Compassion International is an American
child sponsorship Child sponsorship is a type of fundraising in which a charitable organization associates a donor sponsor with a particular child beneficiary. The sponsor receives updates from the child, typically including photos and translated letters, which help ...
and
Christian humanitarian aid Christian humanitarian aid is work performed by Christian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to alleviate the suffering of people around the world. Charity is a concept of great importance in Christianity. Humanitarian aid occurs in areas where ...
organization headquartered in
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
, that aims to positively influence the long-term development of children globally who live in
poverty
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...
.
As of 2019, the organization coordinated donations from at least ten participating countries, operated childhood programs in 25 impoverished nations (including Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Haiti, and Kenya), and involved more than two million participants, from infants through young adults, in its programs.
Preliminary independent, secular research in the ''
Journal of Political Economy
The ''Journal of Political Economy'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press. Established by James Laurence Laughlin in 1892, it covers both theoretical and empirical economics. In the past, the ...
'' studied the organization, concluding that it had large and statistically significant impacts on participants' years of school completion, the probability of later employment, and the quality of that employment, in part as a consequence of improved self-esteem and expectations in participating children.
History
The Everett Swanson Evangelistic Association was founded in 1952 by the Rev. Everett Swanson to help children orphaned by
war in South Korea. Swanson had traveled there to preach the
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
to the US Army troops, but during his visit he was deeply moved by the plight of the scores of abandoned children he saw. In 1953, he began to raise funds, and the next year he developed sponsorship programs to help support orphans for a few dollars a month. The name of the association changed to Compassion, Inc., in 1963, inspired by
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
' words "I have compassion on the multitude. I will not send them away hungry" (
Matthew 15.32).
Leadership
As of November 2019, the board chair of the organization was Judy Golz, and the president and CEO was
Santiago Mellado.
Programs
Compassion helps those in impoverished areas, using a
holistic approach
Holism () is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of parts. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book '' Holism and Evolution''."holism, n." OED O ...
to child development. This approach goes well beyond simply providing food and medical aid, involving education and training to prepare the individuals for contributing back to their communities.
The organization also helps in emergency situations and in the funding of health centers.
Child sponsorship
Children in the child sponsorship program are provided food and clean water, medical care, education,
life-skills training, and spiritual guidance through a direct sponsorship. Sponsored children are selected by the sponsors from lists provided by the ministry, and two-way communication is encouraged between the sponsored child and the sponsor. the cost to sponsor a child through Compassion was US$38 per month, and globally there were over two million babies, children, and young adults in its programs.
Sponsors are able to visit their sponsored children through trips planned by Compassion International. Compassion's goal is to provide a trip to each country every other year. Compassion coordinates every aspect of the trip, including travel, meals, tips and gratuities, fees related to the travel, and sightseeing fares.
Locations
Today, Compassion International supports more than 2 million children
through 12 international partner countries who provide the funds, resources, and program development assistance that enable Compassion's programs to be implemented around the world.
Compassion Australia
Compassion Australia is a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
holistic child development and
child advocacy Child advocacy refers to a range of individuals, professionals and advocacy organizations who speak out on the best interests of children. An individual or organization engaging in advocacy typically seeks to protect children's rights which may be a ...
organisation that works in partnership with local
churches to foster the spiritual, economic, social, physical, and emotional development of children living in extreme poverty in over 25 countries. Compassion Australia is based in
Warabrook, NSW, and has regional offices in Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney, and Melbourne. The organisation now has over 150 committed team members and many more volunteers who offer their time, energy, and skills towards the organisational vision of seeing the transformation of lives, communities, and nations through "releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name". Compassion Australia is a global partner of Compassion International, whose headquarters are located in
Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
, United States.
Shutdown in India
Compassion operated in India for 48 years, with $45 million in transfers annually, making it India's largest single foreign donor.
Compassion provided services under its Child Sponsor Program to 145,000 Indian children.
In 2015, Compassion affiliates' offices were raided by tax investigators seeking evidence on whether it was funding
religious conversions.
Compassion said that attempts were made to force the ministry to divert funding to non-Christian
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...
groups.
Compassion refused to do so as it would be a misuse of funds entrusted to them by donors all around the world. After talks back and forth, in 2017 the
BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
-led Indian government barred Compassion from transferring funds into India, forcing the group to close its operations in that country.
The Ministry of External Affairs later stated that the ban had nothing to do with the ideology of Compassion International.
Evaluations
Compassion International is a charter member of the
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability
The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) is an American financial standards association representing Evangelical Christian organizations and churches, which qualify for tax-exempt, nonprofit status and receive tax-deductible c ...
in the US, holds a grade of "A" from
CharityWatch
CharityWatch, formerly known as the American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP), is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Chicago, created in the United States by Daniel Borochoff in 1992, to provide information about charities' financial efficiency ...
, and has met the "20 Standards for Charity Accountability" from the
Better Business Bureau
Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a private, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization founded in 1912. BBB's self-described mission is to focus on advancing marketplace trust, consisting of 97 independently incorporated local BBB organizations in the Unit ...
's
Wise Giving Alliance
The BBB Wise Giving Alliance (WGA) is an American charity monitoring organization. Under previous names, it has been reporting on nationally-soliciting charities since the 1920s. BBB's Give.org evaluates charities, at no charge, using the 20 BBB St ...
.
In 2013, a primary research report in the ''
Journal of Political Economy
The ''Journal of Political Economy'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press. Established by James Laurence Laughlin in 1892, it covers both theoretical and empirical economics. In the past, the ...
'' provided evidence in support of the conclusion that child sponsorship via Compassion International resulted in significant positive outcomes for the children in the study set.
The research, by Bruce Wydick, Paul Glewwe, and Laine Rutledge, evaluated Compassion efforts in six countries, with 10,144 children studied, reporting "large, statistically significant impacts on years of schooling; primary, secondary, and tertiary school completion; and the probability and quality of employment." They went on to note that the evidence, while early, "suggest
dthat these impacts are due, in part, to increases in children’s aspirations."
Through 2015, Compassion International had received
Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator is a charity assessment organization that evaluates hundreds of thousands of charitable organizations based in the United States, operating as a free 501(c)(3) organization. It provides insights into a nonprofit’s financial s ...
's highest rating for 15 consecutive years, thereby receiving special recognition on their "10 Charities with the Most Consecutive 4-Star Ratings" list. However, Charity Navigator changed its rating system in 2016, and Compassion International's 2016 overall rating dropped to three stars out of four, for its accountability and transparency.
In 2016, Compassion was ranked the 15th-largest charity organization in the US by ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' magazine, with $799 million in private donations received.
[William P. Barrett]
The Largest U.S. Charities For 2016
forbes.com, USA, December 14, 2016
References
External links
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