Frequently Asked Questions

Compassion’s child development ministry is not based on material handouts. We facilitate individual child development by providing learning opportunities that a child may not encounter in another situation. Learning is central to Compassion’s mission-we provide life skills that foster each child’s success. Learning opportunities also are provided for parents, which enables them to improve their parenting skills and provide for their families. Therefore we do not allow extra money to be given every month, but there are several opportunities over the year for you to bless your sponsored child and family with a special monetary gift.

To give a child, family or project gift online click here or connect with our office directly.

You can send a family gift of $40-$1,200 CAD up to two times per year (gift limit is cumulative). The centre staff will talk with the child and family to help them to spend your gift in the wisest way.

To send a gift online through your My Compassion account click here or contact us for more information.

You can change your credit card information through your My Compassion account or by calling our office. Thank you for supporting Compassion.

It is possible to send financial gifts to your sponsored child, however, these gift funds are to be allocated to the child’s greatest need as determined by local staff and the child’s family.  Depending on the gift amount and the family needs at the time the gift is received, the gift could be allocated to further education opportunities for your child or another pressing family need.

Child and family gifts can be sent once per calendar year. To learn more, please check out the gift section of your My Compassion account or connect with our office directly.

Many of the children who Compassion supports have received no, or only very limited formal education prior to being registered in the project. Many are therefore not as advanced in their learning as a child of the same age from Canada. Many are the equivalent of at least two or three years younger in their educational development. If a child is unable to write their own letters, project staff will sit and talk with the child and ask what they would like to say in their letters. Writing letters is a new skill for many children and therefore many will be unfamiliar with how to go about it. The project staff will then write up the letters which are translated and then sent on to us to forward to you. Some projects will also use letter writing as part of their curriculum to help children develop their reading and writing skills, therefore the letters may seem a little formal. Please do be patient as your sponsored child learns to write and is then able to write to you personally. Many children will draw pictures or write their name or a few words that they can, to share with you what they are able to do. Rest assured that the letters you write to your sponsored child will be greatly valued, and will really help to remind your sponsored child that they are precious and loved.

You can send a family gift online through your My Compassion account or by contacting our office directly. You can send a family gift of $40-$1,200 CAD up to two times per year (gift limit is cumulative). Families often use gifts to buy livestock, items to repair the home, food, clothing, or bedding. Your financial gift to your sponsored child is greatly appreciated as it brings joy and help to ease the struggles of poverty.

Child sponsorship provides a holistic development program for children in Compassion’s ministry. But at times there are other factors that can have a significant impact on a child’s life. This additional $10 donation to the Urgent Needs Fund helps to address those unforeseen circumstances.

This donation does not go directly to your sponsored child, but is available to help all sponsored children and their families around the world as needed. This could include—but is not limited to—emergency medical care, disaster relief and reconstruction, income-generation training and other critical interventions. These initiatives combine with the benefits of child sponsorship to break the cycle of poverty.

You can set up a monthly donation to the Urgent Needs Fund online at any time.

Children don’t necessarily write back to you on the same day that they receive your letter. Instead, they reply on a scheduled day when all the children at the project write to their sponsors. Your sponsored child may have proudly taken your letter home to share with family & friends and may not have it handy to remind them of the questions you answered. Please remember that it can take up to two months for your letter to be translated (if needed) and delivered. Please check the date of your sponsored child’s letter so you can work out whether he or she would have received your questions before they last wrote. In some cultures children are rarely asked about what they think and do, which may explain why your child doesn’t always answer your questions, or has difficulty expressing an answer. Compassion is working on a program to ensure that questions are recorded by project staff, so they can ensure that the children answer them. You can help in this process by underlining or highlighting your questions in your letter and making them easy to understand.

In most of the countries we work in, photographs are a “big deal”. Each child wishes to look his/her best for their potential sponsor. This means in some countries that this photo is a serious occasion and not the appropriate time for a smile.

Check out this great story about picture day!

Yes, we can add your spouse’s name to your sponsorship. Please contact our office by phone or by email so that we can make this change for you.

You can send a Christmas gift to your sponsored child by making a donation to the Christmas Gift Fund.

We recommend giving $25 per child. Donations to the Christmas Gift Fund are pooled to ensure no Compassion-assisted child goes without a gift, even if they are not yet sponsored. Gifts that might be purchased for the children by the child development centre staff include clothing, shoes, small toys, household items, linen, food and livestock.

You can donate to the Christmas Gift Fund online or by calling our office .

No less than 80 percent of your monthly support benefits your child, either directly or indirectly. Compassion-assisted children and their families receive no cash. Benefits are in the form of goods and services, carefully designed, delivered and purchased according to each child’s individual needs.

As a general rule, 20 percent of these funds are invested in the development, oversight, and auditing of Compassion’s programs in which every assisted-child participates. These investments ensure that each child receives the best care possible, rather than becoming the recipient of a handout.

The remaining funds are used to meet the day-to-day needs of each child. This can include:

• nutritional meals and the provision of clean drinking water;
• medical and dental check-ups, care and education;
• educational supplies and tuition fees;
• clothing including school uniforms;
• non-formal educational and life-skills training such as participation in excursions and camps;
• extra-curricular activities such as drama, dance, music and art etc.; and
• biblical training and discipleship

Our local church partners also invest considerable resources in the development of each child, allowing Compassion and the church to help bring an eternal solution to poverty in the life of a child.

Many sponsors have requested that opportunity. For years, we have discouraged such efforts due to the potential abuses of personal information (i.e. addresses) exchanged outside of a monitored relationship between a sponsor and a child. The potential for abuse is real. But, so is the potential for healthy communication between a motivated sponsor and a young person who is launching into adulthood. We encourage you to pray about your decision and then contact our office. You will need to sign a release form, and include it with a final letter to your sponsored child.

Yes, it is possible for a group to sponsor one child. We have a few options to make donations simpler.

Depending on donation preferences and the group type, there may be different options for how this is set up. Please contact our office to walk through the sponsorship set-up for groups.

Yes. We encourage sponsors to write to their sponsored child, to include photos and cards and encourage them in their spiritual journey. Children love to receive letters and cherish them.

You can send a letter, card, paper play set or poster to your sponsored child through your My Compassion account.

See how letter writing impacts a child in Ghana.

Read how receiving letters affects in child in Nicaragua.

For each gift you order, you will receive a gift card for you to personalize for your friends and loved ones that explains how the gift you have purchased will benefit an individual or family living in poverty.

Communication within many of the countries where we work can be extremely slow. All letters to and from the children can take two to four months to arrive. They are couriered to the Compassion office in each country where they are translated. As projects are often very remote, the head office will wait until they have received a reasonable number of letters before they are delivered to a particular project. A member of staff will then hand deliver them as mail systems can be very erratic and unreliable. Many sponsored children do not have a postal address in the way that we do in Canada. Please be assured that we will do our best to make sure that your letter will arrive as soon as possible. The exchange of letters is a crucial element of sponsorship and it is an area we are constantly working to improve.

Check out this detailed description of the letter writing process in Ghana.

Follow a letter from a sponsored child in Guatemala to her sponsor.

Children are required to write to their sponsors a minimum of two letters a year. If there is something wrong with your sponsored child, we will contact you. If it has been 6 months since you have received a letter, please contact our office. We may have an undeliverable address for you and have been unable to send your sponsored child’s letters through to you.

You can reach us by phone at 1-800-563-5437 or by email at info@compassion.ca

We do not facilitate children visiting their sponsors in Canada or elsewhere because of several factors:

Cost – The cost of flights, passports, accommodations for child, guardian and translator would be extremely prohibitive.

Culture Shock – Few Compassion-assisted children have ever been more than 3 – 4 blocks away from their homes. While Compassion programs have implemented outings so children can see a little more beyond their immediate community (such as city park and zoo trips), North American culture would be too challenging for a child.

Although your child cannot visit you, you can go and visit your child in their country. You can learn more about different travel opportunities with Compassion here.

No. The Canada Revenue Agency states that we must receipt the person that gave the donation.