Frequently Asked Questions About Compassion International & Our Services

Over the past few years, our world has faced unprecedented challenges: a pandemic, global food crisis, the war in Ukraine, and inflation. We strive to be good stewards of the resources you entrust to us. Prayerfully, we use the donations we receive to equip our frontline churches so they can support healthy development for the children we serve in all aspects – spiritually, physically, socially, emotionally, and economically. However, we are finding our dollars are stretched as far as they can go. This has marked the longest period without a rate change in Compassion’s history, and our previous rate was making it difficult to fund effective child development programs.

Because of these factors, and after prayer and consideration, we made the decision to change our child sponsorship rate to $43.

If you received notification about our child sponsorship rate change or if you have questions about your child sponsorship rate, click here.

Compassion International is a Christian child development organization dedicated to releasing children from poverty. Our ministry to children is twofold: We work through local churches to provide child development programs to deliver children from economic, physical, social and spiritual poverty, enabling them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults. And we speak out for children in poverty – informing, motivating and equipping others to become advocates for children.

Releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name.

Yes. Compassion International, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

As Christians, Compassion is called to be good stewards of the resources God has given us, and we are very passionate about ensuring we are. Internal and independent audits are regularly conducted for our country offices and our Global Ministry Center in Colorado Springs. Every financial process undergoes intensive and continual scrutiny to ensure that funds are properly received, tracked, and managed. We want our program to be effective, so we monitor the child development centers to make sure they are making a difference in the lives of the children we serve. 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.

The hallmark of Compassion's work is one-to-one child sponsorship. A sponsor is someone who has made the decision to personally invest in the life of a child in need. Through sponsorship, children are able to participate in a church-based program that offers life-changing benefits that range from educational opportunities to health care.

Compassion currently works in 29 countries around the world.

Currently we work in 29 countries, divided into four areas:

• Africa: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda.
• Central America and the Caribbean: the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua.
• South America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
• Asia: Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
• Upcoming Countries: Malawi, Zambia, Cambodia and Myanmar. Click here to learn more about our expansion work.

Compassion follows an in-depth process of investigation, analysis and research for God's direction to expand into new countries and communities. Compassion's criteria for opening a new country include:

• God's leading. Each decision about a new country is wrapped in prayer. No country is selected unless the responsible staff are convinced of God's leading and blessing.
• Need. Compassion works in some of the world's poorest communities. Local church partners then select the children in their communities who have the deepest need to participate in our program.
• Strong local church partners. Christian leaders and churches must be willing to invite our ministry into their country and competent Christians to staff country offices and lead projects.
• Risk management and legal issues. A country must not have legal barriers to our ministry. There must be a provision for international banking. Our work with the local church to encourage long-term Christian child development also must be understood and accepted.

Compassion is distinct from other organizations because we are:

• Christ-Centered. Without coercion, we teach the life-changing gospel to every child in a culturally relevant way.
• Child-Focused. Our ministry directly engages each child as a complete person.
• Church-Based. We choose to partner with the church as a local group of believers who can teach, train and mentor children. This is done in partnership with parents and the community.

During Compassion's 65-plus years of development work, we've seen various approaches to breaking the cycle of poverty in children's lives. We've discovered that changed circumstances rarely change people's lives, while changed people inevitably change their circumstances.

Community development is important work that addresses the external circumstances of poverty and is an important complement to our work. However, our primary focus is individual child development—an inside-out, bottom-up approach that recognizes the God-given value and potential of each individual child. Many of these children grow up to become positive influences in their own communities.

Compassion International began in 1952 in Chicago, IL, as the Everett Swanson Evangelistic Association.

Compassion International began in the heart of one man moved by the plight of Korean War orphans The Rev. Everett Swanson was on a successful preaching tour in South Korea when he encountered the bitter poverty of Korea's unwanted children. He knew he had to do something.

Upon his return to the United States, Everett established a program that allowed caring people to provide food, shelter, education, medical care and Christian training for Korean orphans. That program was, and remains, the foundation and core of Compassion.

Santiago "Jimmy" Mellado is the current CEO and President of Compassion International. He is the fifth president in Compassion's history and has been president since 2013.

No. Children are welcome to participate in a Compassion-assisted child development center regardless of their faith. Compassion's program, however, is unapologetically Christian and every Compassion center is connected to a Christian church or ministry. We want children to have the opportunity to see living faith in action, hear the gospel and be discipled in the ways of Christ. But neither they nor their families are under any compulsion to become Christians.

Sponsoring a child costs $43 a month. It's a significant commitment, but the incredible difference it makes in the life of a child is invaluable.

The children Compassion serves receive, among other things: the opportunity to hear the gospel and learn about Jesus; regular Christian training; educational opportunities and help; health care, hygiene training and supplementary food if necessary; a caring and safe Christian environment to grow in self-confidence and social skills; personal attention, guidance and love.

Yes. Each child has only one sponsor, which is why the sponsor's prayers, letters and support mean so much to a child. We believe that the relationship that develops between sponsors and children is instrumental in a child's growth and development. In addition, this one-to-one relationship provides children with the message that they matter, that they are valuable and that someone outside of their family cares about them and their future.

You can log in to My Account from the upper right-hand corner of any page.

Yes! You can write your child a letter at write.compassion.com.

Our Where We Work section contains general information about each country we work in, along with more specific information about major regions of each country.

You can also get information about your child's community and child development center from the My Sponsorships page in My Account.

Definitely! We offer pre-planned group sponsor trips and unique custom visits.

You can contact us Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. MT. The telephone number is (800) 336-7676.

You can also send us a message.

Since 1980, Compassion International's headquarters have been located in Colorado Springs, CO.

You can call Compassion at (800) 336-7676, Monday through Friday, 7a.m. to 5:30p.m. MT., or send mail to Compassion International, Colorado Springs, CO 80997.

Compassion International is a great choice for those looking to sponsor a child in Jesus' name, however, all child sponsorship programs are serving a great purpose.

To sponsor a child, you first need to find the child you want to sponsor from the sponsor a child page and then simply fill out of the required information such as payment information and contributions. From here, you have many options such as gifts, letters and so much more.

When you sponsor a child you are providing a child in poverty with essential living supplies such as access to clean water, food, clothes, education, healthcare and much more. Your contributions in child sponsorship can be life changing and even life saving for many children living in extreme poverty.

Yes. Compassion is committed to providing consistent service to registered children in our programs. Compassion's method of keeping program benefits consistent for sponsored children happens through pooling sponsorship funds to produce a level support system.

Every month we put all the current sponsorship funds we receive into one central fund. Your monthly sponsorship payments are combined with the payments from other sponsors. The overhead and field support costs are deducted and then we divide the balance over the total number of sponsored children. The resulting figure is what will help each child for that month. With the help of our pooling system, every child in our program can count on consistent support.

Without a pooling system, sponsored children whose sponsors were late with their support or simply did not send support would have their sponsorship benefits interrupted. If some sponsors do not send their support in a given month, the project would not have enough funds to provide the benefits for all of the children at their project.

In the United States the IRS has prohibited organizations from receiving donations and passing those funds directly to individuals. By pooling the benefits between all children, Compassion can qualify to issue tax-deductible donation receipts to our sponsors.

This approach also allows us to be better financial stewards of the resources God has blessed us with. For example, if we were to pass on to sponsored children the exact support amount sponsors have sent, we would have to manage the many different rates of sponsorship funds coming in. Project directors in our thousands of centers around the world would have to assign differing benefit amounts to each of our children in our centers. To accomplish this task, administrative costs would rise dramatically and we would have fewer resources to maintain the quality of our program. Pooling is a financially responsible option that ensures Compassion-assisted children receive consistent benefits.

In most cases, no. Such direct aid can lead to misuse of funds, children's unhealthy dependency on an outside organization, and difficulty in monitoring individual development goals. Compassion funds church-driven programs that provide developmental opportunities and benefits agreed upon by the church and Compassion. The standard is that funds are used on meaningful developmental opportunities for the program's children.