Compassion International connects children with the Church globally to end poverty in the life of a child. Compassion International has affiliated chapters around the world. It works with churches in 25 countries to help children get an education, stay healthy, learn how to build strong relationships, and discover God’s love for them in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Children are sponsored by individual donors in affiliate countries who donate through Compassion. In F2019, Compassion International reports helping over 2,000,000 beneficiaries. Its Canadian affiliate, Compassion Canada, was founded in 1963. In F2019, Compassion Canada spent 92% of program costs on child sponsorships. The remaining 8% was distributed between survival programs, water & hygiene programs, education programs, stability programs, ministry programs, and health programs.

The child sponsorship program provides children with education, medical care, food, religious support, and life skills. In F2019, Compassion Canada worked with churches in 25 countries to sponsor 111,727 children (108,310 in F2018). This is the most children Compassion Canada has ever sponsored, with the help of 82,418 Canadians. Canadian donors also purchased more than 12,000 ‘Gifts of Compassion’ for children and their families.

In F2019, Canadian sponsors wrote 187,369 physical letters and 95,396 online letters to their sponsored children. Compassion Canada reports that these letters give children a greater sense of love & joy, improve children’s confidence, and motivate them at church & school. In F2019, Compassion Canada also delivered 484,395 letters written by Compassion-sponsored children to their sponsors.

In F2019, Compassion International highlights protecting 4,107 children from dengue fever in Peru, providing meals and dietary supplements to 250 toddlers in Colombia, and providing clean water through new wells to 4,136 children globally.  

Compassion Canada is a Major 100 charity, with donations of $67.7m in F2019. Administrative costs are 6% of revenues (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 11% of donations. This means overhead costs are 17%. For every $1 donated, 83 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci's reasonable range for overhead spending.

Compassion Canada’s funding reserves of $13.2m can cover 3 months of its annual program costs. This low program cost coverage reflects Compassion Canada's high dependency on continued sponsorship from individual donors. Compassion Canada notes that it has one of the lowest cancellation rates among all global Compassion partners. In F2019, 7.2% of Canadian donors cancelled their sponsorship, compared to a 10.2% global average.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Compassion Canada for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on June 04, 2020 by Eric Jose.