The ABC's of Compassion - Act for Compassion

I am going out on a limb here and starting a 26 post series about Compassion. Each post will have to do with one aspect of Compassion and start with a letter of the alphabet.

None of the posts have been written yet. This is my first one!

I hope to write and post these each week so that you can learn more about Compassion from a volunteer's perspective.

First up...Act for Compassion!

What is it?

Stealing this from the Act for Compassion page..."a platform that exists to help you create online campaigns to take action to release children from poverty."

When the Act for Compassion web site was first launched, I did a Bake for Brazil campaign.

My original goal for this online campaign was for 19 people to join me by raising $50 each. I was never able to find the other 19 people, but I was able to raise $100 baking and selling homemade baked goods to my local friends and family.

For the Act for Compassion fundraising campaigns, you can set one up for your birthday, anniversary, wedding, Christmas, etc. Currently, the campaigns are focusing on Bibles, clean water, goats, Haiti, and Ecuador. Be sure to check the Act for Compassion page because areas of critical need change on a regular basis.

Want to focus on finding sponsors for waiting children?

You can do that too!

What I love about the Act for Compassion sponsorship campaign...you can set up your challenge to focus on different countries, ages, longest waiting, and a few other criteria.

So let's say, you just got back from a Compassion sponsor trip to Kenya.

Now you want to help find more sponsors for some children like the ones you fell in love with.

Set up your Act for Compassion sponsorship campaign for children just from Kenya!

One way I have used the sponsorship campaign, I set up a campaign to run in conjunction with my Compassion Sunday. This way, if people are searching for children by birthday, they could check my Act for Compassion sponsorship campaign to find a child whose birthday matched their own child's birthday!

One other area of the Act for Compassion page is the volunteer area.

Do you know that volunteers are a huge part of Compassion?

You can volunteer at Compassion partnered events.

Live in Colorado Springs? You can volunteer at Compassion Headquarters.

And, every now and then, there are volunteer leadership positions available as a way for you to serve!

As a sponsor, you are welcome to join the public Act for Compassion group on Facebook. And I also am the admin for the Act for Compassion Northern California group. 

These groups are great places to get encouragement and support, especially if you are looking to take the next step and become more involved as a volunteer with Compassion.

What questions do you have about Act for Compassion?

Shoot, Share, and Don't Stress

My friends over at Compassion have started doing monthly webinars again which I am so excited about! These monthly webinars help each one of us be more effective advocates for Compassion.

The crazy thing is, they actually asked me to be on a panel with my friend Sam for this month's webinar, Get Social Media Savvy.

Who is Sam?

Sam is the social media manager at Compassion. His team handles all of the Compassion blog posts and all the social media channels for Compassion. I can't even imagine how crazy busy his team is on an every day basis!

Just so you know, I am not a social media expert. I just want to use my voice and the tools that are available to help spread the message of Compassion.

The webinar should be available very soon if you are interested in watching it.

In the meantime, I thought I would recap my three points in how you can use social media to advocate for Compassion.

Shoot - take pictures!

What should you take pictures of? A sponsor selfie, letter writing, attending the Compassion Experience, hosting a Compassion Sunday, volunteering at a Compassion event, any photos that have to do with your involvement with Compassion.

The biggie photo? If you have had the chance to travel and meet your Compassion sponsored child, I sure hope you have photos from that experience!

Since there are people in your sphere of influence who might still be skeptical of Compassion, a photo of you with your sponsored child speaks volumes!!

Now that you have some photos, what should you do with them?

Share - post them on your favorite social media channel!

With each photo that you share, write something from your heart about that photo and/or experience.

Sponsor selfie - why do you sponsor a Compassion child?

Letter writing - maybe share something from a recent letter from your sponsored child

Compassion Experience - share the impact this experience had on you and your family

Compassion Sunday - share why you advocate for other Compassion children

Volunteering - share something meaningful from your experience

Meeting your Compassion sponsored child - if you have had this opportunity, I am sure you can share volumes about this experience!

What else can you share?

Compassion has great content on all of their social media channels. When you see something they have posted that resonates with you, add a few of your own thoughts and share!

You can also mention Compassion and use hashtags in your posts. Compassion might just respond to your post to encourage you!

So what is the last point?

Don't Stress

I am going to say it again...I am not an expert!

Don't worry about knowing all the social media rules and guidelines.

Share from your heart!

Keep a balance - if you post regularly on social media, make sure it is not all about Compassion. 

Don't be discouraged - not all of your Compassion posts will bring Compassion sponsors. Be faithful in sharing. God already knows who will be sponsoring Compassion children and He will bring them about in His timing!

Still have questions? Comment below and I will try to answer them or find someone who can answer them for us!

Act for Compassion with Black Friday Bibles

You may be thinking, "What does Black Friday and Bibles have in common?"

Nothing really.

But a couple of weeks ago, I started an Act for Compassion fundraising campaign to raise money to provide children's Bibles for Compassion kids around the world.

The Black Friday part of the campaign was to encourage people to use some of their Black Friday savings to purchase Bibles.

Now that Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday have past, I wanted to take the time to have you and your family think about making even a $10 donation to this fundraiser.

Photo credit: Compassion International

Have you ever counted how many Bibles you have in your home?

Give your kids a fun activity today!

Send them around your home counting how many Bibles you have. For every Bible you own, put one dollar in a jar.

Have 5 Bibles? Donate $5 to my fundraiser.

Have 10 Bibles? Donate $10 to my fundraiser.

Every $10 donation provides a children's Bible for a Compassion child.

Will you and your family help today?

My Week of Photos

What did I capture this week with my DSLR camera?

ISO 400, f/2.0, 1/80 sec with 50mm lens

I love an excuse to bake! One day last week was National Chocolate Cake Day, so I baked a batch of chocolate cupcakes and sold most of them for my Bake for Brazil fundraiser. Pretty excited that I was able to raise $50 last week for Compassion kids in Brazil!

ISO 400, f/2.0, 1/500 sec with 50mm lens

Took advantage of a break in the rain, set up one of my favorite childhood books in the backyard to capture this one. What children's book is your favorite?

ISO 100, f/10, 1/640 sec

After we got home from church on Sunday, my daughter and I drove around a bit, looking for the perfect spot to take photos of the clouds moving in. 

ISO 100, f/5.3, 1/400 sec

This is not a very exciting photo. And I really should have brought all these quart size canning jars in for the winter. But this just shows that we have been receiving a lot of much needed rain out here in California!

ISO 400, f/2.5, 1/80 sec with 50 mm lens

Hard to believe we are in the second month of this new year already! Time to put away the winter decorations and bring out the Valentine decorations. Pages from an old, used copy of Persuasion were used to make this craft which hangs in our windows in February.

ISO 800, f/2.5, 1/80 sec with 50mm lens

A few more handmade Valentine decorations are out. Add a bit of paint to some glue and paint the outside of a couple of canning jars. Attach a paper heart doily and tie it with a bit of ribbon or twine, and you have a cute new candle holder for your tealight candles on these dark winter nights.

What did you capture this week?

Bake for Brazil

I love to bake. In middle school, I took a whole year of home ec and learned to bake so many things. And I am thankful to have a kitchen, many tools, and access to lots of ingredients that allow me the pleasure of baking pretty much any time I want to.

My love of baking allowed me to use that talent as one way to raise funds for both of my Compassion sponsor tours. I would bake cupcakes, pies, cream puffs, and people would buy them to help me realize a dream of meeting our sponsored children.

In Brazil, there is a little boy who has a dream of being a pilot. His name is Jesus Gabriel. He lives with his single mother and seven siblings in one small brick home in a community where a large percentage of the population lives on less than $35 per month.

$35 per month.

We spend more than that when all four of us go out for dinner.

I want to help Jesus Gabriel and other children like him be able to realize their dreams.

And I am asking 20 of my friends to partner with me.

Do you like to bake?

Yes?

Here is how you can help...host a bake sale and donate the earnings to my Bake for Brazil fundraising campaign.

I have a goal, and it is a big one.

20 bake sales at $50 each equals $1000 

20 bake sales by March 20th

20 bake sales that will help more children be encouraged to dream

"Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them." - Lady Bird Johnson

Can I count on you to Bake for Brazil?