Critical Policies and Standards

Compassion International operates in a global context with evolving threats and opportunities. Compassion’s commitment to stewardship requires the organization to proactively manage risks to the achievement of the mission and minimize the negative impact of disruptive events. To that end, Compassion International has established an independent enterprise risk management function to assist in assessing and managing risks, and has established a business continuity planning capability to ensure organizational resiliency. We take prudent measures to ensure that risks are managed within the limits and guidelines expressed by the board of directors.

Compassion maintains a secure, confidential mechanism for reporting ethical concerns or suspected violations of law and policy, and an independent investigative capacity to ensure whistleblowers are protected.

Compassion International is entrusted with the personal and private information of supporters, participants, employees, board members, volunteers and partners. We are committed to protecting that information and complying with all applicable data protection laws. It is the policy of Compassion to protect the personal data of these groups and ensure that their rights are respected. Therefore, Compassion implements appropriate processes and security measures to preserve that privacy. Compassion International will report any data protection and privacy breaches to all appropriate parties, in accordance and as required.

It is the policy of Compassion International to conduct our fundraising with the highest standards of integrity. All funds will be used for the purposes for which they were raised or donated. Compassion International is committed to ensuring a stewardship-focused set of processes that will optimize the use of donated funds in support of our mission. Funds received without donor restriction are maintained in an undesignated fund unless directed separately through designation by the board of directors. The delivery of funds for programmatic use will be conducted in a manner that gives precedence to using the most restricted funds available, ensuring that funds are used most efficiently. Internal controls are in place to ensure ultimate use is in accordance with relevant fund definitions.

The objective of Compassion International’s cash and investment management is to ensure adequate liquidity and safety of funds while achieving an appropriate return on the organization’s cash assets by employing appropriate asset allocation strategies for our investments, based on time horizon, cash flow expectations and risk tolerance. Compassion International ensures all financial activities are transacted through regulated markets and maintains accountability regarding Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) and Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption laws. Investments are allowed in various asset categories, including cash and cash equivalents, investment grade fixed asset securities and equity securities. Compassion International’s investment portfolio is maintained under the direction of the investment committee and regular monitoring by the finance and audit committee of the board of directors.

It is the desire of Compassion International to transact business on an ethical basis with all persons and firms with which it maintains business relationships. The policy of Compassion International is that all board members and staff serve the interests of the organization in an unconflicted way. No board member, officer or employee of the organization shall benefit, either directly or indirectly, from any individual or group that conducts business with the organization. Transactions between related parties must not result in material conflicts of interest or give the appearance of resulting in such. Processes are in place for the disclosure and ongoing monitoring of any known or potential conflicts of interest, with annual reporting directly to the board of directors.

Compassion International believes that each employee’s presence and commitment to the mission flow out of a deep sense of God given calling. Therefore, we do not position compensation as a driving motivator to attract staff or generate performance. Yet we know that talent and applicable experience, in addition to calling, truly matter when it comes to organizational effectiveness and stewardship. Our experience has shown that Compassion’s complex, multinational ministry is best served by a highly skilled and experienced workforce capable of navigating high levels of complexity and challenge.

Compassion’s Compensation program is guided by the practical application of biblical principles. We believe it is good and proper to compensate people fairly for their work, including ministry work. Biblical foundations for that belief can be found in Luke 10:5-7, 1 Corinthians 9:7-10, Jeremiah 22:13, Romans 4:4-5, and Proverbs 11:1. Even the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) points us toward entrusting resources according to ability and investing wisely and aggressively, with faith, to pursue worthy objectives in God’s kingdom.

However, in accepting employment with Compassion, staff members understand that they will earn less in our ministry environment than they likely could elsewhere. That reality becomes even more notable in positions of increased breadth and depth of responsibility.

We do take into consideration what other not-for-profit organizations provide their staff. This helps prevent a shortage of expertise that is needed to implement a quality program, raise sufficient funds and build the scale of infrastructure necessary to accomplish our work. When that type of shortage occurs, the children we serve are the ones who ultimately suffer, with the organization not being as well led or effective as it could be.

Compassion’s management reviews staff compensation annually. Consideration is given to local NGO data, other local market forces, and regulatory requirements. Additionally, all salary administration and benefits practices consider the current financial resources of Compassion and its responsibility for financial stewardship.

Using recommendations from third-party compensation experts and comparable market analysis with other NGOs, the compensation committee of Compassion’s board of directors is responsible for the annual recommendation of the salary and merit of the President/CEO and for all executives subject to standards of reasonableness under the U.S. tax code. Compassion’s board of directors established a target of the 50th percentile of the relevant comparable NGO market for total compensation.

For more detailed information regarding executive compensation, please contact: [email protected].

We hold ourselves to the highest level of financial discipline and transparency through our strong control environment which is designed and operated to help ensure Compassion is positioned to meet its strategic objectives, provide accurate and transparent financial reporting, operate our ministry efficiently and effectively, comply with laws and regulations, and safeguard the resources entrusted to the ministry.

Compassion is committed to ensuring its finance and broader ministry teams have quality systems and the requisite expertise to competently serve our neighbour groups. Success in accomplishing these goals is validated through Compassion’s risk management and internal audit team as well as Compassion’s consistent record of receiving unqualified annual audit opinions from a multinational independent accounting firm.