The wrapping paper gets thrown away. The Christmas treats disappear. Before long, another holiday season becomes a cherished memory. But the best gifts far outlast the Christmas season.
At Compassion, every gift empowers children — mind, body and soul — to grow into the future God has for them. Whether your gift is a simple prayer, a nutritious meal, a Bible or even disaster relief, every act of generosity blesses lives for years to come.
Your gift will share the eternal hope of the gospel and help release children from poverty in Jesus’ name.
While some Christmas gifts bring joy for a moment, others create a lifetime of transformation. If you’re looking for ways to give back this holiday season, explore these meaningful opportunities. Plus, discover creative ways to turn your generous Christmas donations into thoughtful gifts for your loved ones.
14 Ways to Give and Make a Lasting Impact
A Bible can introduce a child to Jesus. A meal can nourish a child’s growing body. A cow can break the chains of poverty over a child’s household. A simple gift can change a life. That’s the power of equipping local churches to care for children living in poverty. Let’s dive into some of the simple yet powerful ways to give through Compassion.
1. Bring Hope to Children: Give Time in Prayer
Prayer is one of the most meaningful gifts you can give, and all it costs is time. By praying for children, families, churches and communities, you join in God’s work around the world from right where you are.
“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.” — Jeremiah 29:12, NIV
God is faithful. As you pray, you can trust that he’s moving in the lives of children, providing encouragement, protection and hope according to his perfect love and care for them. Not sure how to pray? Join Compassion as we pray for children living in poverty by becoming a prayer partner. Each month, you’ll get a new prayer calendar complete with simple prayer prompts for every single day.
2. Bless a Child on Christmas: Give a Christmas Gift
Every child deserves to know they’re seen, loved and celebrated. Your donation to Compassion’s Christmas Gift Fund ensures every child in our program receives a Christmas gift. This gives them an opportunity to experience the joy of the season — and helps them learn about the greatest gift, Jesus.
Your gift is used to purchase meaningful items for children based on their needs and wishes. These gifts may include toys, school supplies, clothing or even a Bible of their very own. No matter what the package holds, you can be sure that it will be a tangible reminder of God’s love for them.
3. Share the Gospel: Give a Bible
At Christmas, we celebrate the greatest gift ever given: Jesus. And a Bible allows a child to discover his great love for them, again and again. For children in poverty, a Bible is a luxury many can’t afford. But you can change that.
When you give a Bible, you’re giving more than pages and a cover — you’re placing hope in a child’s hands, helping them encounter God’s promises, find comfort in hard circumstances and grow in their faith for years to come. As they do, they’ll discover just how known and treasured they are by God, changing their lives forever.
See how Bibles are changing the lives of children in Togo.
4. Invest in a Child’s Future: Give Quality Education
Education is powerful. With skills, confidence and opportunities to pursue careers, children can grow into thriving adults equipped to break the cycle of poverty within their families. Children living in poverty often struggle to get an education. Some can’t afford school supplies while others may be forced to miss school as they work to help their families provide.
By giving to our Education Fund, you can help provide tuition support, school supplies like textbooks and even specialized education like vocational training to help children reach for their dreams.
5. Deliver Safe Water: Give a Water Well
Did you know that millions of children around the world go without access to safe water? And sadly, without it, they risk disease, malnutrition and even death. But when you give a water well, you can help keep them safe and healthy, ensuring they grow as God intended.
Your gift helps us construct boreholes and install water storage units to keep safe water flowing all year long for children, families and communities.
Explore water facts from around the world and learn how Compassion works to fight water insecurity in the countries we serve.
6. Prevent Malnutrition: Give Nutritious Meals
Many children in poverty may only eat once a day. Some in the most devastating of circumstances may have to skip meals for days at a time. The hunger and malnutrition that follow damages both their minds and bodies, making it hard to concentrate in school and reach their full potential.
You can help us fight child malnutrition by donating meals and vitamin supplements to a child suffering from malnutrition. Or you can give emergency food packs to those facing crisis. You can also help us provide nutritious meals alongside critical medical care by donating to our Health and Nutrition Fund.
Learn how food insecurity is impacting families around the world and Compassion’s response.
7. Help a Baby Thrive: Give Critical Care
The first year of a child’s life is the most vulnerable time. Babies need nutrition, medical care and other essentials to thrive. These resources can be difficult to come by for moms and caregivers living in poverty.
You can help a baby grow as God intended by donating food to a baby and mother or even giving medical care. You can also donate a newborn care package, full of supplies like blankets, soap, towels and diapers, reminding a mama that she’s not alone.
Want to care for a mom and baby throughout their first year together? Consider becoming a Compassion Nurturer to nurture two lives at once.
8. Build Sustainable Income: Give a Cow
Something as simple as a cow can change a family’s life. Cows not only provide nutritious milk but can also help a family earn a sustainable income. By selling milk and future calves, caregivers can provide for their children and move toward financial stability.
By donating a cow, you’ll not only provide the resource but also the training a family needs to steward it well. You can also donate goats or even chickens, creating opportunities, strengthening livelihoods and helping families move toward lasting self-sufficiency.
9. Protect a Child’s Health: Give a Mosquito Net
One mosquito bite can lead to serious illness, threatening a child’s life. And for families in poverty, medication and treatment often come at a cost they can’t afford. In areas where mosquito-borne diseases are common, mosquito nets, although simple, are lifelines.
By giving a mosquito net, you provide essential protection to a child, helping them stay healthy, go to school and enjoy a childhood free from preventable disease.
10. Share Safety & Joy: Give a Playground
Every child deserves a safe place to play, learn and build friendships. But in places of extreme poverty, opportunities for safe, child-friendly play can be limited. Desperation leads to dangers like gang violence and even trafficking.
By donating to build a playground, you’re not just giving swings and slides. You’re providing a safe environment where children can laugh, grow in confidence and develop important social skills.
11. Help a Family Heal: Give Disaster Relief
When disasters strike, children are often hit the hardest. From typhoons to earthquakes to armed conflict, crises can leave families without access to critical food, clean water, shelter and other essentials. Even families who weren’t living in poverty before may find themselves impoverished overnight.
When you give to Compassion’s Disaster Relief Fund, you equip our local church partners to respond quickly with emergency assistance and long-term support for disaster recovery. You’ll help deliver emergency food, water, trauma counseling and more, helping families heal.
Explore how Compassion cares for families who are internally displaced due to disaster and conflict.
12. Safeguard a Child at Risk: Give Rescue
Every child deserves to grow up safe. Yet many children around the world face threats of abuse, exploitation, trafficking and other dangerous situations. At Compassion, child protection is our highest priority, which is why we work to safeguard children and provide rescue when necessary.
When a child’s safety is at risk, every moment matters. You can help us intervene and provide immediate aid by
equipping a local church to rescue a child from danger. Your gift helps us protect, defend and restore a child in need. You’ll help provide medical treatment, shelter, legal fees and other essentials needed during a crisis.
13. Restore a Child’s Dignity: Give a Hygiene Kit
Soap. Toothpaste. A toothbrush. For many of us, these are everyday essentials we rarely think about. But for a child in poverty, access to basic hygiene items can make a world of difference.
Hygiene kits restore children’s confidence and help them stay healthy. This can mean fewer illnesses, greater self-esteem and the simple dignity of having what they need to care for themselves. By donating hygiene kits, you’re reminding children that they matter and that someone cares about their well-being.
14. Raise Up a Thriving Disciple: Sponsor a Child
A Bible can introduce a child to Jesus. Education can open doors to a brighter future. Medical care and nutritious meals can ensure a child is healthy. Child sponsorship brings all of these together and more through consistent care as a child grows.
By sponsoring a child, you equip a local church to meet a child’s needs — mind, body and soul — throughout their most critical years of development. This faithful investment empowers a child to become a thriving disciple of Jesus, ready to change not only their future but the futures of those around them.
Discover many more ways you can give to change the lives of children in poverty.
Christmas Donations: Meaningful Gifts for Your Loved Ones
There’s something special about watching someone you love open a gift you poured your heart into. But what if that gift could do even more? What if, while bringing joy to someone close to your heart, it could also bring hope to a child living in poverty?
This Christmas, you can celebrate the people you love while making a lasting difference in the life of a child on the other side of the world. Here are a few ways to give that will spread joy far beyond what you could imagine.
Give in Someone’s Honor
Giving in someone’s honor is a meaningful way to celebrate the people you love while helping a child in need. Whether given in honor of your parent, grandparent, spouse, teacher or friend, your gift creates a lasting impact in honor of someone who has touched your life.
When you give a gift from Compassion’s Gift Catalog, you’ll have the opportunity to select an honor card to be delivered to your loved one. It’s a simple way to say, “Your life has made a difference, so together we’re making a difference for someone else.”
Plus, it’s super simple to do: Pick a gift. Check out. Click “Select your Honor Cards.” Create your card and choose how to send it. That’s it! You can learn more about honor cards here.
Share a Recipe From Around the World
Nothing brings people together like food. And gifts you can eat are sure to be enjoyed. This Christmas, choose a recipe inspired by a country close to your heart to share with those you love.
To complete your gift, you could include a handwritten recipe card, a few specialty ingredients and a note about the country. Pair it with a Compassion gift, such as fruit trees, to create a meaningful connection between the meal you’re sharing and the lives blessed.
Create a Special Gift Box
A thoughtfully put-together gift box can serve as a beautiful reminder that generosity has the power to reach beyond Christmas morning. You can easily pair a personal gift with a Compassion donation that reflects your loved one’s interests and passions, creating a gift that blesses both the recipient and a child living in poverty.
Here are some quick ideas to get you started:
For the gardener: Seed packets, gardening gloves, a small potted plant and a donation that provides vegetable seeds to families in need.
For the reader: A book featuring another culture or country, a journal with a nice pen and a donation supporting English skills or art classes.
For the aspiring chef: A “Dinner Around the World” box with a recipe card, spices and a donation that provides baking classes.
For the mom: A cozy blanket, a gift card from their favorite coffee shop, a candle and a donation that provides meals for a mom and her baby.
When given in Jesus’ name, every gift matters. Every prayer prayed, Bible given and meal shared becomes an opportunity to reflect the love of Jesus to a child living in poverty.
What may seem like a simple act of generosity today can become part of God’s greater story, helping a child experience the hope of the gospel, discover their God-given value and grow into a thriving follower of Jesus. This Christmas, the greatest gift you can give may be one that changes a life for eternity.
