At first the representative said there were computer issues but then seemed to indicate the child was already receiving aid or had previously. I am confused too. Our center staff do an excellent job teaching the children to write letters; however, the children in our programs primarily communicate verbally. I was sponsored by a couple from the UK. By the way, a comment that I actually posted first, yesterday, was a reply to Kay, but this morning I am seeing it below my comment to you and your reply. Very strict guidelines and almost everything is getting scanned which is a total bummer. The letters do not seem legit. Do the directors receive similar salaries? Again, thank you Emily. Hi this is Trace. 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, we seek to offer competitive salaries for the various positions necessary to successfully execute Compassions mission statement. But I was born in a third world country and live in the modern United States. Your child is always told however, that the gift she receives for Christmas is from you. In addition, I do want to thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback. Compassion International is a Christian child development organization working to release children from poverty in Jesus' name. Thank you for the role you play as a caregiver and nurturer of those who are sick. and I felt God pulling my heart to give my testimony. I had NO idea that it is common for parents in other cultures not to pay too much attention to their childs exact birth date. I have sponsored Compassion children for over 20 years. Im a teacher in remote, rural Alaska where all of us faculty and staff stretch our pennies and live with exceedingly less than the general American, and I want every one of my dollars to count. Images of an Ontario shop teacher wearing oversized prosthetic breasts to work has drawn international attention. Kerith, we cannot express how grateful we are for your loving heart towards your sweet children. He may not have them with him when he writes back, so he may not remember the questions you have asked. You are such a blessing to your sweet sponsored child and I appreciate what you do for her and for the Lord! I really dislike the whole new mail system but Compassion is completely legitimate. These are the only things Ive been struggling with. That girl has completely blossomed into a confident young lady over the years. Please know that it costs us very, very little to print most of our mailings because they are done in house. I do agree that the CEO salary is very high considering it is paid by donations; however, charitable organizations are typically rated on the percentage of donations that go directly to the cause of sponsorship vs. those that go to administration (which includes salaries). Im so sorry we couldnt send your bookmarks last year :(. In March 2010 we also sponsor Daniela from Ecuador. This information is helpful and reassuring for sponsors who receive a letter where the translation may have referred to their child as the wrong gender by mistake. Imagine how generous sponsors would be if they knew what they were doing was going directly to that child!! Our policy also does not require that a thank you letter be sent for the final graduation gift. I supposedly am getting a little drawing and coloring from the child, but they are very inconsistent in the way it is done.One is very neat and in the lines while the other is scribbled and messy. Yes, I think so but dont just take my word for it. There also exist the letter "A" symbol inside a circle icon -- which to some, represents the letter symbol meaning "Anarchy" -- or "no government". In my junior year of high school, I went to 722 in Atlanta and Lewi Giggleo gave his testimony and recommendation of Compassion and outside the conference hall I became a sponsor. Do they actually get anything for my donation? After many months, I did receive a large photo of my sponsored child, working at a small computer, and thanking me for supporting him over the years. Im in the exact same position Lisa. For those that are thinking of dropping the sponsorship please, please reconsider and dont drop it. I am so thankful for my experience so far as a sponsor, and the connection that is being formed with my sponsored child. I do have a number of letters backed up in translation, but figure its all part of the new system. See our 2018 Annual Report to see where your money goes. I pray for their growth, integrity, and that many more children will be helped in Jesuss name. Also, we received another picture in January of this year of him where he looks younger than 10 and more like the age we thought he was. I sent money for her a Christmas present in 2013, money for her birthday for April 1, 2014, and a graduation check for $200, plus a good-bye letter, and never received any acknowledgements for these. In the few letters that I received, her information/background was very inconsistent. This is so disappointing. I wasnt convinced I was hearing from the children I sponsored. Other than that, I love Compassion and the children and what God is doing through both? -key life skills training and vocational programs to provide a brighter future As long as I know my sponsored kids are being taken care of and receiving my gifts I dont care. Choose from the 5 yearbooks available for Somerset High School below to start exploring the extensive Yearbooks collection on Ancestry. Fundraising $121M. 36. Compassion International is a legitimate, wonderful organization. It looks like the last time you received a letter from him was April 2015. Samuel told me that Compassion has been able to reach and get children from here just recently and the number keep pouring in since then. 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 am now considering dropping the sponsorship. This makes quite a stack of wasted paper and effort so I would enjoy not getting it. I cannot express how sorry I am to hear of the doubts you have about Compassion and whether our compensation is fair. She would say things like, Please pray for my parents to have more money to provide for me and my two brothers. In every letter, it made me feel like my contributions werent enough. It sounded more authentic than the letters I was getting from Uganda, at least. https://goo.gl/igxbUZHIT the notificatio. We have recently changed our letter writing process, as well. It is now August. It has given me the opportunity to help others. Compassion is a wonderful organization. But I persisted and continued to encourage her at every opportunity the same way you have been with Susi. I just dont know. Not only did we receive the highest rating of four starslast year, but we received it for the previous seven years as well. I dont like to compare organizations because there are so many wonderful organizations doing great work for the Kingdom of God. 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. These peoples are very simple as is their LIVES. Sarah, I see that you just began supporting a child with us on March 30th of this year. Hi Lee! Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust: A Hopeful Reminder, A Call to Prayer for Ukraine My Country, My Home. I have sponsored for 8 years, and I generally do not open any email unless it is from my child. Your letters say to Jhunior that he is worthy, loved, and known, and you are making a difference in his life even if that may not be apparent at this moment. My heart was convicted and changed, and I will support the work of Compassion for as long as I am able, as I know it pleases our Heavenly Father. However, I have had the awesome blessing to visit Kenya twice in the past two years on a mission trip in Nakuru. Share it with her friends, etc. Compassion was transparent i was able to view kids files where they carefully document correspondence back & forth as well as gifts purchased when sponsors send extra money (ie: birthdays, Christmas, etc.) I cannot express how sorry I am to hear of the doubts you have about Compassion and whether your one-to-one sponsorship of Josiane is real. Todd, Im sorry to hear that you feel our organization should be investigated. In the last letter sent, he asked if I had children or pets. Jay, I am so sorry for the confusion and frustration that we have caused in regards to your letter writing relationship with this precious little girl. Thank you so much for your love and care for each of them! I paid the regular amount, which was like $30/month. Management & General $80M. Hoping things improve for every sponsor soon. I work with nurses from other countries. With this new process, we are scanning all child letters and sponsor letters, as opposed to mailing them. I just checked on your letter and it is still in the translation step but once its finished, youll be able to open it and view the letter in your My Account! I am very sorry that you did not receive a thank you letter for the gifts that you sent to Marcela. I see that you got the chance to speak with one of our representatives in the Philippines. Why do we say I want to help the children, but dont want to support the institution that makes all this happen. To whom in may concern, I am trying to be patient and to understand that the new system of letter sending/receiving has changed, but I am pretty worried. I talked with my mens small group who asked me have I prayed to God for answers regarding this matter. Many thanks again Compassion for your very important, life changing work. I always noticed that the handwriting was somewhat different, but thought he was getting older and perhaps his penmanship was improving. That is much too much salary for a non profit Christian outreach. Id encourage you to ask him in your next letter what he received, highlighting the question so he remembers to answer it :). I got the most dull letters and no drawings for years. [VIDEO], http://www.givewell.org/International/charities/Compassion-International, http://www.missionsinaction.tv/episode3.php, https://blog.compassion.com/tag/emilda-soriano/. and everything always mentions my husband and I and is rather generic. I will be looking to sponsor an additional 2 children from that local Compassion field office/site. In no way did we expect or intend to force you to give more. 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. 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. She responds to my questions, she draws me pictures, and I am consistently recieving updates, not only on her & her family, but her school as well. Hi Kristen I started sponsoring a little boy in Indonesia November 2015 8 weeks before his 6 birthday on Christmas day.most of his letters tutor helped but they reflect his thoughts and usealy asks for prayer about different things.I chose this age so I could build. In one letter they tell me the child lives in such and such place, but in another letter it says somewhere different. I didnt really know what to do so I just ignored it. I really dont blame anyone for asking these questions. I see that you emailed us and contacted a representative yesterday after posting this comment. We take financial integrity very seriously here at Compassion. They talk about the letters that were so valuable from their sponsors and how much they treasured those relationships. Once the letters are received, they are printed out as a high quality print. I am not so naive to think that everyone in these organisations is motivated out of selfless motives and I get angry at myself for not holding the leaders of these organisations to a higher standard. Compassion International has grown from those initial roots in South Korea into a global nonprofit with nearly 7,000 international church partners and over 1.7 million sponsored children around the world. Is that more than is taken from the normal monthly amount? Then, Leos response letter will take about 2-3 months to be received by you. I would be happy to check on the thank you letter for the gift you had sent last October. Other references: I have recently started writing online to eliminate the paper. Im glad other children have risen out of poverty on account of your sponsorship; and Im glad it has worked out for you. Like one person said, send me something asking me to do it, next week send me a letter to make sure I got the first letter, next week asking me to consider doing it again. Exact same letter, writing, and drawing, apparently from our sponsored child. Thank you so much for your interest in sponsoring a child with Compassion! I know He led me to do this. I love my Mimi . I am so happy to hear you were able to achieve a college degree as a result of compassion. 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. Please know that our hearts for these changes have been to make it easier to communicate more frequently with your children because we have received overwhelming feedback from the many children in our programs about how priceless and cherished your letters are. We update each childs information and photo every two years, which means you can expect to receive that around November of this year. If you have any questions please email our team at [emailprotected] and we will be happy to help! It can be frightening for children to get their picture taken as it isfor children in all cultures. All of the proof I could ever need is in the letters and photographs of my little girl, Ludis. Youre such a blessing and care so deeply for these children. I thought over the last couple of years, this would change, but I just received a letter dated 9/4/16 and it is the same information I have received many times with no true update on Amele. We actually just received the letter and photo back from the country office in Bolivia regarding the $500 gift you sent to his project :). I received word that my sponsored child/family is not receiving the monthly check I send. Your child will be told the gift is from you and will receive it at a special Christmas celebration. Im sorry Sarah, I understand your position as you are an employee there, but I agree with Marci that from the Bible perspective, $330K/yr is huge amount of donations towards one persons salary. While we in the US might go several months without thinking of the Child outside that monthly credit card charge and thank Uncle Sam for the tax write-off but those children and their families are playing to God, speaking your name, thanking God for you, calling you mommy and/or daddy. 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. Hi Todd! This is common, especially in families with more than one child. I hope this helps to clarify some of your questions. Furthermore, it is unfortunate that Sarahs suggestions were not fully addressed (video chat which is free, continuous bulk mail, lack of proof of the children actually receiving our presents and letters pictures can be downloaded for free, the suggestion to aid in translating letters for other children ) I have been sponsoring numerous children since 2013 and also receive generic letters which do not address specific questions that I have asked. But youre welcome to contact us if you no longer want to receive updates from the field and other mail from us such as general appeals and were happy to update your account so that these stop. If you have specific questions for him, I encourage you to continue asking them :). 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. Mona, I am so sorry you have waited so long for another letter from Pamela. The other day we received updated pictures (Thank you for that!!!) I miss Gadiel. 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. Fundraising Costs Ratio: 0.062 vs. 0.086 If you are in business, either for profit or non-profit problems are bound to crop up that is inevitable. It makes me sad to see so many comments of people ending their commitments to the children they sponsor. 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. I really hope you enjoy it! People have to decide for themselves. 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. Their attendance at the center is in addition to their schooling, it does not replace it. Karen, I am so sorry to hear that our CEOs salary has deterred you from sponsoring and impacting the life of a child. Dee, I am so sorry to hear that your husband has been sick. I asked myself how they were going to provide clean water for a childs family if there wasnt enough money to spend for the entire village. Some seasons of life are more enjoyable, I think it's really important to teach our children, as Christians, to have compassion on the poor. Therefore, it is very possible that we have accidentally printed out the same childs letter twice and sent it to you a second time, especially since they are identical. We are so thankful that you are a part of the Compassion family. Anyways, the response the second time said that it normally takes 3 to 6 months to receive the first letter.hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I had always wondered about organizations like Compassion and when my horoscope said to do my research regarding financial decisions I found this site. Degree of Long-term Investment: 2.997 vs. 2.287 We take financial integrity very seriously, knowing that every dollar we receive is actually the Lords money and should be stewarded wisely.The watchdog organization, Charity Navigators, has given us a 4-star rating for over 14 years in a row. Our reasoning for this is that we want every child to have the joy of receiving a gift and participating in our special Christmas celebration each year. Please let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns. Im sorry if there was any confusion in the information you received. Photo by Marvin Hamilton. Thank you all I loved reading all your stories, God bless all of you and especially the childrenJesus loves them all. Thank you so much for your patience and grace with us through this transition process. They are closely monitored by governments, religious organizations, and by us pessimistic sponsors. I serve as senior Pastor of a church of around 200 people and wanted to get my church involved but before I did I wanted to see first hand where my sponsorship money was going. We updated our system in April and have seen a slow down of letters as we work through the kinks in the new system. They are better dressed, better educated, happy, and yet these were all rescued from terrible circumstances. I have been sponsoring my child since January 2016. You may definitely visit a correspondent child and give financial gifts! I hear from each child regularly, and the letters are always personal and genuine. I need a way to help kids and this is my favorite way to do it. Gioto- (means really hot place Hell) a dump city in Nakuru where the people sometimes wont speak its name because it is a dangerous place of no hope and it is where you go when you have no where else to go. Facilitating Global Growth As Compassion grew over six-plus decades, it quickly realized it was outpacing its processes and global technology. Therefore, it is common to see older children in younger grade levels. Thank you Darren Bailey for your honest sharing! We appreciate you and please let me know if I can assist you further! So that our field staff can better assist you, can you please send us a copy of the letter you received? Some are also behind in their schooling because their parents could not afford to send them to school, so they cannot write on their own yet. Compassion, yes they are a company with human flaws like any other company, but they are doing a great job with my measly $38/month. Im saddened to see that youre so disappointed and frustrated with us so soon into your sponsorship. Im hoping I can clarify the confusion regarding the letter time frame. This is why after 20y of sponsoring with you, you were not able to follow-up nor contact me on my concerns regarding the child I sponsored (the letter translations became very brief, one of his letters informed me you do know I am disabled dont you? after 10years of sponsoring him)? The question of trustworthiness goes beyond financial accountability. At that time he was 10 going on 11. I am unsure if the children are receiving the correspondence that we send. I have a sense like you. What would Jesus do? If we had received a letter with an explanation like this along with our new pictures, we couldve avoided a lot of confusion. I love the child focus and Jesus focus of Compassion. We never divide up gifts specific for your child, family, or student center. I am able to send inquiries when it has been longer than six months since you last heard from your children. I used to hear from him every month or so. He just wasnt getting the help he needed to write them at the time and the issue was fixed. I was told that she was an only child who was raised by her aunt because her parents had passed away. Im starting to think that this is a scam. I am concerned and placed a phone call today. For the case of Lisa, the said child is supposed to be leaving the program if she is 22 years of age. Did you receive these Christmas letters from Kayivi and Inoussa in February? Was the money used for a Christmas gift?? I talk about some of the letter issues you mention in another blog post. Or did you try to pass off your responsibility as a sponsor to someone else, which is the impression I got. Are they sometimes simplistic? 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