I have always loved reading your blog, especially because of posts like this. I think what you are doing with Compassion is commendable. You are doing what you can—not for yourself—but for children all over the world who have not only physical needs, but spiritual needs as well. 

To speak briefly about the Christian music scene: Christian music has changed so much since 2001-2002, when you first started out. It is hard for any artist to retain popularity past their sophomore album—it is no doubt more challenging for a Christian artist. I think you have done everything that you could with the resources that you had available to you at the time. Personally, I would love for you to continue your musical endeavors, because I think your music is inspirational. You have a lot to say through the written word. (I am sure others would agree.) Have you thought about releasing another record? An EP, perhaps?

What about releasing music through iTunes? Releasing exclusive tracks and/or EPs through iTunes is a popular way to get your music heard. You might want to consider it, if you haven’t already.

Good luck with everything that you do!

–Jessica

The important measure of fiscal responsibility for charities is how much of donations gets spent on program expenses.  On that measure, both Compassion and World Vision score very well.  They don’t have the highest percentage spent on program expenses in their industry, but it is still very, very good. 

Anytime someone runs a charity they need to make a decision about how much money gets spent on program expenses and how much goes to sharing about the charity with people who don’t know about it.  That is expensive and difficult, especially when dealing with church culture that doesn’t have a large focus on charities they don’t control.  In my opinion, Compassion gets the word out about poverty better than any other charity in the industry.

Over 1 million kids per year are helped through Compassion.  The industry leader in percent of program expenses sent to the field has less than a third that number.  Who has the right approach to helping people?  Do you spend less on marketing and as a result help fewer kids or do you spend more on marketing and help more kids?  You can’t fault Compassion for choosing to help more kids, especially given that their program expenses are still really high and earn them 4stars from charity navigator and an A grade from the American Institute of Philanthropy. 

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4768

http://www.charitywatch.org/toprated.html#childsp

I’ve helped volunteered for numerous organizations from homeless shelters and soup kitchens to pro-life, youth sports and educational groups (and more than one child sponsorship organization).  I’ve always been impressed with the quality of marketing materials and training/support that Compassion offers their volunteers.  They do a very professional job in outreach, easily the best of any organization I’ve volunteered for.  More than that, though, you can tell that the people they employ really believe in what they do.  That’s why they help over a million kids a year, more than any other child sponsorship organization.

I’m sorry I’m not as well spoken and brief as D. Hudson up above.  That’s why he’s a marketing guy and I’m an engineer.

MB

I know you probably didn’t intend to, but your message really reminded me that I need to look for God’s answer in things instead of praying for things to be done my way. Thank you for that and for continuing to speak about Compassion.