Tag: frequently asked questions

Why Do Child Development Centers Close?

We partner with more than 5,000 churches worldwide to implement our sponsorship program. And last year, 95 centers closed, about 1.7 percent of the centers open at the time. The number of child development centers that close each year varies. They close for a variety of reasons, and each case is different.

How Does Our Partnership With Local Churches Really Work?

We depend on the church in your sponsored child’s community to carry out our programs. With your help, we provide the church with finances, guidance and accountability in order to make their program a success.

Can My Sponsored Child’s Siblings Be Sponsored, Too?

Our goal is to assist as many children and families as possible. In order to do this, we allow three children per family to be enrolled in our program.

However, the child development center staff is able to change that allowance to one or two children — based on the community’s needs. Particularly in Africa, one child registered per family tends to be the limit.

How Do We Preserve the Integrity of Our Programs?

With programs in 25 countries, many people wonder how we maintain the excellence and good stewardship of our operations around the world. In addition to annual external audits, we ensure the highest integrity in our programs through internal auditing.

Internal auditing, both in the development centers and country offices, is designed to determine how well our operations are running and to identify weaknesses that are causing goals and objectives to go unmet.

Is Compassion a Trustworthy Organization? Are You Being Duped?

Accountability. This word has so much meaning. In this fast paced and cynical world, many people have lost trust in nonprofits. It’s actually very sad, but I understand why.

How many times have you heard about the misuse of funds hindering an organization’s effectiveness, or greed compromising decision-making and values? Regrettably, I think we all have heard it too many times.

How Long Does My Child Sponsorship Last?

Although age is a determining factor in a child’s completion, we do not finalize a completion just for that reason. Our completion guidelines include consideration of our goals for each individual child and the goals each child has personally set.

Does a Child Have to Be a Christian to Enroll in Our Sponsorship Program?

Children are welcomed into our programs regardless of their faith. Although, we are unapologetically Christian and every child development center is connected to a Christian church or ministry.

That’s one of the things that makes us distinct. We’re church based.

While we provide the children and their families the opportunity to see living faith in action, hear the Gospel and be discipled in the ways of Christ, neither they nor their families are under any compulsion to become Christians.

What Should I Do if My Sponsored Child Contacts Me Via Facebook?

If you are contacted by your sponsored child outside of Compassion’s portals (e.g., by phone, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), please don’t respond, even to say “I’m sorry but I can’t talk with you in this manner.” And please let us know about the contact.

What Is It Like to Meet Your Sponsored Child for the First Time?

How would you describe meeting your sponsored child for the first time? Can you sum it up with one word?

If you can, please do. If you can’t, please use all the words you need.

How Do We Introduce Children in Poverty to a Christian Education?

Many children enrolled at the child development center got their first contact with the Word of God at the center. They had never heard about God, Christ or stories such as the Garden of Eden, Noah’s Ark or Joseph in Egypt.

Transformation is the best word to define what happens with the children during the class. Parents recognize the difference in the way their children behave.