What We Do:
Child Sponsorship

WHAT IS CHILD SPONSORSHIP?

Child sponsorship is the most cost-effective way to end child poverty.¹ It not only addresses a child's immediate physical needs, it also builds self-esteem and self-respect.

HOW DOES CHILD SPONSORSHIP WORK?

Through monthly financial support, prayer and letter writing, sponsors invest directly in the lives of children living in extreme poverty.

The children attend church-based child development centers where they receive life-changing opportunities that would otherwise be out of their reach, and which build on, add to and extend their school lessons.

All Compassion-sponsored children have the opportunity to develop their God-given potential and be released from the poverty that has trapped their families for generations.

Compassion International Child Sponsorship offers:

• ongoing Christian training through a local church.
• educational opportunities to defeat illiteracy.
• key life skills training and vocational programs to provide a brighter future.
• health care to prevent and fight disease and sickness.
• supplements to protect against malnutrition.
• recreational activities to develop self-confidence and social skills.
• protection from crime, violence and danger.

Read More About How Child Sponsorship Works >

THE MOST EFFECTIVE STRATEGY FOR HELPING THE POOR

In 2008, Dr. Bruce Wydick, a professor of economics and international studies at the University of San Francisco, along with two colleagues, conducted a study of our Child Sponsorship Program to determine its impact on the adult life outcomes of formerly sponsored children against those of children who were not part of the ministry’s programs.

Wydick and his colleagues concluded that our Child Sponsorship Program has large and statistically significant impacts on the educational, employment and leadership outcomes of our children. The peer-reviewed research was published in the April 2013 issue of the Journal of Political Economy.

What are the best ways to help the poor in low- and middle-income countries?

To answer the question, Dr. Wydick polled top development economists who specialize in analyzing development programs. He asked them to rate, in terms of impact and cost-effectiveness per donated dollar, some of the most common poverty interventions people donate their money to. Of all the long-term development interventions, child sponsorship received the highest rating.

"Sponsors typically pay $25 to $40 per month, which covers a child’s educational fees, school uniforms, tutoring, health care, and, in faith-based sponsorship organizations, spiritual mentorship. Many development economists today favor interventions like Compassion International child sponsorship that remove practical constraints to education while building a child’s self-esteem, aspirations and goals. In this way, sponsorship relieves both external and internal poverty constraints."

A child's odds are better with Compassion