The easiest way to find an available child in the Philippines is on our website: https://www.compassion.com/. Our wonderful field staff there will confirm what her actual grade level is and why she may have said a different grade in her letter to you. Please let me know if you would like us to research this gift further for you. I have relatives who are missionaries in Peru. But it could be that your child might have been mentally challenged and for the childs privacy and dignity, the Field Office didnt wish to convey such information to you. It was clearly written. I also want to sincerely apologize as it sounds like this sponsorship and our mailings have increased the burden. Liza, I am so sorry that your childrens letters no longer seem genuine and that they are vague. This is one of the highest percentages for an organization like ours. Sponsors Share Their Best Letter Writing Tips, Before and After Safe Water: 20 Powerful Photos, How to Get to Know Your Sponsored Childs Family, Thank you, Samantha. Sponsors are connected in a 1-on-1 relationship with a child through letters and pictures, and through the work of Compassion over 2 million children are in the program worldwide. This is one of the highest percentages for an organization like ours. Photo by Twitter Close expects parents to be at the board meeting on March 1. Very strict guidelines and almost everything is getting scanned which is a total bummer. There are so many things that seem strange about the letters I have recieved.Then all the other mail I get from Compassion is bothersome! I even went back for a second visit the next day. Letters A civilised country is one that treats refugees with compassion Members of Exiled Writers Ink respond in horror to Priti Patel's plans to create offshore centres to process asylum seekers. What does it mean for an organization to live with integrity? For example, when I ask how theyre doing in school, I get, Fine, or Well., I know there are limits on the kinds of things anyone other than the child would tell us, so as not to rob them of dignity or violate their privacy. Charity Organizations Writing letters to your child in the Compassion program can bring them love, joy, encouragement and a sense of belonging. She retrieved their birth documents and when I made cakes for them for their birthdays she thought it was a very strange custom lol. I understand he may be too young to write the letters himself and someone else is doing it for him, but I feel this is a huge miss as we have pulled her inwe want it to be real as it should be. My family has been sponsoring a young boy named Alanael. I personally have been working in one of the field Offices in Uganda and do attest that Compassion International is highly credible, transparent and 99% genuine. If you didnt receive these, please verify that we have your correct mailing address on file and email us at [emailprotected] and we can get them re sent to you. Every financial process undergoes intensive and continual scrutiny to ensure that funds are properly received, tracked, and managed. I am very happy to report that I have five sponsored children and have not had this experience at all! We too have questioned the letters we have received. I contacted CI for an inquiry by live chat yesterday. I would like to know if vaccines are a part of the health care that a sponsored child receives as a result of the funding? Was the money used for a Christmas gift?? Compassion ensures children are able to get an education, have medical care, nutrition, emotional support, discipleship, and the love and care of local believers. She writes to me as if Im the one fully sponsoring her, but Im just not sure how to write because I just dont know how sensitive I should be to the fact that someone else is supporting her financially while I am the one writing to her. I show that Leos most recent photo was taken in November of 2015. I have not had any letters from either of my two sponsored children since their Christmas letters (and its now August) and they were writing me pretty frequently. I didnt start sponsering my child until July! My concern is how are my funds helping him if he cannot attend the Centre? I was glad the child couldnt see that page. Where is that bit of information in the literature? I sponsored a child on Easter day and have not received any communication back yet. Just last year, I had a 6th grader who was positive, based on her moms comments, that she was actually a year or possibly 2 years older than our school documents said. When you began supporting your child, we were working with older systems in which processing letters to and from your child was very manual and took 2-3 months for letters to be delivered both ways. The teachers, the kids, the families they are real. Children do not always know how to express their thanks or communicate their feelings, plans and dreams butwe encourage you to keep feeding love into your childs life. That meant either my letters to them were not being properly translated to them, or those written back were being written by a person who had little knowledge of them and just filled in the space to make it sound good. If you can, travel to see what we do firsthand and meet your child. Founded in 1952, Compassion partners with more than 8,000 local. Thanks so much! By the way, you are welcome to post here, email [emailprotected], or call 800-336-7676 with any concerns or questions you have. At one point, months after the event, I was told their mother was taken into hospital which, should have made that child an orphan if she had died. What Christ himself would say about Compassion UK in these cases? I played dumb, asked the same question to other Compassion staff, I quizzed the teen children and none had ever seen their sponsor or the sponsor of any other Compassion child. Two more will be out of the program in June, 2017. Hi Rayshell, Throughout the years, Compassion has consistently averaged more than 80 percent of total expenditures being used for program activities, with less than 20 percent being used for fundraising and administration. We value the relationship that you want to build with your child and I apologize for how confusing that letter must have been to receive. We update each childs information and photo every two years, which means you can expect to receive that around November of this year. To date I know next to nothing about the children I sponsor which is a sad reflection of the antiquated and poor service Compassion UK operates. You can also email our social media team directly at [emailprotected]. The House passed a finalized version of the $768 billion defense authorization bill late Tuesday night with overwhelming bipartisan support, moving legislation hamstrung by delays, amendment fights. With months in between being able to view letters, it is sometimes difficult to remember what you have and havent shared with your children. Of course, there are many explanations as to why your questions may not be answered or why some letters seem generic, but there is a wonderful blog offering an explanation of why letters may seem impersonal.