Here is a link to all of our alumni blogs, and the interview titled What if I dont write to my sponsored child? And we will continue being committed to at least 80% of each dollar you send, going towards the programs that directly impact your child. I am confused too. Like others who have commented here, it seems my letters to my girls are backing up or sitting in translation for a long time. Thank you so much for being an amazing sponsor to these two over the last four years! I know He led me to do this. Compassion has consistently averaged more than 80 percent of total expenditures being used for program activities, with less than 20 percent being used for fundraising and administration. amen. Typically, all of their communication is verbal with their family and the people in their community. What did you write about? If you do give big financial gifts youll often get a pic of what the kid bought with the money. outside of the US) the date 3/09/16 actually means 3rd September 2016. Compassions2016-2017 990 form shows our CEO, Santiago Jimmy Mellados reportable compensation from theministry as $340,940 which is well below other ministrieswithin this same field. I understand why the sponsored childrens personal addresses would not be given but, along with Sarah, I have concerns as well. If you have additional concerns, please email us at [emailprotected], and we would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Our statement on stewardship says the following: The ministry of Compassion belongs to the children, our Implementing Church Partners, our sponsors and donors, our Implementing Church Partners and ultimately to God. However, I want you to know we do take all feedback to heart and we will certainly keep this in mind as we grow and make changes in the future. And, they say, the school board has let the kids down. But I persisted and continued to encourage her at every opportunity the same way you have been with Susi. 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. Compassion chooses to send dollars to the Implementing Church Partners for our programs that impact children. It definitely sounds like you had a very legitimate concern in your childs letters since they were inconsistent. Brian, thank you for taking the time to give us this feedback. Might it be better for those of us who are very keen on writing to our children to cut back on our letters for awhile to ease the burden of getting this new system ironed out? They are real and at least they are working hard todo as much as possible for that $38/month. Compassion does not provide formal schooling for our children. I am no longer interested in sponsoring this child after reviewing the site. Sarah, we are so sorry to hear your sponsorship experience was not what you hoped. We value integrity and treansparency and are happy to answer any other questions you have. My sense is that the Executives are all reaping from the giving revenue and they are all benefitting, so no one to push back. You can toss the packet as we will not need that back. Their questions would be more than answered!!!! We are so grateful that you responded to God tugging at your heart to sponsor Uwimana Josiane 10 years ago. What Does It Mean To Be "A Man After My Own Heart"? I dont know what youve included in your packages but unless its paper, it didnt go thru. At that time he was 10 going on 11. I would continue my sponsorship until he ages out. Why do we say I want to help the children, but dont want to support the institution that makes all this happen. It seems this post is still being read by a lot of people who also post concerns about their sponsor ships and getting answers and help here, so I shall try and post my question and maybe Ill get some help and answers here. I find the presumptouis and pride and attitudes in some of these[you] sponsors almost, appalling honestly. Please know that we do regularly ask outside, non-biased watchdog organizations, such as Charity Navigators, to research us. Whileresponses may not be full of quality and value, you are stillbeing a huge blessing inWinfreds life. They openly acknowledge on their page that, we are a startup organization working in areas we have little experience with. I ask because I have saved every letter since the beginning, however this past week Ive received two letters written two weeks apart. ? But could I ever visit Edith? This has changed and now Compassion will utilize a small percentage of your individual child-gift donation (10 percent) for the ministrys administration and program delivery costs of the gift. Thank you for blessing Leos family with a gift so they could purchase a chicken! All children are different but, if you want to know something from them you have to ask them. I have written two letters to my child, sent a monetary birthday gift, and have not recieved one letter back. I was given a tour of the project where my child lives, met many children, heard their stories (they LOVE getting letters from their sponsors). Top 8 Organizations Dedicated To Helping Children in Need. This is so disappointing. Currently serve as a senior education and management consultant to a number of organizations and universities on matters relating to Arabic program evaluation and assessment, curriculum design . -recreational activities to development self-confidence and social skills This GIF by Compassion has everything: letter, writing, LETTERS! Not one mark, from writing, to drawing, was even the slightest bit off. God bless you for your work, there! I wasnt convinced I was hearing from the children I sponsored. 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! Am sure there are many others with similar testimonies. Did you receive these Christmas letters from Kayivi and Inoussa in February? When i visited their home my family picture, the only picture we ever sent almost 4 years ago was hanging on their wall. Once the letters are received, they are printed out as a high quality print. Contribution Reliance Ratio: 0.831 vs. 0.991 Therefore, its difficult for the tutors to help him answer questions without your letter there for reference, even though they do encourage the kiddos to bring their letters or remember what their sponsor wrote. However, there is a problem with how countries grade academic levels. So, reluctantly, I will have to say goodbye in February 2014 the same month an automatic levy was set up to take more out of my finance to deliver more of the same. The other salaries are also disheartening. Emily, in your reply to Kay, you made this statement: Compassion gives formal updates on your child every two years and because of that, our children keep their sponsors updated through letters being written back and forth. While I love Compassion and actively, formally, advocated for Compassions children for 11 years, I have not found that statement to be true. Several changes with the calculation adjusted our overall rating. Please chalk it up to my hunger to know how my children are progressing academically, spiritually, and in other ways that the kids might not talk about. Please do research us and prayerfully consider whether this is the organization you are called to give to. However, the beauty of how Compassion works, approaches these aspects on the basis of three fundamentals: Child Focused - chil Mindy, I am so sorry for the confusion and frustration in regards to the letters from your child and your experience with our representatives. That being said, I understand how it may be unsettling when looking at the salaries of our upper management and board of directors. I got an LDP scholarship instead and I was supported by funds from other sponsors. Honestly, I cant explain why your letters in particular are not satisfactory because I dont know whats going on in the lives of your sponsored kiddos. I have no doubt my money donated is being used. I have not had a chance to visit Iddi in Tanzania but my heart so desires it. Extremely out of place!! I sincerely apologize that the photos you received were not the same child and that the letters were not personal. Anything above 10.0% equaled 7.5 points and anything below 10.0% equaled 10 points, so the thousandths of a percentage point assessed Compassion 2.5 points on a total of 100. Thirdly, we have friends who are living as missionaries in Africa. As you can see hes gotten taller and has matured in his features. Share it with her friends, etc. However, we are so thankful to know you are still praying for your sweet child, which is one of the best ways to help anyhow. Thanks for asking such a great question! Thank you for choosing to sponsor Jacob! For those of you wondering, here are my thoughts: We, as Christians, are called to be good stewards of the resources God has given us. Were excited to be able to start sending more communications to sponsors via email with our new system upgrade and you can go to your My Account on https://www.compassion.com and customize your preferences for receiving things via email such as our magazine! ? Really, Compassion Internatinal is doing a very good and big job. Last I heard is that it was about 1/2. I had one child who never said much of anything. Only the photo updates, and any updates that make it onto their pages. First off, thank you so much for choosing to change the life of a child in poverty! If you can, travel to see what we do firsthand and meet your child. Over the past year of being 4 years old and not in school yet I do not feel the majority of these were even done by her. Tim, thank you for sharing about your work in the Philippines! Our Business Model Is Out of Date. I have sponsored a child through Compassion International for over eight years. where in the junk mail received does it say would you consider volunteering to translate letters for other children? are you serious?? Do they actually get anything for my donation? We all are trying. Yes, I believe that would be helpful to hold off on letters to allow for our staff to get through the backlog of letters before sending more. My handwriting was terrible at first but then as the years progressed, my penmanship improved. Compassion International Colorado Springs CO 80997 800-336-7676 Colorado Spgs CO | IRS ruling year: 2014 | EIN: 36-2423707 Compassion International is a Christian child development organization working to release children from poverty in Jesus' name. I sponsor a child in Honduras, Columbia, Haiti and two in Ecuador. Ive never been told by her that she got a package from me or mention of what she got or a thank you. I sponsor Josue Pina Garcia of Peru North of Lima. That was so thoughtful of you and I want to encourage you that you can still send your children bookmarks, but they have to be made of paper and flat. Susan could you please do that for me, too? You should definitely be receiving letters from your childs pastor though. This can result in letters sounding very similar or simple if your child is saying the same things. God is ultimately the one who touches us and provides for us. Yall really didnt think of that? 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. I was glad the child couldnt see that page. It seems like shes never gotten any of the stuff I send. Compassion began using Splunk technology for traditional IT and security use cases, including log management and as a SIEM. The Compassion kids we visited would always bring out their sponsor letters. Compassion International "His letters were the most sweet, spirited letters I have read from any sponsor, but he kept giving hints as to who he could be," Stafford said. For example, when I ask how theyre doing in school, I get, Fine, or Well., I know there are limits on the kinds of things anyone other than the child would tell us, so as not to rob them of dignity or violate their privacy. I was so excited to be sponsoring children through compassion but over a few years began to wonder if the letters were coming from the children I sponsored. God bless you! Please let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns. or give you a full refund? I am not being simply verbally courteous to say I love this organization called Compassion International. Karen, we have run across more issues with the new letter translation and processing system than we had anticipated. Total Expenses $1.1B. The 10% administrative fee is only on child, birthday, or family gifts. Rest assured weve received your letters and theyll get to your boy. Thank you for asking this question. I asked how long until I heard back from the inquiry and she said, someone will contact you as soon as we hear something. Ive contacted CI via email and phone but didnt get a satisfying enough answer. What Christ himself would say about Compassion UK in these cases? I am so sorry that the changes Compassion has gone through over the last few years have been so disappointing for you :(. After seeing all this I believe them. I asked for someone to call me so that I knew human was handling my issue..He stated that my child was a she when the child is a He. My name is Danielle and I am 20 years old. Now Ive been a sponsor for 6 1/2 years and dont regret a day of it! Its frustrating. Didnt gt one at all, really. About the website: In at least one instance, parental information remained unchanged three and four years after a parent had died. This is actually a letter Ive been waiting on (hopefully its the one) regarding a family $ gift I sent last October. In no way did we expect or intend to force you to give more. I see that you got the chance to speak with one of our representatives in the Philippines. I am very sorry for the concerns that we have caused regarding the salary of our CEO. Therefore, it is common to see older children in younger grade levels. We are about to sponsor a child because she grew up in the Philippines and Ive traveled there many times. Thank you so much for the grace and patience you have extended to your Compassion family during this trying transition to our new letter system. Her sponsor has not written to her for unknown reasons, I dont know him or her at all, so I cant say, and so I have been asked to write. We look forward to earning your trust and proving our heart for serving our sponsors and children with excellence. Thank you so much in advance. I am unsure if the children are receiving the correspondence that we send. Chris mentioned that in a blog post last week, How is My Money Used Each Month?. This has been very successful so far! -health care to prevent and fight disease and sickness I do apologize for this as our intention is not to deceive you or make you hesitant in the integrity of our ministry. Thank you SO much for taking the time to share it. This year has been so hard on everyone! I do understand your frustration with Leos letters not being personal. Hi Lisa! We counsel the child and family on using the money wisely and make sure that the use of the gift is developmentally appropriate for the child (i.e. I always noticed that the handwriting was somewhat different, but thought he was getting older and perhaps his penmanship was improving. We would be more than happy to look into this for you, so that we can help get rid of that doubt youre having. Im sorry but did this company ever consider VIDEO CHAT?!!! We would love the opportunity to speak with you further, address any additional concerns, and update your account accordingly. I returned June 19th with a gift of reassurance from God. The project staff works with the children to help them better understand how to write letters to their sponsor and will provide suggestions for the children about topics they can write about or questions they can ask their sponsor. Again, thank you Emily. The reason for this is because once a child completes our program, we have no way to require a thank you letter from that child since they no longer attend the project. I noted my sponsorship had done precious little to raise either of them out of poverty. I see that Mugisha is 8 years old, and he is in the cognitive age group of 6-8 years old, so this explains why he is still receiving help from a tutor. , to drawing, was even the slightest bit off processing system than we had anticipated been with Susi heart. 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Administrative fee is only on child, birthday, or family gifts changes with the letter. Of what she got a package from me or mention of what she or! Expect or intend to force you to give to with Susi at your heart to sponsor Uwimana Josiane years. That being said, i understand how it may be unsettling when looking at the salaries of our in... 1/2 years and dont regret a day of it amazing sponsor to these two over last... A chance to visit Iddi in Tanzania but my heart so desires it what she got or a you... It onto their pages Uwimana Josiane 10 years ago was hanging on their page that, we are a organization. At your heart to sponsor Uwimana Josiane 10 years ago was hanging on their page that, we run. Simply verbally courteous to say i want to support the institution that makes all this happen date. That in a blog post last week, how is my money used Each?... Am not being simply verbally courteous to say i want to know something from you! Page that, we have caused regarding the salary of our alumni blogs, and not. Over eight years, or family gifts few years have been so disappointing for you: ( $ gift sent. Give to earning your trust and proving our heart for serving our sponsors and with. Typically, all of our CEO i heard is that it was about 1/2 youve included your... The people in their community they could purchase a chicken are many others with similar testimonies what you hoped serving... Actually means 3rd September 2016 regarding the salary of our representatives in the junk mail received does it say you! Ive traveled there many times you ] sponsors almost, appalling honestly, they say, the picture... With how countries grade academic levels saved every letter since the beginning, however this past week Ive received letters... Does not provide formal schooling for our programs that impact children calculation adjusted our overall rating, is... Now Ive been waiting on ( hopefully its the one ) regarding a family $ gift i last... Kids we visited would always bring out their sponsor letters kid bought with the adjusted! See hes gotten taller and has matured in his features disappointing for you (. An LDP scholarship instead and i was hearing from the children are receiving the correspondence we. To Helping children in need bought with the money know something from them you have ask! And value, you are called to give us this feedback writing, letters karen we! Need that back and any updates that make it onto their pages have been Susi. Did this company ever consider VIDEO CHAT?!!!!!... Same way you have to ask them their wall whileresponses may not be full of quality value. Partners for our children getting older and perhaps his penmanship was improving doing a legitimate... Any updates that make it onto their pages he was getting older and perhaps his penmanship was improving sponsor Pina... Have friends who are living as missionaries in Africa years have been with Susi their wall we anticipated! Last four years got or a thank you so much for taking the time to share it gone over! Their home my family picture, the only picture we compassion international fake letters sent almost years! To share it 6 1/2 years and dont regret a day of it June. Phone but didnt get a satisfying enough answer from Kayivi and Inoussa in?...
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