Continuing our series on Compassion Bloggers, today I’ll answer the skeptics’ number one question about these trips. And it’s a great one. But first…
First, I’m gonna brag.
- When the Wallstreet Journals’ Smart Money magazine evaluated the fiscal integrity of over 680,000 North American non-profits, it put Compassion International in the top ten charities that give givers “the most bang for the buck.”
- Charity Navigator, the premier non-profit watchdog, has awarded Compassion their highest honor – four stars – for the last nine years in a row. Compassion is the only U.S. based child development organization to receive so many consecutive four star ratings.
- The American Institute of Philanthropy has also awarded Compassion its highest rating year after year.
- Worth magazine included Compassion in its short list of the most fiscally responsible non-profits.
More than 80% of expenditures go to serve Compassion’s children – thus all the accolades. That percentage is promised to never dip below 80%. Ever.
Now, hang on! What about the 20%? Where’s that going? A jet for the CEO? His three homes? Your fancy shmancy haircut, singer boy?
Well, there is no jet, he doesn’t have three homes and I actually cut my own hair. (I know, I know. Stop it. I’m blushing.)
Some of that 20% goes to air-conditioning, salaries and other costs of doing ministry. And some of it goes to marketing.
Marketing?
I wish it wasn’t so, but until everyone in the first world knows about the need in the third world and knows they can do something about it through Compassion International, well, we have to tell them. And that telling is called marketing.
Marketing dollars buy stage time at concerts and other events, ads in magazines and on the radio, banners on websites, mail-outs and, yes, blogging trips.
Are these blog trips the best use of marketing dollars?
I’m told that these blogging trips are one of the most cost-effective (some say the most cost-effective) forms of marketing Compassion has. These trips do so much good for so many children for so little money!
And beyond the children…the education these trips provide to Christians in the first world, and the encouragement that these trips are to sponsors, and the number of them who decide to write their child more often, and the inspiration these trips give to us all to love our neighbors right here at home, and the pride overseas staff feel in having their work shown to the world in word and pictures…well, the return is tremendous! How do you put a price on all that?
How can these trips possibly be so cost-effective?
- Low Cost: Compassion’s Trips Department is amazing and somehow manages to get the most incredible rates on hotels and flights.
- High Exposure: 30,000 people, at least, follow a single blogging trip. Our largest trip is estimated to have drawn a crowd about three times as large! That is a lot of exposure in a very short amount of time…and growing as more bloggers join us and help spread the word!
So, are we wasting money? Not a chance.
Could we use the money spent on blogging trips to help kids? We are! Many thousands more children now have sponsors because of Compassion Bloggers.
Any questions? Leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer.
you did a great job with this, shaun. thank you for this and the work that you do.
That means a lot coming from you, Eugene. LIked your NINES video, btw. Good job, sir. And always enjoy catching up on what ONE DAY’S WAGES is doing. Thanks for all you do to inspire us and expand the kingdom.
As a Compassion sponsor of two beautiful children in Indonesia and Brazil, I would like to say “Well said.”
I don’t think I’ve ever wondered about the cost of administering, etc. but know that those who work for Compassion have a heart and passion for the children. Our previous pastor and his wife now both work for Compassion (one with advocates, the other with church partnerships) based in Queensland (Aust).
One, although it might ought to go on the first post instead of here:
Is any consideration given to the _temporary_ blog traffic a blogger might bring in during a trip? I mean, if I told people at my church (and my parents’ church and my siblings’ churches and my in-laws’ churches) and at various other groups I’m part of (like MOPS, International who might link to my posts on FB and twitter) that I was going on a trip like this, I’d have potentially thousands of hits.
I don’t care if my blog gets consistent traffic, but I’d be darn sure I got the word out about the trip. I’m sure there are others in that boat as well.
(But pick me, pick me! ;p Just kidding….not this time…I know you’ve brought preggos before, but pregnant = sick for me and that’s no fun for anyone, especially in combo with dubious water sources. Or unpleasant smells. Or plane rides. Or long, bumpy car trips. Or standing for any length of time. Or pretty much anything.)
I was wondering just the other day how huge of an impact these blogging trips have…not from a skeptical viewpoint, though. I was actually thinking the impact has got to be absolutely massive, and I was wondering if you all were using whatever means to measure it. So it’s awesome to know you do.
In my own little case, I linked/re-posted to one of Ann’s posts and one of Lisa-Jo’s posts on my own little blog. Now quite honestly, I don’t know how “successful” my blog is, when you think of numbers. I try not to care. I post as God leads, and if each post ministers to just one person out there somewhere, then it was a success. I have found peace with that. I just now discovered that I got 4,000 hits in the last month, which blows me away because I thought it got 10% of that. I don’t have many commenter on my blog…some of my readers email me after following for months and never commenting. Others follow my facebook page to my blog, then go back and post their comments there. I have to say that 99% of the people whom I know read every blog post have never commented (which is probably typical).
BUT…I know that my re-posting of those two posts resulted in at least two more children sponsored this week. Can you track well enough to see that connection? ::shrugs:: I don’t know. And I suppose it doesn’t really matter. What matters is the children.
I forgot to add that: I think the reason these blogger trips are so successful is that we know that what we see and read isn’t orchestrated. It’s not polished and professionally-shot, it’s not scripted, and it has been through tons of proof-readers and analysis. Maybe the rest of Compassion’s marketing isn’t either, but we all know that 99% of the marketing done today IS. Therefore, a tiny part of us is skeptical.
But these blog trips aren’t much different than listening to a friend from church standing up and sharing in their own halting, stumbling words what she has seen and experienced. THAT isn’t scripted or polished, and therefore carries a lot more power and fills those halts and stumbles with an eloquence that our hearts hear.
It is so awesome to see how God is using even the Internet…
oops. *hasn’t been through tons of proof-readers and analysis.
We found out about Compassion through the blogger trip to Africa in the spring. I was reading “We are THAT family”. And we sponsored Fred in Kenya.
I follow Ann Voskamp… now we sponsor Blanca in Guatemala.
God definitely works through these trips. Thanks for all you do… and I think your haircut is great! *S*
Blessings on the journey~
Your amazing and such and inspiration. Thanks Shaun for all you do!
I love this post & couldn’t agree more with using some of the funds for marketing. Our family started sponsoring two children after reading the trip to Africa this past spring. It single-handedly changed my view of sponsorship & we are looking forward to sponsoring more kids in the future. Had that trip not have taken place I don’t know if we would’ve ever thought to do something like this.
If Compassion could somehow calculate all the “spinoff” blogs that occurred in the last three weeks of folks being inspired to share their sponsorship story as a result of your trip… and then the number of children sponsored as a result of the spinoff blogs…I bet you could reduce the marketing cost to children sponsored ratio from a bloggers trip even more. It is incredible how many other bloggers who haven’t gone on the most recent trip are talking about their experience with Compassion
Keep these great stories coming! SO encouraging!
And job security ; )
We sponsored our first Compassion child after the bloggers’ trip to Kenya… My family’s priorities have shifted since reading all the posts (from Kenya and other trips). It’s impossible to not be affected after seeing first hand all the poverty and poor living conditions and despair, as well as all the HOPE that Jesus brings. I get tears in my eyes and goosebumps on my arms just thinking about it.
Thank you, Kristy!
I really cannot believe this is a question that needs to be answered. It is beautifully obvious that these trips are amazing for Compassion, for the sponsored children, for bloggers, and readers. It’s a win-win-win-win.
I was describing the concept to my husband this week as brilliant and a perfect example of how social media can be harnessed for the cause of Christ.
Thank you for your commitment and for graciously responding to these concerns.
I think Compassion has done an amazing job of using internet-based tools for marketing — blogs, Facebook, Twitter. To use the power of these tools for God’s kingdom is encouraging and inspiring to me. Compassion is an incredible organization — I have seen their work first hand in El Salvador — and I am grateful that you have added your talents and voice to spreading the message.
I would like to know how you work with the bloggers before the trip to prepare them in anyway – spiritually, physically, etc. – for what they will be seeing and experiencing.
Keep those blogger trips open and us readers will keep reposting and spreading the word!
I meant to say
“Keep those blogger trips coming and us readers will keep reposting and spreading the word.”
Hmm, maybe a blogger could do a better job answering the question about how they were prepared.
That may be an area that needs improving, actually. I’d love to hear their feedback on that.
My trip to El Salvador was a week before the blogger trip last year (and of course the heavy rains were the week between those two trips).
I think that offering suggestions on how to prepare for the trips would be helpful to everyone going on a trip with Compassion. Obviously there are passages in Scripture about God’s love for the poor and weak. But also materials such as Wes’ book plus just information about the country that could help prepare us going into these environments.
For the bloggers it might also help them have additional materials for depth for their posts.
Something to think about at least.
Oh, they get lots of info on the country and Compassion’s ministry model, etc etc etc.
If that’s what you mean by preparation, then, yes, Compassion does a great job with that.
I’d be curious to know though, from a bloggers perspective, how prepared they FELT and what more they’d like in way of preparation.
Thank you, Win, for reposting and sharing the stories that come out of the blogger trips. While several bloggers actually physically travel, it’s a whole blogosphere that makes it happen, the whole body of Christ that goes together, reaching out together with every tweet, FB share, blog repost, to sponsor one more child and one more child.
I am so unspeakably grateful that we didn’t go alone. *Thank you,* Win, all.
I am not sure if any of the bloggers on this particular trip “applied” to go — but as for preparing us for the trip, I am very grateful for Shaun and the Compassion team who gathered us in a conference call before we left, engaged us in emails, and sent us a spiral bound travel book that outlined not only our itinerary (in duplicate so family at home had a prayer copy on the fridge), but highlighted the country’s issues, Compassion’s specific work in that country, a prayer journal and devotionals to help us process what we were experiencing, and how to best travel in the country/simple translations/safety etc.
As a team of bloggers, together we compiled a list of books that we were individually reading to prepare, and shared those titles and our insights via email (Radical, True Religion, Hole in Our Gospel, Too Small to Ignore.) — which was formational in our spiritual preparation.
Too, we prayed for each other daily, for the Compassion nationals in Guatemala, for readers and for children in need of sponsors.
Personally, I wasn’t prepared for the process of re-entry and how to reconcile my life with my Guatemalan experiences — You can’t unknow it. HOW do we live now? “Now that you have seen, what are you going to do about it?” Faith cannot have a non-response. We *will* respond — one way or another. A ticket for a trip like this will cost you your life as you know it. You can’t go back and you won’t want to and it is a *gift* — grace to be upended and kindled and impassioned.
Shaun and the Compassion team has made themselves available upon our return via email and phone calls — and have been profound, astute, and deeply compassionate in guiding us through this process — helping us to fight the vortex back to the middle ground. Midwifes in a blessed laboring into being reborn, new eyes, heart, hands.
I never expected so much pain, so much love, so much hope — that in the course of 5 days I’d die and find new life.
It hurts and it is right and I couldn’t be more grateful.
All’s grace,
Ann
I agree with Ann that the part I needed the most help with, by far, was was coming back home. Shaun and the other leaders did a great job debriefing us on our last night. I found everything they said to be right on and I was very thankful that they took the time to prepare us for what it would be like.
Before the trip, I found it helpful that we all emailed each other and decided to read Too Small to Be Ignored by Wess Stafford. It really challenged my thinking and I think it enhanced the whole experience for me. On a more practical level, Shaun, the trip book was great. I’m praying for you as you piece together the next trip and I’m excited for the bloggers that will go!
I went on the blogger trip to El Salvador and Shaun and his team did a great job of preparing us for what to bring, what we would do, etc and the trip was EXTREMELY organized. Probably the most organized trip of any kind I’ve ever been on.
But I would say – I WASN’T prepared at all for what I would witness with Compassion. And I’m kind of thankful for that. I think that was the beauty of the trip. Seeing poverty first hand , seeing the Compassion office in El Salvador who had SUCH a passion for the children, seeing the beautiful children and how much Compassion had impacted their lives – I was not prepared for any of that. And it’s why the trip was so amazing. I learned that Compassion is 100% real and amazing and effective. I learned that we have TOO much here in America. And I learned it doesn’t take much to make a huge impact on another person’s lives.
I’m changed. And I’m glad I wasn’t prepared.
I agree…for years I had wanted to sponsor a child but it was never a priority between me and my husband. After I read MckMama’s blogs back from Kenya, the choice HAD to be made!
Now, I’m learning to love my Lily in Colombia!!!
Thanks for posting this. I’m going to be honest and say I *have* wondered about the cost of all the blogging trips – it seemed like a lot of overhead to me, so it’s nice to hear a report of how it all plays out.
Don’t hear me saying I don’t love Compassion. I LOVE COMPASSION. We’ve sponsored through Compassion for a long time (well before the blogging thing came into play). I have a huge heart for what you all are doing. I have just wondered about that.
Similarly, I’ve wondered about over-saturation of the blog audience. I’ve wondered if new people are actually being made aware of Compassion, or if you are just targeting the same people over and over and over again.
But it sounds like you are bringing in new readers and new sponsors with every trip, so that’s super.
Again, this isn’t me being down on Compassion, not at all. It was just me with some honest questions about the blogging trips. I’m glad you posted this today.
No need to explain. I think you’re being wise to ask these questions, wonder these things. Shoot, you’re far more kind than I was about Compassion (and all sponsorship type causes) before I took my first trip in 2005! No worries, Megan.
I too am concerned about over saturation. I can’t tell you how, but I do account for that and take steps to reach new people with each trip. But, yes, a lot of people reading our posts have read in the past…and that’s fine since 1)It sometimes takes numerous exposures to soften a heart and convince a healthily skeptical brain and 2)these trips ARE about more than converting readers into sponsors: we hope to educate and inspire as well.
I have to agree with you, Shaun! I had been a sponsor for 10 years before reading about the India trip and until then, I was content with sponsoring 1 child because I felt I was doing my part. On that trip, Melissa brought up the idea of sacrifice and it was then that I realized I wasn’t sacrificing much because we could easily afford that 1 sponsorship. It was also the 1st blogger trip I had followed and, even after years of receiving Compassion mailings, was the 1st time I really was impacted by the images and stories I was reading. So I sponsored another child in India. And I am now also sponsoring a child in Ecuador.
I understand that you need to be careful about oversaturation but I must also point out that it wasn’t until the Guatemalan trip that I really felt inspired to get involved in my sponsored childrens’ lives and start communicating with them in a much more meaningful way. I believe God will use each trip in a different way to affect each person’s heart.
I totally agree a key aspect of these trips that you can’t put a dollar amount on is what God does in people’s hearts through reading the posts. That may not result in sponsorship but hopefully results in Kingdom impact, which I believe is Compassion’s ultimate mission. As an Advocate these trips are a huge encouragement in continuing to share God’s heart for the poor!
I leave in 3 weeks for my third trip to Guatemala for medical mission work and as I’ve read through the posts (multiple times each) from the bloggers with tears streaming down my face, I’m realizing that the Lord is breaking my heart for the beautiful people of Guatemala in a whole new way. Thank you for being a vessel in preparing my heart for what he has in store for me and our team!
The integrity of Compassion (evidenced by the numbers in the opening part of this post) is why we chose Compassion for sponsorship.
We trust them.
I’m so glad you took the time to brag.
Also… I have long thought that the idea to send Compassion bloggers was a BRILLIANT one! I remember saying out loud to my husband when I heard of the first trip: “I love it that someone thought of this! What a great idea!” I love to read the personal, conversational side of the experience of the Compassion bloggers, and to see all the photos. I am so excited that this has kept up and that more and more children are getting sponsored with each and every trip!
I, too, sponsored a child as a direct result of a reading a blog – for me it was when Melissa Moore Fitzpatrick went to India and blogged on the LPM website. I cried through every one of her posts and knew by the last day I couldn’t NOT sponsor a child. My Daniel is from Indonesia and has the exact same birthday as my son – such a God thing! As a sponsor, I still love reading about the trips y’all take and being reminded of why I chose to do this. Shaun, thank you so much for all you do to make this happen, and for giving me the opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child. I am so grateful to you!
Another thought (for skeptics):
One of the most important aspects of child sponsorship (in my mind) is sponsor-retention. Gaining a vast group of new sponsors is wonderful. However, keeping that vast group of sponsors once the emotions have settled is a far greater challenge. Many sponsors cannot afford a Compassion trip. Others prefer to spend the money a trip would cost on additional sponsorships. However, the Compassion Blogger trips give us a glimpse into our sponsor children’s lives. When we doubt whether or not we’re making an impact, we can go back to the trip pages and be reminded of what an incredible work God is doing through Compassion and through us. The Compassion Blogger trips help encourage and support current sponsors in addition to gaining new sponsors…and that, in and of itself, is well worth the financial costs associated with the trips.
I agree. This is absolutely part of it for me. I have a blog, but I in no way will ever draw enough readers to make it worthwhile for compassion to send me on a trip, so these glimpses into another world really help me when I am writing to our Compassion child, Esteban in Columbia.
I had known of Compassion for many years. Heard the plea at multiple concerts. Had a friend who worked at Compassion. But it was the blogger trip to India last year, specifically Melissa’s posts that the Lord used to move me to sponsorship. Each subsequent trip has served to remind me of why I sponsor and how important sponsorship is and especially how important writing to my sponsored child is. Health issues will probably keep me from ever visiting my sponsored child, so the blogger trips are a way for me to see the work I so believe in and am so blessed by.
I do have an important question;
Was I not the most awesome and humble person ever brought on one of these compassion blogger trips. I’ve been dying to know.
Sincerely,
Injured in Cincinnati
Yes, Ryan. Now, I know I’m not supposed to have favorites but if you promise not to tell the others…you are that favorite. And it’s your humility that I love most of all.
I knew it!
I’ll chime in and say before the Kenya trip I had “thought about” and “wanted to” sponsor children, but hadn’t. Then we sponsored 2 children immediately after reading a post on We are THAT family. Before the Guatemala trip I had “thought about” and “wanted to” write to our sponsored children, but hadn’t. Then I wrote letters immediately after reading a post on The Gypsy Mama (and plan to continue writing on a regular basis). Who knows what will happen on the next trip!
Thanks for raising and answering a question I didn’t know I had. 
♥ Michelle
(and if you ever decide to have families go… sign my family up!)
Shaun – GREAT post!
I think that we need to remember that the trip that the bloggers take is not only beneficial to Compassion Int’l but has an even bigger impact on those families and children that are visited. Having bloggers meet, face-to-face the families and children that are sponsored all over the world is a reminder to those families that they are loved and supported.
The top item on our list of “what to do when we get out of debt” is to sponsor children. Reading all of the blog posts over the last few weeks have motivated me even more to meet that goal and someday join the bloggers and help others realize the impact that’s possible!
I only wish we had a Compassion Bloggers program in Australia.
I was part of a Compassion trip to Haiti and Dominican Republic in 2008. I work in radio and was able to tell my listeners (and blog readers) what an amazing job Compassion does in changing the lives of children and of introducing them to Jesus.
Given the opportunity, I’d be on the first plane out of Australia to do it again and to tell a lot more people about the changes they can make for children, their families, their communities and God’s Kingdom.
I first followed the Compassion bloggers trip to India, but our family didn’t take the leap of sponsorship until the El Salvador trip, which i think was 6 months later. It took us a little while to count the cost, but we’re so glad we did! We’ve been sponsoring little Saira from ES for a year now, and we’re all the better for it.
I think that the Compassion trips are a huge source of exposure for the ministry. You choose great bloggers with an ability to weave a story and many loyal readers – that combined leads to so many softened hearts. I also think that bloggers have an ability to reach beyond the traditional mediums (churches, camps, etc) to reach the “unchurched”. I know many of the bloggers you choose do not have exclusively Chrsitian audiences, which is great for kingdom-building AND for raising awareness for Compassion. I can’t help but wonder how many people have not only been inspired to sponsorship, but also to seeking Christ in their own life, from the inspiration of these posts. I think what you guys are doing is brilliant. I hope I can be a part of it some day. I look forward to reaching about every trip and I am always moved by the posts. Thank you!
YES! The blog trips are by far the greatest way to shape a heart for sponsoring a child. The words jumping off the page are piercing; the emotions gripping; the high and lows of the actual work/ministry is ever etched in the readers mind and heart! The pictures!! That’s all I can say. I know a family that has taken two trips with Compassion and sponsor 3 children – just an average, middle-class family that has fallen in love with three children in Guatemala to be exact.
As much as they possess the heartbeat of a true Compassion advocate, the ability to pry open the eyes of an average American to see children in poverty is challenging for them. Not because they lack the ability or the heart. No, they lack the opportunity of the raw, on the spot passing of experience from a far-away world that doesn’t collide with ours. Once they are home, well, it’s just passing of stories, and sharing of experiences that “are nice” but they don’t rock a world or call for a response per se. It is “their” trip – “their” story.
With the bloggers – It’s like actually walking the dirty, smelly, rat infested dump that others call home. It’s almost like touching the shoulders of the small, brown-eyed child and seeing directly into them. I cry. I laugh. I am numb. I SHARE. Yes, I will be one that follows the blog trips over and over – it keeps me grounded. This time though I shared the posts with others and they, too, were drawn into a 3rd world country where children really do go without food, clothing and the basic daily things our children take for granted. It’s not just the 4 bloggers and the leaders who returned from a trip – it’s hundreds of readers who walked the roads, wept with the writer, laughed with joy and HOPE found in the Compassion Projects as Amanda did that difficult day while visiting the dump.
Keep them going. Keep them telling. Keep showing the faces. It’s making a difference!
Thanks for leading!
THANK YOU ALL for these great stories! VERY encouraging to all of us. I’m passing these on to the powers that be at Compassion for sure – plenty of reason to keep doing what we’re doing…and even dream up more ways to serve you guys through these trips.
THANK YOU!
Hi Shaun!
Just wanted to let you know, I teach Sunday school in Davis, CA, and this week’s message is about Gratitude. I am going to show my students some photos from your compassion blogs– I hope that’s okay. I especially wanted to show them the beautiful smiling kids with whom we will hopefully spend eternity in heaven, and the kinds of homes they live in. “Dominican for House” “Indian for stove” — hope these photos can speak to the kids and instill in them hearts of gratitude and perspective about their friends around the world.
I’m so thankful for all you do. I really hope to have you speak to our church one day. We love working with Compassion, do 30 Hour Famine each summer, and we have “Compassion Sunday” once a year.
God bless!
Awesome, Linda!
Until very recently I taught 2nd and 3rd graders at church (now I’m leading adults…but they’re not as fun). After my India trip I brought in pics and we talked about gratitude with the kids. We’ll see if it sticks ; ) I think it will.
Thanks for loving kids here at home and around the world, Linda!
Just wanted you to know that these trips have been fabulous for us here at home! The first trip I followed was the trip to Kenya, where we sponsor our “daughter.” I was transformed by that trip, because Africa has been growing in my heart. My husband on the other hand, works hard for the money we sponsor with, but has left the letter writing to me. This Guatemala trip changed him, he saw the importance of letters and liked knowing Compassion is all about Jesus! (I still get to write though, that’s my favorite
) Thanks for changing our family while we “sacrifice” a few dollars a month to change the life of a family halfway across the world!
I respect this aspect of Compassion’s organization SO much.
Good leaders don’t rule through fear or guilt, but by example. Jesus was such an amazing leader because he showed us how to be, how to do, how to speak.
That’s why I love Compassion’s marketing campaign so much. Instead of just yelling at people to do more, or being frustrated that they don’t, they gently lead them to where the heart of God is and invite them to join.
It’s for this same reason that I don’t think short term mission trips are a waist of money, even though within the reasons of logic, you could just send the amount of money that you’d spend on the plane ticket, etc to the place you wanted to minister. But a lot of time, your trip isn’t about you changing the place you’re going, but the place you’re going changing you.
Keep up the good work!
I never, ever considered sponsoring a child…until Carlos and Heather Whittaker exposed me to the trip they took through their blogs.
We have one income and are barely getting by, but would never consider stopping and that is mainly due to the continued blogger trips. They keep it all in perspective.
Great timing, Shaun!
Our family has been praying about whether to support children through Compassion Int’l…mostly b/c of your spectacular coverage over the last couple of blogging trips. I looked on charity navigator and saw the 80% business and the 200K CEO salary and were a little worried…never about the blogging trips, which seem genius..and never about your hair…which has a wide following…just about the $ in general.
Tanya from Sponsor Donor Relations, sent me a great email that included a link that I also really appreciated–and one that gives more cred to the financial decisions in general and the CEO of Compassion Int’l specifically…
http://www.gazette.com/articles/ceo-62306-springs-based.html
It was really neat to know that the CEO spends a quantity of that 200K salary supporting Compassion Children of his own…so, really the % to the children is higher, but, she said Compassion applies 83.1% of the $38 monthly sponsorship amount to the child program expenses, 8% to Administration and 8.9% to Fundraising…and the 4 stars from Charity Navigator are hard to argue with…so, now we’re hooked…
I am riveted to your posts from the blogging trips. I am a Child Advocate with Compassion and I love all the stories. I had a Compassion event coming up and was *soul* tired. A couple of Ann’s posts had me bawling like a baby and was exactly what I needed to muster the energy to speak up for those kiddos that weekend.
Remind me, over again, what the truth is. I live in the land of plenty and I forget, I forget.
I’ve never been on a Compassion “bloggers” trip, but I have traveled with Compassion several times… after traveling internationally with a couple of other Christian organizations. I have to say that the first couple of trips I took, I was completely unprepared for “re-entry” – coming home to America. I was angry and didn’t know what to do with what I had seen or what I was feeling. My trips with Compassion were so different… instead of coming home in complete despair over what I had seen & experienced, I came home armed with hope and a concrete way to make a difference.
As for Compassion’s CEO… my goodness if everyone could spend 10 minutes with Wess, their entire view of the world would be changed! I cannot speak highly enough of him… he is one of the most humble, wise, caring, compassionate people I’ve ever met.
And my view of the 80/20 split was completely transformed by a year of working in Compassion’s headquarters in CO. My parents would be in the category referred to by Compassion as “major donors.” To allow the daughter of a major donor to see the inner workings of your organization… well… you’d think it would make them nervous, but no, they do exactly what they say they do and are completely transparent about it. They had nothing to hide. And I was so thankful to see the “business” side of the ministry. SO MUCH WORK goes into this – it’s hard to understand from the “sponsor” side, but it takes people (who require salaries) to do everything… from research, marketing, meetings, answering phones, translating letters, and stuffing envelopes to dealing with international crises. If everyone could experience a day in the life of a Compassion employee, I think they would not only understand the 80/20 split, but be amazed that Compassion maintains 80% going directly to serving the children.
And I will now step off my soapbox. I just am so impressed with Compassion’s vision and ministry… what they do and how they do it. They are exactly who they say they are. They do exactly what they say they do. It’s tough to believe in such a skeptical world, but you can trust Compassion.
And to anyone who made it this far and is thinking “Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is?” … trust me, I do. I wouldn’t encourage others to support a ministry that I am not heavily invested in myself.
Hey Shaun – thanks for posting this. If it wasn’t for your blogging about Compassion, sponsoring would have never become a priority in our house. I can’t remember which post it was, but after reading it, and after weeping, as a family, we decided we had to do something.
keep up the (great value) work
peace
Hi there. I have loved reading through these comments and hearing the stories of how these trips have stimulated so much action on the behalf of the littlest people. I love that.
We are here in Thailand currently, and I have been wrestling with the “necessary” expense of marketing. Like it or not, we Westerners have been given the gift of incredible wealth compared to most of the world, and it is important to use effective tools to speak into that advanced culture, in order to encourage compassion and giving (excellent publications, websites, video, blog trips, etc). Technology is just a language we rich Westerners can understand.
Thanks for going, and encouraging others to do the same.
Laura
[...] 20, 2010 by learningpatience I was reading the comments on this post, when I started thinking about when it happened to me. That thing that couldn’t be UNKNOWN [...]
We’ve been sponsoring a child in the DR since reading about PW’s husband going on a Compassion trip 2 years ago. We’d heard of Compassion, and knew about the organization, but never felt compelled to sponsor until seeing the pictures and reading their stories. This was the post that did it for me:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2008/11/a_tale_of_two_houses/
I don’t know why I haven’t signed up to be a Compassion Blogger yet…but I’m going to! Thanks for writing in such detail about this.
As someone who is super curious about all of this, and also works in ministry, and loves blogging, all of this is so interesting to me. Especially since I work in youth ministry and we take multiple trips each summer. Thanks for sharing the “Behind the Scenes”.
Just wanted to say that thanks to the Compassion blog’s that I read during your Guatemala trip, our family was inspired to do more…we adopted our first son form Guatemala and we sponsor a child through another group, but we wanted to do MORE!
Our family is joining with Orphan Outreach Guatemala and is raising $3200 (God willing) by Christmas for Mama Carmen’s orphanage in Guatemala City so that every child can have a new pair of shoes for the school year. EVERY child deserves a new pair of shoes.
It is stories like this that make the $$ spent on trips count many times over. Thank you for being an example of the hands and feet of Christ!
Our family thinks it’s money well spent and I’m sure the children at Mama Carmen’s will too!
[...] – Do the Compassion blogger trips waste money? Shaun has some answers. [...]
I’m so grateful that Compassion has these blogger trips. Awareness is heightened, consciences are poked & prodded, and many people who wouldn’t know about it otherwise are reached with the opportunity to serve through sponsorship.
Compassion is very fiscally responsible – has been for many years – which is why we sponsor through them. And I love that they’re not sitting on past success, but continuously looking for ways to improve & innovate. And I really do believe it’s blessed by God because they put Him first. So thanks, Compassion. You all are wonderful examples of servants, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to touch a life or two in another country.
I have been sponsoring children through Compassion for over 25 years. I’ve followed the past three blogging trips and loved the first hand look at the Compassion projects. However, it wasn’t until I was following the Guatemala trip that it actually HIT me how important writing to your child is. So as far as over saturation, I think that even if I follow the next 10 blogging trips, I’ll learn something new and open my eyes with each one.
Thank you for all that you do and for bringing the first hand look to all of us that probably won’t ever see it.
God bless you!
Shaun,
I agree. Ann Voskamp’s blog made me aware of this need and has made me want to do something about it. My husband and I shared Ann’s blog posts about Xiorama and the three families with my church small group last week as part of our Bible study on showing mercy and compassion to those in need. I think this is a great way to spread awareness with low cost on Compassion’s part. I also noticed the number of children on the Guatemala waiting list almost cut in half over the past two weeks. I do not think this is just coincidence. God bless you all for taking time away from your families to spread the gospel to the least of these.
Compassion blogging trips are directly responsible for us sponsoring our first little boy from Rwanda. We picked up our second child this past December, these trips DO make a difference.
Because of a Compassion Blogger, “The Nester” My family and I sat down and decided to give up our “going out for food” money and sponsoring a young man from Tanzania. While I was struggling to pick a young man, 3 were picked in the time I was reading about their lives. I can say without her blog post, it is not something I would have ever known about.
We sponsor two children, both as a direct result from two different Compassion blogging trips. I have no doubt that these trips are the #1 source of marketing.
It is because of The Nester this year that I decided and felt lead to sponsor another child. It probably would have never crossed my mind as my family already sponsors a child from World Vision. There is something about seeing someone you feel like you know and love through a blog that can reach your heart in such a way. Not only is it changing the lives of those children but it is also changing the lives of blog readers. I could watch a video or hear some random person speak about this, but when it comes from someone you know and trust, the story is so much more impactful! Keep it coming!
I had not heard much about Compassion before the blogging trip to Philippines last year, and shortly after that our family began sponsoring two children. After reading about the Tanzania trip I am definitely making a bigger effort to write our kids more often, and we may begin sponsoring another child soon. I think the blogger trips are some of the most forward thinking, intelligently thought-out, well-spent marketing dollars I’ve seen. The ingenuity of the idea was actually part of what convinced me that it was an organization I wanted to support.