| Standard Name: | Sponsor Church |
|---|---|
| Scope: | US, International, & Collegiate Employees |
| Revision Date: | April 23, 2021 |
| Last Review Date: | July 5, 2023 |
If you are a career worker with Reliant, you may be eligible to designate a Sponsor Church that is eligible for a reduced administrative assessment. A Sponsor Church is a church that is financially supporting Reliant on your behalf and is committed to sending you as a worker into the field. You may have many churches who are helping send you as a part of your Reliant ministry team, but you may assign one Sponsor Church to receive the reduced administrative assessment. Typically, employees will select the church that is giving the largest financial gift to Reliant on their behalf as their Sponsor Church. Reach out to your Program Team liaison to see if you are eligible to assign a Sponsor Church.What is a Sponsor Church?
What is the benefit of having a Sponsor Church?
Reliant workers' MTD Accounts are eligible to have any gift received from a Sponsor Church to receive a 3% administrative assessment instead of the normal 12% for any financial gifts sent to Reliant on their behalf by their Sponsor Church. To receive the reduced administrative assessment, the worker must let Reliant know which church will be their Sponsor Church.
The Intent behind allowing a Sponsor Church
Reliant wishes to support and bless partner churches and organizations. When a church takes steps of growth (or generosity) to support the ministry of a Reliant worker from their general budget, Reliant wants to bless that church and the worker. We allow Reliant workers to pick any supporting church or the church/organization where they are serving to be assigned a 3% reduced administrative assessment fee. This allowance will not be extended to other businesses, individuals, or foundations.
How do I notify Reliant of my Sponsor Church?
See Employment Changes for the form under Section: Change in Sponsor Church (Special Admin fee).
When should I notify Reliant of my Sponsor Church?
Before the first gift is given from the church, fill out the Employment Changes form under Section: Change in Sponsor Church (Special Admin fee).
Am I eligible for the Sponsor Church as an Associate Staff raising to go full-time?
Typically, Associate Staff are not eligible for the Sponsor Church discount. However, as an Associate Staff in Accruing MTD (see MTD Statuses), you are eligible for the Sponsor Church discount beginning right after you complete New Staff Training. Be sure to notify Reliant of your Sponsor Church at or right after New Staff Training to receive the benefit while you are an Associate Staff.
Can I change my Sponsor Church?
Yes, you may change your Sponsor Church if your church stops giving to Reliant on your behalf or if another church comes on Reliant's Ministry Team on your behalf and is giving a larger gift than your current Sponsor Church. You must notify Reliant of this change. See How Do I notify Reliant of my Sponsor Church above.
Who is not eligible for the Sponsor Church Discount?
Interns and Residents are not eligible for the reduced Sponsor Church Administrative Assessment.
Questions?
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15 Comments
Unknown User (julied)
Kathy Zellinger and/or Unknown User (angiem), is there any additional information about Sponsor Churches that needs to be added here? Kathy, do you initially assign a Sponsor Church to a missionary if they do not email you with one? If so, when is this done? Are there any other folks that do not currently receiving the Sponsor Church discount? Thanks for looking this over and making any edits/updates!
Kathy Zellinger
This is kind of tricky, because in the normal world, Associate Staff do not get a sponsor church. So when the International Missionaries finish training, they come on as Associate Staff. Sometimes I don't know which church they're actually associated with (like Stacy & Debbie Ware). When people get released, I check with them to make sure I have their correct sponsor church and one person doesn't have any church donors.
All that to say, I would put the burden/responsibilty on the staff members to send an email to HR.
Sometimes staff will write their Sponsor Church on the Staff Information Change form and I'll check it to make sure we have the correct church listed.
I created a query to help me see who doesn't have a Sponsor Church, but I don't want to only depend on that.
Unknown User (julied)
OK, I like that. Check out what I added regarding Associate Staff International Missionaries and if they can change their sponsor church. Is this info accurate? Feel free to make edits if not. Thanks Kathy Zellinger!
Kathy Zellinger
Yes, looks good.
Unknown User (julied)
Excellent, thanks so much for reviewing this info, Kathy!
user-1a794
user-231f6, Mike Swann, This page is belongs in Missionary manual. Sarah Swann
Mike Swann
Update: We had a missionary request that we discussed on July 23, 2018 2018-07-23 Meeting Notes (Management Team).
We did not allow the request to have a foundation be the sponsor church at 3%, unless that person is working for that foundation.
Dave Meldrum-Green
Kerry HousleyI just happen to be reviewing this page and noticed that we call the Sponsor Church Assessment fee...a "discounted assessment fee".... and also refer to it as a "discount". It looks like the language has been on the page since it's beginning. It just seems rather strange to be referring to this as a discount, because it comes across like we're a for profit business and charging 12% for our services but then giving "discounts". I'm just not sure how the IRS who view this when we're supposed to be a ministry and not a professional employment organization (PEO). I wonder if referring to it a reduced administrative assessment and/or Sponsor Church Reduced Administrative Assessment might be better....
Kerry Housley
Julie Thomas and Matt Elkins , can you weigh in on Dave's proposed change to the language here? Thoughts? If you're both good with it we could just move forward with the change.
Seems like the proposal on the table is changing "discounted assessment fee" to "reduced administrative assessment" on this Sponsor Church policy page. Not sure if we use this statement elsewhere, but we could find and replace those too.
If these needs more attention than a simple comment here I'm happy to help navigate next steps.
cc: Kristina Lillyuser-2239e
Julie Thomas
I'm not sure if I'm the best person to give an opinion on this as it is an area that I don't have a lot of knowledge in and would defer to those with more. However, I do agree with Dave's evaluation that "discounted fee" may not be the best term. I'm good with the alternative that he suggested.
Kerry Housley
I just wanted you to have eyes on this because it was a potential policy change. I figured Matt (or other program leads) would speak more about the content.
Mike Swann
I like the idea of reduced and I think it hits our heart behind it. I know we changed some language after an audit one time. That is the one of the few times I've been called into the audience, and it is when we added the line... "Typically, employees will select the church that is giving the largest financial gift to Reliant on their behalf as their Sponsor Church." But i don't think the discount language was important in that. I think reduced is best.
Kerry Housley
It sounds like everyone is in agreement with your proposed change, Dave. Please go ahead and make the changes to the page and then re-approve the workflow to ensure the updates get published. (It looks like it's only in the opening paragraph under "What is a Sponsor Church" and in the note "Who is eligible for a Sponsor Church Discount?" at the bottom.)
Julie, is there anything more to do be done? Do you want to change the "last reviewed date" at the top after Dave is done?
Matt Elkins
Yes, I agree that reduced admin assessment is better language and I am in full support of the change.
Ashley Ramirez
This page was checked and revised for the 2023 Language Change Project on 7/5/23 -A.R.