Through those goat pics ive seen my kid, her mother, and her father. Hi Barbara! Im sorry for that as we dont want you to feel that your concern was ignored or unimportant! Ive been a child sponsor for 30 years. I truly believe that Compassion International is the best child sponsorship program out there. There is One that loves you and your family so much more than we do! Beg you to stay? Im finding it harder and harder to believe that 82-86% of the money goes to the childs care. I suggest that you keep them simple, brief, and number and highlight each question. There is software that is capable of reading letters written in any language and convert it to any language, and pictures along with generic letters (used as templates) wouldnt take long to build such software programmers. In plain English they have some kinks to work out in their process. Do your research. The question of trustworthiness goes beyond financial accountability. And thats okay. The more often you write, the more often you should also receive letters from Farel. Please know that while some people feel our CEO makes more than he should, our ministry is committed to the children we serve and your donations truly do make a difference. If finances is the primary reason they are attracted to Compassion, Im not sure youre attracting the right people. I sponsor a child in India.I have many questions and concerns. You may definitely visit a correspondent child and give financial gifts! We will be in contact with you as soon as we receive a response within 6-8 weeks. 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. Please Google us and see what people are saying about us, check out what watchdog organizations say about us, read the third party research on the integrity and efficacy of our program, if you are able, visit your child and see where your money is going first hand. And finally, Charity Navigators new methodology for calculating fundraising efficiency on a three-year average came within thousandths of a percentage point of achieving another 4 Star rating. And, they say, the school board has let the kids down. Private Donations $1.1B. Its one thing for people in ministry to be able to adequately support their families, but it doesnt require $250K-$300K to do that. But I was born in a third world country and live in the modern United States. So I did my homework, found the center location, and bought the plane ticket and boarded the flight to Tanzania. 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 We are still working through all the bugs in this new system (which I am guessing you will understand as a programmer yourself). When children are registered into our program, the parents often times dont know the exact birth date of their child as birthdays are not as important in other cultures as they are here in the US. In the email and via phone I was told the updated one is the correct one,but no explanation was given as to how something like this could happen. Have you already sent in the sponsorship form to sponsor the child whose packet your friend gave you? Do the directors receive similar salaries? Since Farel has been in the program since 2013, he actually has had two official photos taken by Compassion. Yall really didnt think of that? They couldnt support me anymore when I reached college age. Im sorry if your kiddos dont answer your questions. Since it takes about two to three months for gifts to be wired and delivered, Juliano likely just received the birthday gift in mid July. We always want to grow and improve in the way we serve you as a sponsor and so we are grateful for this type of feedback. Thank you so much for your love and care for each of them! Our Business Model Is Out of Date. I would request, too, if possible, that the in translation letters still be made available for viewing, as they were before the system change. COMPASSION IS REAL. Oh my gosh, what else is there in life? And if I want a new picture I need to send $60.00. Some of the colored drawings are a perfect outline very perfectly colored, some are messy drawings but very neatly colored and then some are just no outline and just something drawn with a color. Questions I asked went unanswered. You began sponsoring during a transition season for us and when changes like this happen in a large organization, it takes some time to fully settle into the new system and make everything run smoothly; so theres some overlap from the old system to be expected. I thought it was odd, exactly the same? It is understandable that some may feel uneasy about the salary of our CEO. Youre welcome however, to go on a custom visit or a group tour with us to meet your child and bring them special and personal gifts if you ever feel led to do so. Letters as you might know can now be viewed straight from your My Account. The phone representative put me on hold for awhile to try and help me and said that hopefully I will have access to that letter sometime next week. Absolutely. It just seems a bit like they arent actually done by her. I am very sorry that you did not receive a thank you letter for the gifts that you sent to Marcela. Please rest assured that every letter from your sweet children is written by them directly or they are assisted by their tutor. In my heart after hearing a native worker right from within the center talk about the organization with such passion, I wanted to give my recommendation and my witness story that Compassion International is an awesome program to join in on and be a part of. I show that we processed this gift on May 17th. Kristin, I am deeply sorry to hear of your doubts and disappointment regarding your childs letters :(. We sent an inquiry last week to make sure everything is alright with Pamela and ask her to write back as soon as possible. We assign correspondents for sponsors who do not have the time or desire to write, or sometimes a company may sponsor many children and simply cannot write to so many children. Were I on the other end of the phone, Id be asking the same things. 80% or more of all monthly support goes towards programs that directly impact the lives of the children. However, other children dont have any interest in writing to their sponsor, or they do when theyre younger but then lose interest as they become older. Our goal is that the children in our program follow Jesus Christ in faith and deed, support themselves and share with others in need, are responsible members of their families, churches, communities and nations; and maintain their own physical well-being by the time they complete our Child Sponsorship Program. Some of us get letter writing blues, too . Did you ever discuss with the child what frequency rate was a comfortable one for him or her? We are committed to send at least 80% of sponsors donations to the childrens care. I have to admit, I don't write nearly as often as I think I should. I would suggest you would have them make a video at least once a year, on their birthdays, and showing more of their lives to us so that we can be assured there is a positive impact, which we 100% believe there is. Compassions bias to fund child development over maintaining a large asset balance impacted our rating. For those that are thinking of dropping the sponsorship please, please reconsider and dont drop it. This means that 15-20% is the administrative fee on monthly donations. I have recieved 3 letters from someone who writes on behalf of the child.Two of the letters have been signed by this person, but the hand writing is different. Please rest assured that Josiane is the one who receives your letters and answers them. After exchanging a couple of letters I noticed something she never failed to thank me for sponsoring her, and she always asked me to pray for her, and her family, and her country. I am going to email it to you right now! I appreciate and understand your desire to use your money wisely, and I am sorry that the way we pay our staff does not line up with the way you want funds to be used. I have long wished for a letter from the project or the pastor of each child, every couple of years, giving an all-over update on how my kids are doing: spiritually, behaviorally (at the project, at school and at home), academically, and any other way that is significant in the childs life. Sometimes the kiddos just dont realize that we want to know if they actually liked the items we send :). e.Resourcefulness I love sponsoring through Compassion International and feel that I have a great relationship with my sponsored child. So we do still send some communications via mail. If you have any further questions or concerns, please let us know. This helped a lot in explaining what happened. Thank you so very much Emily! I assumed everyone would know such a important date but if it doesnt play such a important role as it does here and in other countries, then I guess, I can understand how something like this can happen. Each country that we partner with has a maximum age that the children are able to attend the program and it varies per country. Most of us who are contributing $38 a month to sponsor a child do not make anywhere near that much money. To try to sustain a conversation with someone theyve never met that is 1,000s of miles away would be very difficult, especially for the young children. or less frequently. I recived these 2 separate letters in the same week. On the Compassion web site, you can type letters to your sponsored kids and upload photos. There has always been problems with communication and accuracy of information vital to building relationships was low. Any time you send a monetary gift to Faith and her family, Compassion does use 10% of the gift to cover processing and delivery costs. The only possible reason would be to make the organization look more realistic. I know you miss him, as I feel the same way about my girls in Bolivia, but the good news is that Gadiel is still writing to you. We have three active sponsorships in Bolivia, Peru and Uganda, all started when these kids where very young and they are now aged between 10-12. Donna, I am so sorry that you have waited so long for a letter from Juliano and that it has caused you to consider canceling your sponsorship of him. Either Im sponsoring a fake child or someone in admin messed up. Keep asking them questions and sharing about your life with them, Lisa. Many children dont make it to their fifth birthday in impoverished countries and so the birthday is not held as valuable because whats important is seeing to it that the child makes it through the first few years of life. God used Compassion International to change my life. Yes, I was concerned, but I felt that God was leading me to Compassion and told me that this organization can be trusted. I will find it very difficult to forgive Compassion UK for that: * My child was hungry and you did not feed him. I understand people can be doubtful and in todays society being a skeptic is almost a requirement, but some of these complaints are so overboard and vague. I have no doubts that Compassion is trust worthy. Hi Christopher, I made the decision when I started that nobody was going to talk me out of it and I was planning to sponsor until my kid turned 18. I see that you sent her a graduation gift as well as her birthday gift in January of 2014. We're living in the Information Age, and we all know that information can be used for bad or good purposes. This will draw the project staffs attention to the questions. Other than that, I love Compassion and the children and what God is doing through both? I talked with my mens small group who asked me have I prayed to God for answers regarding this matter. I have no doubt my money donated is being used. Founded in 1952, Compassion partners . Rachel, Im happy to address your concerns for you as well as address the concerns you mentioned of Sarahs (sorry if there were a few I missed!). I started sponsoring a child with CCF/Childfund first but after a few years I discovered child sponsorship through Compassion. Once youve sponsored the child, you can sign up for either a group sponsor tour going to the Philippines or an individual visit through our Tours and Visits page: https://www.compassion.com/newsponsor/visit.htm. If someone has been burned before, they look for faults in everything the letters from the child they sponsor, the pictures we send them, the way we use the funds we receive. Then if you ask yourself why they are asking for a website address. Please know that our wonderful, loving tutors do their absolute best to help each and every child write to their sponsor and answer their questions. Our hope is that this new process will help to build a stronger relationship between sponsors and their children, since the time it takes for a letter to be received will be drastically reduced. We all have that weird first letter. 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. However, any letter you write online should automatically send a confirmation email with the text of your letter included as soon as you submit it. From the booklet we picked up when we decided to sponsor, to the info we received in the Welcome Package, to the info it had on the CI app, we believed our sponsor child was born in 2010. Can I give Edith a financial gift? Please know that we care deeply for the children in our program and are grateful for the time and resources youve chosen to pour into helping release Lenilson from poverty and encourage him in his potential in Christ. This experience became all the more fulfilling two years ago when I paid a visit to my sponsor childs center and to his home and village. I see that you emailed us and contacted a representative yesterday after posting this comment. Im not a religious person, I just wanted to do something for someone less fortunate than myself. Im in the exact same position Lisa. I appreciate the blessings I have received and pray earnestly for the continued integrity of Compassion. You can visit our website at https://www.compassion.com/about/financial.htm and view our tax documents that lists the specific information on our Upper management and Board of Directors salaries. I do understand your desire to find another organization to sponsor through. Tim, thank you for sharing about your work in the Philippines! Your monthly sponsorship helps provide your child with life-changing benefits that include: nutritious snacks or meals, educational opportunities, health and hygiene training, medical checkups, the caring embrace of a local church, and the message of Gods love through Jesus Christ. Hi Miller. It is quite a joyous day when the letters arrive at the project and children wait expectantly to receive a letter. During that time, I have sponsored as many as 8 children at once. Sometimes I get letters that arent noted as translated and sometimes they are translated. My own (not so little anymore) girl used to give me very generic answers when she was four and five too, and it was hard to feel like I was getting to know her! The schemes remain a popular and lucrative method of fundraising with international NGOs, and do not have the same restraints as, for example, government sources. See our 2018 Annual Report to see where your money goes. There are some challenges like ones we experience at our local Church ie Little commitment of the local workers, inadequate education, greedy staffs and untruthworthness to some of them that hinders the achievement targeted by Compassion Office in our Home Country Tanzania! I hope you enjoy watching him continue to grow and I pray that this helps clarify the concerns and hesitancy caused by this update. Be assured that Compassion remains committed to stewarding your gifts with sound fiscal management, accountability and transparency with you and always with the children as our first priority! Letter Writing GIF by Compassion. 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. Your letters and cards will make a major difference in her life! We feel that in order to develop quality staff at Compassion while at the same time managing our financial resources with great care and wisdom, we must seek to offer competitive salaries for the various positions necessary to successfully execute Compassions mission statement. If Josiane is unsure of what to write, then she may choose to write what the tutor is recommending, and this may result in letters sounding the same. Therefore, we protect, develop, and deploy all of our resources (people, time, money, knowledge, reputation and materials) with great care and wisdom. In order to develop quality staff at Compassion while at the same time managing our financial resources with great care and wisdom, Compassion offers competitive salaries for the various positions necessary to successfully execute Compassions mission statement. First, Charity Navigator removed revenue growth as a measure they evaluate. The handwriting is completely different, yet the translation is almost word for word in both letters. Do they actually get anything for my donation? We put in a birth date for the child as closely estimated as we can and if we find more information on the child later, well then update his profile. Im just very passionate about this program!). But they are still double checked by individuals like those volunteer translators I just talked about, for quality. Thank you very much. We appreciate your grace and patience as we move over to a new system together. If you love this topic, please share it on facebook to let your friends know. Of course, one of those children will be the youngest sister of my currently sponsored child. Hardly. Granted, before joining Compassion, I had my doubts, hearing about other so-called sponsorship organizations using vast amounts of money for illegal activities. We understand that sometimes things like this happen and it can be an error at the child center or even in translation. You should definitely be receiving letters from your childs pastor though. When I asked about specific things I included in the envelope along with the letter in the letter I received they were mentioned once. I received a letter from the project director in the Dominican Republic, several years ago, telling me that one of my girls was away from the project for a few months, because of problems in the family. 1,157 Pins 16w C A 192 Collection by Compassion International , Aleesa Harris Shaw and 9 others Compassion international 13 Pins Similar ideas popular now Letter Writing You certainly are entitled to know exactly where your money is going. Did you read the responses at all? It is common for a younger child to believe that their correspondent is their sponsor, but as they grow up, they can understand the difference. They were at once the lay face of the church, the spiritual heart of civic government, and the social kin who claimed the allegiance of peers and the obedience of subordinates. If you werent getting responses, did you ask the child why? Please do let us know if that is the case and we will check to make sure your child is alright. I cannot express how sorry I am to hear of the doubts you have about Compassion and whether your one-to-one sponsorship of Mugisha is real. What Christ himself would say about Compassion UK in these cases? Whenever I doubt that I can make an impact upon the world, I pick it up. I am unsure if the children are receiving the correspondence that we send. If you send a gift over $60, you will also receive a photo of your child (and sometimes a family member or entire family) with the items they purchased with your gift (livestock for example, or the clothes or food they purchased). Please let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns. Your letters of love and support give Edith the message that she has value, worth and is loved. Upon my return home I encouraged the members of my church to also pick up a sponsor child. We want to ensure our sponsors are staying up to date with our program and with your children and we know not everyone uses email. 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