Rated as one of Canada’s best charities for financial integrity

Gifts of Compassion

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Rated as one of Canada’s best charities for financial integrity

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Income Generation

Did you know that 34.4 million women in Brazil are financially responsible for their households? That counts for nearly half of the households across the country. Empowering mothers with the skills and resources to maintain a steady income and support their families is key to releasing kids from poverty. With this gift, you provide entrepreneurial training to 11 women through job training, financial education and the purchase of all materials needed to launch their new business.

Honey, beeswax and other bee products can be reliable sources of income for families in poverty. Bees are self-sustaining creatures that require minimal care and management, making beekeeping a viable option for families with limited resources. With your gift, you provide comprehensive training in beekeeping for caregivers.

Cows are a secure source of food and livelihood for families living in poverty. The milk they produce helps supplement a family’s diet and can be sold to provide additional income. Families who receive this gift also receive the training and equipment necessary to care for a cow sustainably.

When you give a Cow, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Income Generation Fund.

Backyard farms are a sustainable way to fight hunger and generate income. But many families in poverty lack the resources to start one for themselves. Your gift empowers a family in poverty by providing resources such as seeds, fertilizer, livestock, tools and education to help them create and sustain their own backyard farm.

When you give Backyard Farming, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Income Generation Fund.

Goats help provide a livelihood for families living in poverty by producing milk to both consume and sell. When they reproduce, families can sell a goat to provide for other household needs. This gift also includes the training and equipment needed to raise goats sustainably.

When you give a Goat, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Income Generation Fund.

Growing your own food is a powerful way to combat food insecurity. This gift provides vegetable seeds and equipment to families living in poverty so they can start their own home gardens and have a sustainable food source to both eat and sell.

When you give Vegetable Seeds, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Income Generation Fund.

The gift of chickens helps a family combat malnutrition. Eggs act as a regular source of protein and can also be sold as a source of income. With this gift, families also receive the training and equipment needed to raise chickens sustainably.

When you give Chickens, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Income Generation Fund.

When you give to the Income Generation Fund, you provide families living in poverty with resources to earn an income—things like livestock, seeds, skills training and more. This gift keeps giving, as it helps families overcome the desperation that lack of skills, resources and opportunities create and gives them the stability they need to build a future.
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Education and Training

Equipping students through vocational training opens many opportunities and empowers them to break the cycle of poverty. With your gift, you help a student in Haiti receive training in one of the following trades: plumbing, electricity, masonry, tiling, electric welding, window installations, computer skills, cooking and baking. All these vocational skills have been identified as high-demand trades in the communities these students live in.

For many youths in Brazil, positive influences are scarce. The heavy presence of gangs, drugs, verbal and physical aggression and unstable family situations result in youth having low self-esteem and a distorted sense of identity. With this gift, you help local Compassion centres to create relevant, gospel-focused resources to introduce youth to the good news of Jesus, helping them to learn all aspects of the gospel in a positive discipleship setting.

A bicycle provides a child in Sri Lanka with an opportunity for mobility, independence, and improved access to education and resources. The economic crisis in Sri Lanka has caused a high demand for bicycles because of their low maintenance costs and accessibility for children who need alternative ways to get to school. Your gift is a vehicle to a brighter future for a child in poverty.

By investing in education, we empower students to break the cycle of poverty. Educated children become changemakers, and build a brighter future for themselves, their families and their communities. This gift helps 80 youths in Tanzania with tuition fees and educational resources needed to complete their higher education. With your gift, a student knows someone believes in them and their future.
Education empowers children and opens doors for their future. This gift ensures that 30 students in El Salvador—identified as having high potential to achieve academic success—can attend a high school best suited to their needs. Enhanced educational opportunities transform lives and allow these students to pursue further education and find jobs that provide for their families and impact their communities.

Technology is a powerful tool in the fight against poverty. Computers are increasingly becoming a necessity for student success. This gift gives students access to computers at their Compassion centre in a computer lab designed to help them achieve their educational goals.

When you give Computers, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Education and Training Fund.

A lack of access to up-to-date textbooks and learning resources can negatively affect a child’s motivation and academic performance. This gift provides children living in poverty with access to textbooks at their Compassion centre, in a library space designed to help them study and learn with excellence.

When you give Textbooks, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Education and Training Fund.

When you give to the Education and Training Fund, you provide children and youth in poverty with access to learning resources and educational opportunities to equip them for futures free from poverty. This includes textbooks, computers, tuition for vocational training, college or university and other essential learning materials.
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Moms & Babies

Empowering moms is crucial in breaking the cycle of poverty. With this gift, you provide moms with the training and tools they need to develop new skills and enhance old ones—all so they can confidently secure jobs to help them provide for their families. When equipped and empowered, moms can make better decisions and choices for themselves and their families.

When you give the gift of Job Skills Training for Moms, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Moms and Babies Fund.

Many new moms and caregivers living in poverty lack the essential items needed to care for a newborn baby. With this gift, you give caregivers the basic supplies they need—items like blankets, soap, lotion and diapers—to ensure their baby is healthy and thriving. This hand-delivered gift from Compassion centre staff helps new caregivers know they are supported, loved and not alone.

When you give a Newborn Care Package, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Moms and Babies Fund.

The first year of a child’s life is critical. Without proper medical care and growth monitoring, irreversible damage can be done. With this gift, you help ensure that new parents living in poverty have access to essential medical services for their baby in those first critical 12 months.

When you give the gift of Baby Medical Care, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Moms and Babies Fund.

Proper nutrition is critical for moms and babies living in extreme poverty. With this gift, you provide a mother and her baby with six months’ worth of supplemental food and nutrition, which is vital to ensure that moms and babies not only survive but thrive.

When you give the gift of Food for Mom and Baby, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Moms and Babies Fund.

The risks for expectant mothers in poverty are significant. And tragically, maternal mortality rates are unacceptably high in low-resource settings. But with this gift, you provide an expectant mother with the resources she needs to ensure a healthy pregnancy and delivery—such as medical care, regular check-ups, proper nutrition and education.

When you give the gift of Prenatal Healthcare, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Moms and Babies Fund.

Did you know that most of the millions of children who die every year do so in their first year of life from preventable causes? When you give to the Moms and Babies Fund, you can change this tragic reality. Your gift provides tangible care and life-saving support for moms and babies living in poverty. This includes prenatal healthcare, checkups, critical medical care, desperately needed food and newborn essentials.
Health icon

Health & Wellness

Stepright is a 13-year-old girl from Ghana who was diagnosed with idiopathic scoliosis as an infant. This condition has impeded her ability to walk, go to school and experience healthy development alongside her peers. She was referred to Focos Orthopedic Hospital in Ghana’s capital city of Accra, where she has already had two surgeries. To complete her treatment, she requires a third surgery. Your gift helps fund this surgery, paving the way for a thriving future for Stepright.

Did you know that eye problems are responsible for up to 20 per cent of cases of low student performance? A Compassion centre in Brazil wants to ensure that no child in their community experiences this. Your gift provides an eye exam for one child, as well as glasses if needed.
Adolescence is a vital time of development for girls. Many things can hinder a girl’s healthy development in a country with high rates of child marriage and teen pregnancy. That’s why 17 Compassion centres in Brazil are seeking to develop a special workshop for 5,000 teen girls to develop healthy self-esteem and body image and prevent early marriage and pregnancy. Your gift provides teens with attendance to the workshop and all workbooks and learning materials.

Did you know that diseases carried by mosquitos, such as malaria, dengue and Zika, cause millions of deaths every year? These diseases are preventable. Your gift helps to protect vulnerable children from mosquito-borne diseases through mosquito net distribution and preventative education.

When you give Mosquito-Borne Disease Prevention, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Health and Wellness Fund.

Most low- and middle-income countries are unable to provide services to prevent and treat oral health conditions. This can have devastating effects on the lives of children, as common oral health issues only become more severe when left alone. Your gift provides children with immediate dental treatment, toothbrushes and oral health workshops to keep their teeth healthy for a lifetime.

When you give Dental Kits, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Health and Wellness Fund.

A diet lacking protein, fruits and vegetables is all too common for a child living in extreme poverty. This is exacerbated when facing a global food crisis, with acute food insecurity more prevalent than ever. Your gift helps fight malnutrition in a child’s life by providing supplemental, protein-rich food, vitamins and medical care to help them grow healthy and strong.

When you give Food for Malnourished Children, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Health and Wellness Fund.

When you give to the Health and Wellness Fund, you provide children and their families with the resources to meet their most critical health needs and prevent disease and health complications in the future. This fund covers things such as mosquito nets, dental kits, food for malnourished children, access to medical care and preventative health education for children, youth and families.
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Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Safe drinking water is essential for a child’s survival. But in most rural communities in Ghana, accessing clean water is an incredible challenge. Many women and children spend hours of the day in search of clean water, while others resort to using contaminated streams in the village. Your gift provides boreholes for 445 children and their families at two Compassion centres in Western Ghana so they can have regular access to safe water right in their community.

An estimated 60 per cent of water in El Salvador is contaminated. There are 28 Compassion centres in El Salvador located in coastal areas that are particularly impacted by water stress and contamination, leading to high rates of health problems. Your gift provides a home water filtration system to a family in one of these communities, including installation and training on using the filter. It’s more than just clean water—it’s the gift of health and hygiene!

Water is essential to life. This means that access to clean water is a right that every child should have. With your gift, you ensure children have easy, consistent and safe access to clean water through boreholes, wells, rainwater harvesting systems or water filters. With solutions that fit with each child’s context for maximum impact, this gift helps children not just survive but thrive.

When you give Access to Clean Water, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Fund.

Did you know that more than half of the global population doesn’t have access to safe sanitation facilities? Access to a clean washroom is critical in preventing the spread of deadly infectious diseases like cholera. Your gift helps fund the construction of safe washrooms, giving hundreds of children dignity and protection from disease.

When you give Washrooms, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Fund.

Did you know that hand washing could prevent more than a million unnecessary deaths for children under the age of five each year? It is crucial for children to regularly wash their hands in order to stay healthy. This gift will bring life-saving access to hand washing facilities in the communities of vulnerable children and their families.

When you give Hand Washing Stations, your gift will go to the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Fund.

Water, sanitation and hygiene are some of our most basic needs, and a lack of access to them can be deadly. With this gift, you ensure that children around the world have clean water to drink, the ability to practice good hygiene, and protection from deadly diseases through things such as washrooms, hand washing stations and hygiene education.

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Safety & Stability

Economic instability combined with political turmoil and gang violence have led to a compounded crisis in Haiti. As a result, the country is currently facing widespread disruptions to critical resources such as food, clean water and shelter. With your gift, you can provide emergency support to children and families in Haiti who have been displaced or affected by the unrest and violence, ensuring that they have access to these critical resources at a time when they are needed most.

The devastation of losing your home to an environmental disaster is all too familiar to many families living in poverty. In Uganda, nine families recently lost their homes due to heavy rains and one to a tragic fire. Your gift helps to rebuild a safe home designed to withstand extreme weather for one family in need in the aftermath of disaster.

A local Compassion centre is a safe haven for children living in poverty. With hundreds of kids participating in programming each week, it’s vital that Compassion centre facilities are updated and equipped to meet the needs of centre staff and the children and youth they serve. One Compassion centre in Honduras has identified the need for new classrooms, while another needs a kitchen. Your gift helps to construct these essential facilities that will become beacons of hope in their communities.
In Pernambuco and Maranhão, Brazil, floods and landslides have been increasingly common and devastating. But many people in these communities lack the infrastructure to prepare for these disasters and reduce risk. This gift equips Compassion centres to carry out a disaster preparedness training program with youth aged 12-18 and their parents and caregivers. This gift protects the most vulnerable in the face of environmental disaster—before it even occurs.
Around the world, there is significant inequality in access to electricity between rural and urban areas. For Compassion church partners located in rural areas, the lack of access to electricity impacts their ability to serve children and families. Solar power has the potential to alleviate these interruptions and ensure consistent access to electricity. Your gift helps to provide two Compassion centres in rural Ethiopia with electricity through solar panels, leading to improved quality of life and health and education outcomes.

Poverty increases a child’s risk of abuse, trafficking, child marriage, child labour and other forms of exploitation. During times of crisis, these risks only increase. This gift enables Compassion centres to run child protection workshops for caregivers and community members, equipping them to ensure that children are known, loved and protected at home, at school and in the community.

When you give a Child Protection Workshop, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Safety and Stability Fund.

In the past two years, hunger and food insecurity have been on the rise. In times like these, it’s the most vulnerable who experience the harshest impact. Families in poverty are facing acute hunger, sometimes surviving on as little as one small meal a day. Your gift provides a food pack to a family in need. Each food pack includes essentials like rice, oils, oats, milk, corn and meat.

When you give an Emergency Food Pack for a Family, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Safety and Stability Fund.

Amidst rising global hunger, the reality of trying to put food on the table can feel like a challenge with no reprieve for those who live in poverty. The gift of a meal helps caregivers fill hungry stomachs and provides tangible hope to families amidst this daily struggle.

When you give a Meal for a Family, your gift goes to the Gifts of Compassion Safety and Stability Fund.

When you give to the Safety and Stability Fund, you provide vital essentials such as housing support, emergency food packs and infrastructure improvements to families and communities in need, often in the face of crises or environmental disasters. This fund also supports caregivers and communities in accessing training such as child protection workshops, ensuring safer communities where children are known, loved and protected.

Where most needed

Give to our Where Most Needed Fund to enable our local church partners to respond to the most pressing needs of children and families living in poverty. Our church partners are uniquely positioned to know the needs of their communities and how to respond. Your gift provides the resources they need to do so.

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Buying a gift isn’t the only way to make an impact. You can start a personalized fundraiser for any of the six categories of needs in the Gifts of Compassion gift guide. It’s never been easier to multiply your impact.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How does Gifts of Compassion work?

Each gift in our guide meets a real need of children and families living in poverty, identified by our local church partners around the world. These gifts are designed to allow children and families living in poverty to have the resources, security, health, skills and opportunities they need to overcome poverty and thrive now and into the future.

When you give a gift in honour of a loved one, you can download or send an e-card to show your loved ones how their gift is transforming lives around the world!

Read more about Gifts of Compassion

What does it mean when my gift goes towards a “fund”?

When you give a gift that goes towards a fund, you are helping to meet some of the most common needs of the children and families we serve as identified by our local church partners. 

Because these needs are so common, your gift could go to any one of our 8,000 local church partners around the world at any given time, depending on the needs. This ensures that your gift is given to the right family at the right time. 

The word “fund” might make it sound like your gifts are sitting in a bucket somewhere, but rest assured it’s quite the opposite: fund gifts meet some of the most urgent needs identified by our local church partners.

Read more about fund gifts

Why do some gifts have a progress bar and others do not?

Gifts that have a progress bar raise funds for a specific need in a specific community as identified by one or a small group of our local church partners. These gifts have a goal that shows exactly how much it will cost to fund the entire project or program.

Once a specific gift is fully funded and the need is met in full, we won’t be raising funds for it anymore. Instead, we’ll add new gifts as our local church partners express the needs of their communities or we’ll invite you to give towards other related gifts. That means not every gift you see in our gift guide will be available forever. So, if you see something you want to give towards, make sure to do it sooner than later!

Read more about specific gifts

Where can I learn about Compassion’s financial integrity?

Financial integrity matters to us. We take your trust seriously and are committed to faithfully stewarding the funds you give.

No less than 80 per cent of funds raised will be used for program activities. No more than 20 per cent will be used for fundraising and administration.

Learn more about our finances

Who is Compassion?

As one of the world's leading child development organizations, Compassion’s mission is to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name. Over the last 70 years, Compassion revolutionized the fight against global poverty by partnering with local churches to lift children out of spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty.

Today, Compassion partners with over 8,000 churches in 29 countries to deliver our proven child development program to more than 2 million infants, children and youth. Around the world, children, families and entire communities are being empowered to overcome poverty and thrive both now and into the future. 

Learn more about Compassion