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Page History
Standard Name: | Grant-Making Standard |
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Relevant Policy: | |
Relevant Standard: | Church and Project Fund Standard |
Creation Date: | 8/23/2023 |
Last Revision Date: |
Table of Contents
General Standards
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Designated Grantees' qualifications and responsibilities are covered in detail in the section below.
Designated Grantee:
Qualifications
A foreign national who is not a Reliant employee or associate may be considered to become a Designated Grantee if the foreign national:
- Is known and vetted by an existing Reliant partnership.
- Functions in a capacity to support or coordinate with the ministry activities of a church or ministry project
- Is in accord with Reliant's statement of faith and Code of Ethics
- Is vetted using the OFAC Watchlist Verification.
- Assumes responsibility for applicable payment of taxes and compliance with all local employment taxes and regulations.
- Is able to receive monies through the officially registered-in-country church or ministry or Fund Custodian.
- Agrees to follow receipt guidelines for each stipend disbursement received coordinated by the Fund Custodian.
- Agrees to inform Reliant if they come to the U.S. for any extended amount of time as Reliant cannot send them a stipend if they are on U.S. soil.
- Agrees to sign a Stipend Agreement (outlined below)
Other Requirements
Fund Custodian and/or associated church/ministry must communicate with clarity with all Designated Grantees regarding the functions and activities of the Designated Grantee and that the Designated Grantee(s) will be responsible for applicable payment of taxes, withholding for employment taxes, compliance with local law, etc. A clear acknowledgment of these expectations for local compliance will also be noted in the Stipend Agreement which will be required to be signed by all Designated Grantees. Reliant is not responsible for any income, employment, pension, healthcare or other taxes due in the Designated Grantee's home country related to the stipends or any other disbursements to the church/ministry partner.
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- Grants must be managed in accordance with Reliant's Funds and Grant-Making Policy for Churches and Projects.
- Reliant grants must be consistent with the purpose of the fund from which the grant is distributed. Grants cannot be used as conduits to channel monies for purposes other than those for which the fund is established.
- Reliant grants cannot be used to cause any improper private benefit to occur.
- Recipients of Reliant grants are responsible for compliance with relevant laws and regulations, including relevant tax requirements, pertinent to grants.
- No portion of grant funds may be used for overtly political or legislative purposes (e.g., propaganda, lobbying, or other attempts to influence legislation or intervene in a political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office).
- Reliant will undertake reasonable due diligence to ensure that grants are not directed to known or suspected terrorists.
- Reliant will collaborate with the church/ministry partner to ensure the grant disbursement occurs within a reasonable time frame based on the needs of the project.
- Reliant will not physically transport hard currency for grant distribution. Reliant will use a financial institution for all financial transactions associated with grant-making from church/project funds.
- A grant direct deposit agreement form must be submitted for US bank accounts along with the project fund request form.
- A wire agreement form must be submitted for foreign bank accounts along with the project fund request form.
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- Processing Reimbursements vs. Grants
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- Tax-deductible expenses for job-related costs incurred by Reliant employees and associates should be reimbursed to the employees and associates through the Reimbursements process, not the Grant-making process. Costs incurred by Reliant employees that are eligible for taxable Expense Recovery Bonuses (ERBs) should utilize the process for ERBs, not the Grant-making process. For more information on reimbursements, ERBs, and their distinction from grants, please see Reimbursements and Expense Recovery Home.
Submission Standards
As noted above,
Submission Standards
Grant requests are used to request monies from the Reliant church/project fund. Grant disbursements can only occur through an approved church/project fund Fund which can only be created in connection to an approved Reliant partner, and that fund . The Fund must be created before grants can be requested. The Fund Custodian submits grant requests on behalf of the church/project fundFund. Authorized Signers of the specific church/project fund Fund must approve grant requests before submission can be received by Reliant and considered complete for distribution.
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Grants can be requested as one-time expense payments, recurring expense payments, or recurring monthly stipend disbursements for Designated Grantees.
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Expense Requests:Expense Grant Request Form: used for both one-time and recurring expense requests and grant report(s). Expense Grant Requests may be submitted before or after the expenditures occur. If prior to expenditures, the requestor may estimate amounts for intended purchases to receive monies in advance of expenditures and would need to submit receipts after expenditures occur along with the grant report. If the Expense Grant Request is submitted after expenditures, the requestor enters the exact purchase amounts on both the request tab and may immediately complete the reporting tab following the reporting guidelines outlined below including receipt submissions. Timeframe of Disbursement: |
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Grant disbursement is subject to available funds. One-time expense grants are normally disbursed upon approval. Recurring expense grants are disbursed monthly on the 10th of the month or the Friday before the 10th, if the 10th falls on a weekend or U.S. bank holiday. |
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Stipend Requests:Stipend Grant Request Form: used to request a monthly recurring stipend disbursement to a Designated Grantee. The requestor will note stipend amounts and details about Designated Grantees, and follow the reporting guidelines outlined below including receipt submissions. |
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Amounts for stipends are determined by the church/ministry partnership. Grant stipend disbursement for Designated Grantees is subject to available funds. Grant stipend disbursement amount does not increase based on donations received to the church/project fund. |
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Grant stipend disbursement will result in a lower amount distributed if funding is unavailable. If the fund does not have enough to cover the stipend amount for |
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the Designated Grantee for one month, Reliant will not automatically disburse an additional stipend amount the following month to make up the difference. The distributed |
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amounts can only be increased by submitting a new grant |
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request (either a separate one-time stipend request to make up the difference from previous months missed due to low funding or by requesting a change addendum to the recurring amount request form that more accurately reflects the available funding). If the amounts or names change |
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for the Designated Grantees outlined on the Stipend Request Form, an addendum to the stipend request is required. Addendums require approval by both the Authorized Signer and Reliant. Stipend Agreement: A stipend agreement is a document required to be signed by any Designated Grantee receiving a stipend disbursement to acknowledge Reliant's requirements of a Designated Grantee. Once the stipend agreement has been signed, and the Designated Grantee has been approved, then grant stipend disbursement requests can be officially submitted. |
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Stipend agreements |
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are typically signed and submitted |
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through Reliant's online application system. |
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Stipend AgreementA Designated Grantee is a foreign national (i.e., a citizen or resident of a country outside of the U.S. where the ministry activities associated with a given Fund are taking place) who is not an employee or associate of Reliant but functions in a capacity to support the activities of a given church or ministry project, to benefit from spiritual formation and/or training associated with the project, and to receive a stipend from the Fund associated with the project. I understand that I am qualified to be a Designated Grantee because I fulfill the following qualifications:
I affirm that I meet the qualifications listed above, and I understand (and Reliant acknowledges) that I am receiving a stipend to defray living expenses in view of my support of ministry activities and of the spiritual formation associated ministry activities as outlined in the Master Grant Agreement and supplemented by the list below. Please list the ministry activities that will be the area of focus specific to you as a Designated Grantee: __________ |
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Grant stipend disbursement amount does not increase based on donations received to the church/project fund. Therefore, if the fund does not have enough to cover the stipend amount for the Designated Grantee for one month, Reliant will not automatically disburse an additional stipend amount the following month to make up the difference. The distributed amount can only be increased by submitting a new grant request.
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Jim's edits: Just got this chat from Dave... he would like us to add this question (or something similar) back into the stipend agreement below- we had taken it out because we didn't understand what it was there for. Maybe we say something like I agree that I am not requesting monies for this same purpose from any other organization... or something like that? Will another organization be funding any portion of these monthly expenses above? If yes, what is the name of the organization and how much ministry expenses will be funded by the other organization? It's an ethical question that Reliant poses to the grantee that hopefully in good faith they give us a truthful answer. So let's say the church needs a total of $1,500 in a monthly grant to pay rent on their meeting facility in Romania. BUT....there's another ministry giving them $250/mo for the same purpose....they really only should be asking Reliant then for $1,250 as a monthly grant...and report the $250 on our Grant Request Form. There have been cases where overseas churches and ministries have been asking for and getting grant funds from several organizations for the SAME thing! And each organization did not know another org was sending grant funds. This section was at some attempt for Reliant to try to do due diligence to ask the grantee if they were getting money from other sources. Fraud can take place in many ways with grants.....people can get stipends from several sources and pretend your org is the only one. Churches asking for grants can do the same thing. This simple question we ask will not stamp out all fraud, but at least we're making an attempt to stamp out grant fraud and doing some sort of due diligence. In the end, it's whether they are truthful or not. Stipend Agreement A Designated Grantee is a foreign national receiving monies distributed from the church/project fund in the form of a stipend in order to carry out the ministry activities of Reliant and the church/ministry partnered with Reliant. I understand the definition of and agree to become a Designated Grantee. I understand that I am qualified to be a Designated Grantee because I fulfill the following qualifications:
I understand (and Reliant acknowledges) that I am receiving a stipend to fulfill the purpose of the church/project fund through supporting the overall ministry activities of the church/ministry partner as outlined in the Master Grant Agreement, as well as conducting my individual ministry activities (as outlined below) to further those overall ministry activities and to purchase any anticipated ministry expenses (as outlined below) in congruence with those overall church/project ministry activities. List ministry activities: ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ List anticipated ministry expenses: ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ I understand that the stipend is not supporting me as an individual, but rather the pre-approved ministry purpose by a Reliant-approved church/project and ministry partner. I understand that I am not being paid for hours worked, even as a contractor. Reliant also acknowledges that due to these ministry activities, I, as the Designated Grantee, may not be able to devote time to other work activities sufficient to support my family, therefore Reliant recognizes that some of the funds may be used for personal expenses. I understand and clearly acknowledge that I am responsible for applicable payment of taxes, withholding for employment taxes, and other compliance with local laws and regulations for monies received. I acknowledge that 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, including annually checking applicable governmental lists provided and maintained by the U.S. Treasury Department. I agree to inform Reliant if I travel to the U.S. for any extended amount of time, and I understand I cannot receive stipend monies from Reliant if I am on U.S. soil. I agree to verify receipt of all stipend monies by signing verification statements as coordinated by my Fund Custodian. I understand that my Fund Custodian is ____________________ ________________________. By submitting this completed Stipend Agreement, I am agreeing that the information stated above is correct and that I understand and am in full agreement with the information outlined above. Please sign your name in agreement of the above statements on this Stipend Agreement. ______ ______________________________ Full Name: Current Date: Phone: Email: |
Remittance:
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By submitting this completed Stipend Agreement, I am agreeing that the information stated above is correct and that I understand and am in full agreement with the information outlined above. Please sign your name in agreement of the above statements on this Stipend Agreement. _________________________________ Full Name: Current Date: Phone: Email: |
Approval:
Only Authorized Signers of the specific church/project fund can approve payment for the grant request.
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- One-Time Grants
- One-time grant payment requests under $5$25,000 will be approved by the Accounting Manager.Program Leader
- One-time grant payment requests between $5$25,000 and $25$100,000 will need approval be aproved by the Director of Organizational Affairs (in place of the Accounting Manager).
- One-time grant payment requests between $25,000-over $100,000 will need approval from both the Director of Organizational Affairs and the Chief Financial Officer.
One-time grant payment requests over $100,000 will need additional approval from the Executive Director.
- Recurring Yearly Grants (set up of recurring monthly payments)
- Requests under up to $1$2,000 500 a month ($12,000/year) will be approved by the Accounting Manager.Requests between $1,000-$5,000 a month (up to $60,00$30,000/year) will need approval be approved by the Director of Organizational Affairs (in place of the Accounting Manager)Program Leader.
- Grant requests Requests between $5$2,001501-$25$10,000 a month (up to $300$120,000/year) a year will need approval from both by the Director of Organizational Affairs and the Chief Financial Officer.A
- Grant Request requests over $25$10,000 a month will need additional approval from the Executive Director.($120,000 a year) will need to be approved by the Chief Financial Officer.
If the first level approver is unable If the Accounting Manager is unable to approve within a reasonable timeframe then the Director of Organizational Affairs may approve in their place. If the Director of Organizational Affairs is unavailable to approve within a reasonable timeframe, the Chief Financial Officer then next-level approver may approve in their placeinstead. If the Chief Financial Officer is unavailable to approve within a reasonable timeframe, the President may approve in their place.
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Reporting StandardsReliant requires periodic accounting of the usage of the grant funds and oversees and evaluates the completion of grant reports. The Fund Custodian for the church/project fund is responsible for submitting grant reports and agrees to comply with the grant reporting and monitoring requirements as outlined below. The Fund Custodian also agrees to communicate with Reliant about any problems or post-disbursement changes. Grant Reports:After expenditures occur, grant reports are submitted on the same grant request used to request the original grant disbursement. The Grant Report is located on a tab of the Grant Request Form. Report Submission Timeline: Grant reports must be submitted periodically based on the type of grant issued.
In the event that the submission due date cannot be |
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met, Reliant will allow up to a 15-day grace period. IMPORTANT: If grant reports are not received by their due date, Reliant will not issue additional grants from the Fund until grant reports are current. Grant Reports Include the Following: |
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Suspension of Grant Disbursement:
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