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No Personal Acceptance of Ministry-Related Gifts
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All contributions received by missionary or affliated project fundraiser relating to their involvement in ministry must be transmitted to Reliant, rather than retained. A missionary may not keep any monetary gift given to him or her (see Ethical and Legal Gift Requirements section below regarding retention of gift cards) if the purpose of that contribution is in any way related to their Reliant employment or role in ministry. |
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Monetary gifts to family members such as spouse or children from donors may be retained
Pastoral services
Employees who perform ministerial duties, such as performing a wedding, within their Reliant employment, must submit any money received as a result of such service to Reliant. However, if a rendered service is apart from their Reliant work duties, then the employee should treat any funds received for such services as secondary income. The primary consideration in making such a determination is whether the service is within the job duties of Reliant employment or apart from them. For example, performing a wedding for a member of their church would most likely be within the normal job duties of an employed missionary or pastor. However, performing a wedding for someone outside the congregation, where no obligation exists to perform the wedding, would generally be outside the normal job duties of an employee.
Gifts in Kind Such as Used Vehicles or Computers
Reliant will only accept a tax-deductible gift-in-kind at their offices in Orlando if the intention of the donor is to give for the use of Reliant. See appraisal and rules in Section 6.6
Unfortunately, due to IRS restrictions, Reliant cannot accept non-monetary/gift-in-kind donations from a donor that are ultimately intended for the personal use of a Reliant missionary or another specific person. Reliant missionaries may accept gifts-in-kind only as personal gifts. Donors are not issued tax receipts and Reliant will not acknowledge the gift.
Gift Cards
Occasionally Reliant missionaries (this includes associate staff) are given gift cards by ministry donors, their local church, or even by people they are ministering to. Reliant desires to be conservative when determining whether these gift cards should be reportable and turned in to Reliant. Many of these gift cards are given to missionaries at Christmas, but not exclusively.
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- All gift cards that are turned in to Reliant by missionaries will be recorded as a charitable contribution to Reliant under the category of “anonymous donor”.
- The contribution will be designated and credited to the MTD account for which the missionary is responsible for (who received the gift card).
- The standard applicable administration fee will be applied to the gift (usually 12%).
- The gift card will be kept on file to be later used by the Reliant office for ministry purchases in the normal course of business.
Gift Cards Given by a Missionary’s Local Church or Another Church/Ministry
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However, if the local church or ministry gives the missionary multiple gift cards that are each $10 and under, each one of these gift cards must all be turned in to Reliant.
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Mission Trips
Reliant donors may not be solicited for contributions to other organizations or for other ministry purposes (such as mission trips through local churches). Reliant employed field staff and associate field staff are required to raise all funds for any mission trip through Reliant, even if the mission trip is sponsored by their local church or another ministry organization. Mission trips are a standard part of their Reliant ministry involvement and therefore considered a part of their employment or, for associate staff, a part of their volunteer ministry work. This applies to all mission trips - both domestic and international.
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