20 Days About Giving

And so it begins…officially. 20 days about giving.

During this time, let’s move beyond just examining our lives for the gifts and blessings we have received. Let’s also look at those moments where we thought about giving, wanted to give or felt prompted to give, but didn’t act.

woman sharing a plate of food with some children

Let’s talk about the joys and the rewards of giving along with the effort and difficulty involved. Let’s talk about how the next 20 days are going to be different than normal for each of us. And let’s raise $20,000 for children in need this Christmas.

smiling girl in red dress

Consider these questions as a way to get started, then commit to participating in one or all of the activities we have going on.

  • What does giving look, sound, taste and feel like?
  • Is love incomplete without giving?
  • What is it about giving that liberates the soul?
  • What does it mean to give biblically?
  • Why do you think it’s more important to give than to receive?
  • Is a gift less of a gift if it’s refused?

In Which You Interpret #itsaboutgiving on Pinterest

  • Between now and Dec. 22, create a Pinterest board titled “It’s About Giving” and tag us (@compassion) so we know the board exists.
  • On the board you create, repin our contest announcement and then show us what giving is. Pin anything that is relevant to your interpretation of the phrase “It’s About Giving.”
  • We will repin our favorite pins of yours and randomly select 10 winners to earn a $50 gift for their sponsored child.*

In Which You Interpret #itsaboutgiving on Instagram

  • Between now and Dec. 22, show us the joy, the reward, the sacrifice, the time, the variety, the pain, etc. of giving by tagging your photos on Instagram with #itsaboutgiving.
  • Multiple submissions are allowed, but submitting another person’s work is not.
  • The top five tagged photos, as judged by a panel of Compassion employees, will earn a $50 gift for the photographer’s sponsored child* and may be featured on compassion.com, blog.compassion.com and in our social media accounts.

In Which You Talk About #itsaboutgiving on Your Blog

  • Write blog posts based on the writing prompts sent to the Compassion Bloggers network via email on Dec. 4, Dec. 10 and Dec. 17. The assignments will also be posted on compassionbloggers.com
  • Submit your blog post URL for the respective assignments before the 11:59 p.m. MST deadline on Dec. 22 by sending an email containing the URL to [email protected].
  • Every day, between now and Dec. 22, that we receive at least $1,000 to the Compassion Christmas Gift Catalog via the Compassion Bloggers network we will randomly select one blogger from the network to earn a $50 child gift for his or her sponsored child.* Join the Compassion Bloggers network.

In Which You Share, Share, Share the Tweets, Status Updates and Images We’ll Be Publishing Each Day

Here is some content to get you started.

long line of people being served a meal
“I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.” ~ @DrMayaAngelou #itsaboutgiving
“Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you. ~Deut. 16:17 #itsaboutgiving
One in two Americans (49%) say social media affects their charitable giving. ~ @wsj | So tell others #itsaboutgiving

Let’s paint a complete picture of giving this holiday season and see what we come up with. Let’s see if what we uncover helps connect us more closely to Jesus and helps make giving a part of our everyday lives.


*If a contest winner is not a sponsor, a $50 credit to the Compassion store will be given.

Download the official #itsaboutgiving contest rules at compassion.com/rules.

12 Comments |Add a comment

  1. Steph December 5, 2012

    is the 20,000$ goal all through the gift catalog? Or does it include other ways of giving to compassion?

    1. Jacquie Parella December 6, 2012

      The goal is to raise money for the gift catalog. Thanks for asking Steph!

      1. Steph December 8, 2012

        Thanks for the reply! I was wondering if there’s any way to see the progress on this goal?

        1. Jacquie Parella December 11, 2012

          Hi Steph! Wellllllll……the progress on this goal is not going well like we had hoped. So far we’ve raised $127 for the gift catalog. (Correction $195) I’ll let you know how we progress from there. Thank you for supporting our efforts!!

          1. Stephanie December 12, 2012

            oh no! I’m sorry you so behind your goal-hopefully the word will get out, and more money will be raised!

            1. Jacquie Parella December 12, 2012

              Thanks Stephanie. We hope so too!! 🙂

  2. Kirk Turner December 5, 2012

    Clemmons, NC

    All the new technology is good but challenging to understand how to use it unless you are 25 or younger. Thank you for the great directions.

    Mike, one of my favorite verses.

  3. Mike Stephens December 4, 2012

    Jacquie thank you for the response, but I am not sure if I don’t understand your answer or you don’t understand my question 😉

    I added @compassion to the title on my “it’s about giving” board. Is that what you meant I should do? I saw a few of my photos on the compassion pinterest page so I think I’m in the contest hopefully. I’m fairly new to pinterest so I don’t understand some simple things I think, thanks !

    I Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

    1. Kirk Turner December 5, 2012

      Clemmons, NC

      Mike, one of my favorite verses.

    2. Jacquie Parella December 5, 2012

      Yes, that is how you tag a post on Pinterest.

  4. Mike Stephens December 3, 2012

    I think I’ve followed the pininterest directions to the “t” but how do I “tag compassion”? I show up on the pininterest board as having created an “It’s about giving” board. Please help! ;O)

    1. Jacquie Parella December 4, 2012

      Mike, you tag on Pinterest by adding an @ symbol to the place you’d like to pin to. So for example @compassion.

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