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Page History
| Policy Name: | Funds and Grant-Making Policy for Churches and Projects |
|---|---|
| Relevant Standards: | Church and Project Fund Standard, Grant-Making Standard |
| Creation Date: | 8/23/2023 |
| Last Review Date: |
Purpose
Provide guidance on establishing and uitilizing project and church funds and distributing monies from those funds using grants.
Scope
This policy applies to all church and project funds and to grants used for distribution of monies
Standards Supporting This Policy
- Church and Project Fund Standard
- Grant-Making Standard
Policy Statement
The Reliant Board of Directors ("Board") delegates to Reliant leadership the authority to establish church and project funds in order to further Reliant's tax-exempt purposes and to make grants from the established funds, in a matter compliant with applicable laws and regulations and according to the criteria outlined below.
Project and Church Fund Approval Criteria
Partnership:
All church and project funds must be vetted first to confirm the church/ministry partnership with Reliant
Purpose:
The purpose of the fund must be consistent with Reliant's tax-exempt purpose. Reliant considers activities to be consistent with its tax-exempt purposes when such activities generally accord with services common to Christan ministries and societies. Reliant interprets the phrases in our tax-exempt purpose "to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ" and "to conduct and extend missionary work" as incorporating a wide variety of services performed under the banner of the gospel of Christ including works of service and other actions and activities done for the purpose of fostering relationships, building trust, garnering credibility with the community, and conveying the Word of God via "all methods of communication." Evangelical Christian work also incorporates all elements of caring for the welfare of the workers who are conducting gospel work. Therefore, when considering the establishment of church/project funds and the approval of grants using church/project funds, Reliant deems that our tax-exempt purposes align with humanitarian and community service-based projects, as well as traditional gospel projects.
| Info |
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Reliant's tax-exempt purpose of Corporation filed with the IRS reads as follows: The Corporation is organized primarily to serve as an Evangelical Christian Missionary Society, whose purposes shall be to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, to conduct and extend missionary work, to lead souls to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, to teach the Word of God, and to instruct and edify the body of Christ, by a true and faithful ministry of His previous Word: to train and raise up workers for mission fields, both within the United States of America and abroad, and to establish, maintain and conduct schools for so training missionaries; and to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to all of humanity and to that end to use all methods of communication, including but not limited to public speech, concerts, audio-visual recordings, and the publication, printing, duplication and dissemination of the written word. |
Funding Type:
- Unrestricted Church Funds- The sole purpose of these designated funds (accounts) is to absorb leftover funds (money) from exited staff that were a part of their church/ministry (typically for residencies/internships) and use those funds to help support other staff at the same church/ministry who need assistance with raising support. These are unrestricted, non-revenue funds (accounts), and funds (money) only come in and out through internal transfers.
- Restricted Church Funds- These funds receive donations from outside donors with the purpose to fund the church/ministry/network expenses, possibly ministry grants, and/or Reliant employees/associates associated with the church/ministry. The purpose tends to be more general and fund distribution tends to be determined by church leadership.
- Restricted Project Funds- These funds receive donations from outside donors to help fund the projects that the church/ministry/network wishes to accomplish. These projects generally tend to have an end date versus going on in perpetuity. The purpose of project funds can vary but they tend to be more specific with a focused purpose in mind.
- Endowment Funds- If the project purpose being requested is for an endowment project, it will automatically be sent to the board for pre-approval before moving forward with the creation of the fund, regardless of the purpose or projected amount.
Projected Amount:
- Reliant Leadership will approve church and project funds projected to receive $100,000 (or less) annually.
- Funds projected to receive over $100,000 annually require approval of the Reliant board.
Timing of Fund Creation:
All approvals (based on purpose and projected amount parameters including approval from the Reliant board) must be received prior to church/project fund creation.
Grant-Making Criteria:
Grants are used for the distribution of the projected amount for the project and church funds. The grant must be in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and Reliant Standards. Examples include but are not limited to:
- Reliant grants must be consistent with the purpose of the fund distributing the grant.
- Reliant will not act as a conduit of funds for any recipient.
- Reliant grants cannot be used to cause any private inurement or improper private benefit to occur.
- Reliant will take reasonable steps of due diligence to ensure that it is not otherwise assisting known or suspected terrorists through its foreign grant-making process.
(See Grant-Making Standard for more details.)
