THE COMPASSION GIFT CATALOG
Compassion’s Gift Catalog is a list of 52 giving opportunities across 10 categories.
When you sponsor a child with Compassion, the Child Development Program provides the basic needs of children living in poverty. However, sometimes there are still barriers that stand in the way of holistic development. The Compassion Gift Catalog is a list of interventions that address these obstacles.
Currently, there are more than 2 million children in the Child Development Program. In order to eradicate the debilitating factors that perpetuate the cycle of poverty, we have special funds that can be used on demand to meet qualified needs. For example, your generosity gives us the agility to respond to sudden, catastrophic needs (disaster and medical) as well as routine, ancillary educational expenses or income-generating opportunities.
These funds demonstrate Christ’s compassion in tangible ways, and give donors a way to imitate His kind-heartedness. Although many donations are given as meaningful Christmas gifts, the needs are present all year long and may be given any time for any reason.
The Role of the Church-wide Organizer
There is a wide variety of giving opportunities in the Gift Catalog. The organizer’s job is to understand the church’s unique interests and select a few gifts that everyone can rally around as a common mission. The organizer is the champion for this mission across all ages and ministries within the church. Through inspiration, creativity and relationship, the organizer and his/her team presents giving opportunities by engaging as many senses as possible to capture the attention of individuals and families.
Volunteer Roles
This church-wide giving effort can be as simple or complicated as the organizer wants, and the following roles are optional. As you read the descriptions, a specific person may come to mind, and this undertaking may be the key to building community at your church.
- Charismatic speaker to promote publicly
- Creative idea generator to present the gifts visually
- Reliable bookkeeper to collect, tally and submit donations
- Detailed project manager to make sure you start and finish well
SUGGESTIONS FOR GETTING STARTED
- Present Compassion’s Gift Catalog to your church leadership team. Propose that the church’s international Christmas offering focus on giving to Compassion.
- When the idea is approved, gather a team to view all the gifts and descriptions. Keep in mind that too many options can stymie giving, and your goal is to generate momentum with everyone giving toward a few common goals. For example,
- Your children’s ministry may select a category to give toward, or a small group or Sunday School class may select another particular gift to focus on.
- Your church may have lots of healthcare professionals who are interested in giving to medical/dental needs. Perhaps the educators in your congregation would want to focus their giving on the education and training category.
- Determine the dates, the duration, the goals, and the strategy of your opportunity.
- Email [email protected] or call toll-free 866-607-5162 to connect with a member of the Church Engagement team whenever you have a question or concern, and to let us know about your plans. We’d love to pray for you and support you!
When your gift-giving season is finished tally and submit all donations to your church and ask your church administrator to write one check to:
Compassion International
ATTN: Church Engagement
12290 Voyager Parkway
Colorado Springs, CO 80921
On the memo line of the check, please tell us which funds you are giving to and indicate a church-wide fundraising effort by noting this code: 602023.
IDEAS FOR INSPIRING GIFTS OF COMPASSION
Your church has a unique personality, and you know best how to inspire giving gifts of compassion. These two ideas are meant to inspire your brainstorming and your creativity as you plan a church-wide effort to be on mission together.
Old MacDonald’s Farm
Kids will love contributing their offering to this income generating project to purchase chickens, goats, pigs and cows.
The barnyard animals provide enough eggs, milk and meat to eat as well as extra to sell in the market. Recipients receive training to keep their animals healthy and productive.
Display your financial goal graphically on a large red barn. Add graphics of animals or 3-D plastic animals as you collect enough money to buy them.
You may want to feature an animal each week, and at the end of four weeks you will have enough to give a whole barnyard of animals to a Compassion-sponsored child. When all financial donations have been tallied, celebrate the results at a farm-themed activity. Go online to find farm-related games and snacks to add to the festivities.
Birthday Party
What better way to celebrate Jesus’ birthday than with a birthday party! Ask each guest to bring a financial gift — the equivalent of what they would normally spend on a friend’s birthday gift.
As a group, you are helping a mom and baby who live in poverty get the care and nutrition needed for healthy development through the critical first year:
- Prenatal and medical care through baby’s first year
- Skilled birth attendant
- Proper nutrition for moms and babies
- Immunizations
- Emotional and spiritual support through trained Survival Specialists. Often the mom will choose to follow Christ during this time, and she is discipled
Set your financial goal and visually illustrate how you are progressing toward that goal. For example, add a party hat to the display to indicate every $100 dollars given as a birthday “gift.”
When all financial gifts have been collected, report the results at a party complete with a birthday cake, of course!