Compassion International partners with local churches to care for children’s minds, bodies and souls, helping them become all God created them to be. Child sponsorship is one key way we equip them for the work.
There are many ways to care for and build up children through Compassion, including donating to critical causes like disaster relief or giving life-changing gifts like Bibles from our Gift Catalog.
We also offer initiatives like Compassion Causes and Compassion Nurturers, where you can help fund critical needs for local church partners and the most vulnerable living in poverty.
Compassion: Helping Children Become Who God Made Them to Be
Millions of children live in poverty around the world. It’s our mission to release them from it by partnering with local churches to care for each child through their formative years — mind, body and soul — so they can overcome poverty and thrive as disciples of Jesus.
What does this look like? Each child has essential needs as they grow, some unique but all important. One child may need disaster relief. Another may need care after an injury. But every child needs the hope of the gospel, nutrition, medical care, protection and education to reach their God-given potential.
We’re committed to meeting each of these needs faithfully, until children grow into thriving adults. Child sponsorship helps us do that. But sponsorship isn’t the only way we care for children — and it’s far from the only way you can join us.
From specific causes that meet critical needs to philanthropic opportunities that maximize church impact, let’s explore other powerful ways you can partner with Compassion International to help children overcome poverty.
See how we care for the whole child in this guide: What Is Whole Child Development?
Causes for Children’s Critical Needs
Compassion offers various causes to donate to, each one meeting a critical need for children in the countries we serve. You can choose to donate to a cause once or even monthly to boost your impact.
Let’s explore some of these causes, the work we do and the impact you can help create through your support.
Disaster Relief
Every year, thousands of natural disasters happen around the world, from droughts to hurricanes. These disasters affect children in many ways. For example, an earthquake can leave them injured or without shelter, while flooding can raise their risk of waterborne diseases.
Through our Disaster Relief Fund, we help churches respond quickly after disaster so they can meet the needs of children affected. By donating to this cause, you equip them to provide food, clean water, safe shelter, medical care and even trauma counseling to help children heal in the aftermath of disaster.
Learn more about what disaster response looks like at Compassion.
Critical Program Needs
Children in poverty face countless unimaginable circumstances, from dangerous living conditions to deadly disease. Through the Critical Program Needs Fund, Compassion provides care for children facing crisis, from food and medication to safe water and education.
By donating to this cause, you help provide critical support wherever it’s needed the most.
Unsponsored Children
Child sponsorship provides the care children need as they grow, from nutrition support to education. At any given time, thousands of children are waiting for sponsors. In fact, on average, children wait three months for a sponsor.
However, through the Unsponsored Children Fund, churches can ensure that, as they wait, these children receive the same Christ-centered, consistent care as sponsored children do. Your donation to this cause equips them to do so.
Global Food Crisis
Countless children and their families are suffering from hunger around the world. According to the World Food Programme, around 266 million people are facing severe levels of food insecurity or a lack of nutritious food. Sadly, this leaves children vulnerable to malnutrition, which can lead to disease and even death.
Through the Global Food Crisis Fund, Compassion helps local churches support families impacted by the ongoing hunger crisis. Your donation will provide food packs, malnutrition monitoring and even medical care for children in need.
How Are These Funds Distributed to Children?
When you and other faithful supporters give to a cause, the donations are pooled into a fund reserved for that specific purpose. Then, when a local church partner identifies a related need in their community, Compassion can quickly send funds to the church, so they’re equipped to meet that need.
Your donation goes directly to churches who best know the needs of the children they serve and can deliver specific care where it’s needed most. It’s all part of our commitment to financial integrity and stewarding your generous gifts wisely.
Have questions about giving? See our Donation FAQs.
Compassion Causes: A New Way to Meet Urgent Needs
Maybe you’re an athlete who’d love to help kickstart a soccer club for impoverished teens. Or maybe you’re a teacher who gets excited about ensuring children have learning tools like computer labs.
Whatever you’re passionate about, Compassion Causes has a project you can get excited about supporting. Compassion Causes is a new fundraising platform that allows you to connect directly to local churches working to meet urgent needs in their communities.
Once a project is fully funded, donations reach local churches in about a week, enabling near-immediate impact. And after you donate, you’ll see that impact for yourself through messages and pictures from the church as they work to complete their cause.
Learn more about how Compassion cares for moms and babies.
Compassion’s mission is to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name. We do so by equipping local churches to love and care for children with the hope of the gospel and in any way they need. But we can’t do it without you.
When you say yes to sponsorship, a cause, a gift or an initiative, you provide life-changing care where it’s needed most. Together, we can empower children, families and communities to break the cycle of poverty and step into the futures God has for them.
