Your questions answered

CROWD is really simple. 

We understand that not everyone can make the financial commitment to support a child living in severe poverty alone - and that’s where CROWD comes in.

Each CROWD is made up of three supporters who are committed to making a difference with the resources they have.

Each CROWD member gives £12 a month to share equally the total cost of supporting a child to be part of our church-based programme where they receive the love and support they need to change their story.

Your CROWD could be your friends and family, or you could choose to be connected with two other like-minded people you've never met before who are just as determined as you to make a difference.

By joining a CROWD, you'll have the opportunity to share experiences and build relationships with other supporters like yourself. And together you'll be part of a powerful support system for a child in need.

You’ll receive updates about the child you’re supporting and can exchange letters to send your love, prayers and encouragement.

Your support empowers local church leaders, project staff, parents and family members with the resources they need to provide hope, practical support and encouragement to the child your CROWD is supporting, and ensure that they are known, loved and protected.

They’ll attend a church-based child development centre where they receive life-changing opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach. Our local church partners know the needs, understand the context, and have a heart to serve the children who need it most.

Your CROWD will enable the child you support to receive:

• educational opportunities
• key life skills training and vocational programmes
• health care to prevent and fight disease and sickness
• nutritional support to protect against malnutrition
• ongoing Christian training through a local church
• recreational activities to develop self-confidence and social skills
• protection from crime, violence and danger

The support you provide creates a ripple effect - impacting the family and wider community to achieve real change.

CROWD is about investing in the future of a child in need. We don’t compromise when it comes to protecting and nurturing the children in our programme. And evidence shows that it works.

Independent research into our church-based programme shows that children stay in school longer and are more likely to grow up to be employed and become leaders in their churches and communities. 

This means that children supported through CROWD are:

• Up to 18% more likely to have salaried employment as adults.
• Up to 75% more likely to become leaders in their communities.
• Up to 40% more likely to finish their secondary education.
• And in Kenya, up to 54% more likely to have an income-generating skill.

Graduates of the programme have gone on to do so many incredible things. And we’ve seen first-hand that breaking the cycle of poverty means long-term change for generations to come. It works!

Together, we can all play a part to give every child the best foundations to help them overcome and escape a life of severe poverty.

CROWD is an initiative of a charity called Compassion who have partnering with local churches to support children living in poverty since 1952.

Compassion is committed to excellent stewardship and is registered with the Fundraising Regulator. 

Typically, for every pound received 88p is spent on charitable activities, and the other 12p is spent on fundraising and finding the next supporter.

We work hard to ensure donations are used strategically for the greatest benefit of children in severe poverty. We’re accountable for every penny we spend, and we conduct regular internal and external audits in our offices around the world and in the UK.

Compassion UK launched CROWD in 2024 to make it possible for people who want to make a difference for a child living in severe poverty, but haven’t been able to commit to the full cost of one-to-one support. CROWD helps three people share the overall cost so that together they can change the story for one child.

Our local, church-driven programmes operate in some of the world’s poorest communities, identifying and supporting children at the greatest risk. We’d love to support every child, but our resources are limited, so we focus our support on the poorest families. We work with children from all faiths and backgrounds.

We run our programmes exclusively in partnership with local churches

We do all our work through partnerships with thousands of local churches around the world as catalysts for community change. A local church is best suited to identify and address the needs of the children in its community because the church is already located in and involved in the community.

All children to be registered are selected based on objective criteria that establish their need and ability to benefit from the programme. Our project staff meet with the families to better understand their circumstances and to ensure they are happy for their children to participate in a programme run by the local church.

Our projects will usually register only one child from each family, enabling us to reach out to as many families from the local community as possible. In exceptional circumstances, as many as three siblings can be registered.

We understand that situations change, and there may be any number of reasons why you have to end your support.

You can cancel your support at any time by managing your subscription via your dashboard or by contacting us.

If you do decide that you need to cancel, the child you support will continue to benefit from the local church based programme, and we’ll try to find another supporter to complete their CROWD for them as soon as possible. 

So whatever happens, the child you support will continue to receive love and care within the programme.

It costs each supporter £12 a month to be part of CROWD.

Each CROWD is made up of three supporters who are committed to making a difference with the resources they have.

Each CROWD member gives £12 a month to share equally the total cost of supporting a child to be part of our church-based programme where they receive the love and support they need to change their story.

We understand that not everyone can make the financial commitment to support a child living in severe poverty alone - and that’s where CROWD comes in. You join with two others and collectively your make a difference for a child living in poverty.

Your CROWD could be made up of your friends and family. Or you could choose to be connected with two other like-minded people you've never met before who are just as determined as you to make a difference. It’s up to you.

When you join CROWD, you have the opportunity to choose to join by yourself - in which case we’ll help connect you with two others to collectively stand with the child you’re supporting.

Or you can choose to join with yourself and others that you know. If you choose this option, you’ll complete your subscription and we’ll hold the remaining spaces in your CROWD. We’ll give you a sharing link for you to send to those you’d like to encourage to join you. 

If for any reason the people you thought would want to join your CROWD aren’t able to, it’s not a problem and there’s no additional obligation on your. Instead, we’ll simply help find another supporter to complete your CROWD. 

And whatever happens, the child you support will continue to receive love and care within the programme.

By joining a CROWD, you'll have the opportunity to share experiences and build relationships with other supporters like yourself. And together you'll be part of a powerful support system for a child in need.

You’ll receive updates about the child you’re supporting and can exchange letters to send your love, prayers and encouragement.

You’re in control of how many letters you send and can write as much or as little as you like - up to a maximum of one letter per month. All three members of your CROWD can contribute to the letter writing process - you’ll each have the chance to send a message and a photo.

Letter writing is part of the shared CROWD experience so you’ll have the opportunity to see what others are saying to the child you’re supporting, and they’ll see what you’ve written. This gives you the chance to each focus on a different area and encouragement.

Every letter sent to your child will be translated into their local language. And the letters they send back to you will be translated into English for you.

Over time, the letters and photo updates your receive from the child your CROWD is supporting will encourage you in the difference you're making in their life.