A few weeks ago, I spoke with Larry from Georgia. Larry was so passionate about his sponsored child and our ministry. He explained how he was led to sponsor his child out of a desire to fight injustice and poverty — especially for the most vulnerable — children.

During our conversation, he asked if he could donate extra money to cover the processing fee we incur when we charge his credit card — a question I was surprised by.

Regrettably, we’re unable to accept that kind of contribution. However, there is a way that the spirit of the question can still be met, a way that helps us send more funds to our children and church partners.

Make your contributions and monthly sponsorship payments via a direct payment plan.

When you set up a regularly occurring and automatic direct payment plan (e.g., Automated Clearing House (ACH), bill pay or credit/debit card), you save us at least $1 on each transaction. It’s a significant amount when you consider that many of the children’s families we serve survive on less than $1 a day.

The most efficient payment method for us to handle is ACH. Our processing and labor costs are typically less than 10 cents, compared to credit card and bill pay (over $1) and check (over $2).

Bill pay is when you tell the bank to send us money. The bank does the work, and they charge you and us for it. ACH is when you tell us to get the money from your bank.

Also, when you sign up for a direct payment plan, we not only save on labor costs, but also on mailing costs. We won’t send monthly confirmation statements for your payments — just one statement each year for tax purposes.

After I explained this to Larry, he asked us to automatically debit his checking account each month (i.e., ACH). As he stated, every little bit helps.

If you would like to set up a direct payment plan for your sponsored child’s monthly support, please log in to your account on compassion.com and click “Direct Payment Plan.” You can also call us here in the contact center at (800) 336-7676. We’d be happy to help!

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

You’ve heard it mentioned before. In fact, if you’ve been with Compassion long enough, you’ve heard it eight other times already. We have once again received Charity Navigator’s highest rating – four stars – for responsible financial management.

It would be easy to hear this news and say, “Yeah, yeah, they did it again. They and umpteen other charities, right?”

Well, not exactly.

According to the largest independent evaluator of charities in the nation, receiving the four-star rating nine times is “exceptional.” Only 1 percent of charities has received Charity Navigator’s highest rating as many times as we have.

“We take stewardship very seriously – for the sake of the children we serve and the donors who entrust their giving to us. We are deeply honored to again receive this significant recognition.” – Compassion President Dr. Wess Stafford.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

When it comes to achievement, repeats are impressive. Three-peats are utterly amazing. Any ideas on what we call an eight-peat?

In the world of charities, this translates to “exceptional.” For eight consecutive years, we have been awarded Charity Navigator’s highest rating – four stars – for responsible financial management.

But who is Charity Navigator?

Evaluating more than 5,400 charities each year, Charity Navigator is the largest independent evaluator of charities in the nation. Ken Berger, president and CEO of Charity Navigator, describes our achievement:

“Only 1 percent of the charities we rate have received at least eight consecutive four-star evaluations, indicating that Compassion International consistently executes its mission in a fiscally responsible way and outperforms most other charities in America. This ‘exceptional’ designation from Charity Navigator differentiates Compassion International from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust.”

This coveted designation is particularly important today as charitable giving is down across the nation. In these tough economic times, everyone is looking for ways to stretch the dollar, and that includes charitable dollars.

For Compassion, though, fiscal responsibility is only part of the charitable equation.

As you know, we work tirelessly to bring hope to one needy child, where once only hopelessness existed. We do this more than 1 million times each day, but in unique and personal ways.

This is our calling and our passion: to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name. We do this while staying committed to our cornerstone practice of financial stewardship.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

What is excellence? Excellence is answering God’s call to the best of our abilities with the gifts and resources He has given us. It is carrying out God’s work with an attitude of enjoyment.

Excellence is exceeding the expectations of the world and striving to meet God’s standards. Excellence honors God.

To be excellent one must be grounded in Christ, as He is the source of all strength.

At Compassion, we desire to imitate God in all we do, and as a result we commit to excellence so that we may carry out our mission in a way that honors Him.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” – Colossians 3:23 (NIV)

Listen to Dawn Williams, Vice President of Finance, talk about the importance of striving for excellence.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Charity Navigator announced it September 1.

We wrote a press release about it on September 25.

And I JUST got the point . . . because I got a little perspective.

Compassion received its seventh consecutive four-star rating from Charity Navigator.

I had heard that, and I knew we were one of only 45 charities to have done that. But what I found interesting is:

• 387 charities have received two consecutive 4-star ratings
• 199 did the triple
• 168 are rollin’ on four
• 59 pulled down five
• and 67 earned six in a row

That’s cool y’all. But repeatin’ the feat seven times is severely suh-WEET!

Check out what kind of company we keep.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates