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Reliant does not offer tax deductible giving for donors towards any student participants attending a domestic Leadership Training  (LT) that is inside of the U.S.  Tax Deductible receipts for fundraising for an oversees Reliant LT event are issued to donors if the  However, tax deductible receipts are issued to donors for donations for an overseas Reliant LT events if the student participant is attending an oversees overseas LT like in Europe or , East Asia, Honduras, etc.  See International LT- How to Give.

Why?

After seeking extensive expert legal counsel, Reliant determined that unfortunately it cannot allow participants to raise support for a domestic LT event through Reliant. This was in agreement with what our legal counsel was advising.  It is Reliant's interpretation of IRS Tax Code that domestic LT programs (usually 10 weeks in length) inside of the U.S. results in the participant receiving tangible personal benefits, like significant leadership education and training along with the requirement to work full time while attending the LT event.  Since Reliant, and our legal counsel determined that these were considered tangible personal benefits, we decided to follow that following IRS Tax Code (which prohibits a donation receiving tax exempt deductible status if it results in tangible personal benefit) meant not allowing domestic LT participants to raise financial support for their LT program fees through Reliant.  We realize this is a conservative choicedecision, but we feel it is in the best interest of Reliant Mission and its donors. 

What does that mean?

Domestic LT participants may still fundraise on their own and ask donors to give a financial gift (out of the kindness of their heart to go towards something they believe in), but it will not cannot be considered a taxable deduction deductible gift for their donors since they giving to an individual and not a 501(c)(3) organization.  All checks will need be written made payable to and sent directly to the participant (not collected by Reliant) with no tax deduction allowed.  All domestic LT payments will be made directly by the participant to Reliant  (Reliant will not accept any payment from donors (other than from a church) for an LT participant fees).   There is no way for donors to give electronically through Reliant to help support a student attending a domestic LT, however they could send an electronic check directly to the participant's bank account. 

Provided Materials.

For accountability purposes we ask that each LT participant wanting to raise their own suppportfinancial support, to complete and upload to their online LT registration, this Fundraising Integrity Form to say they will not collect more funds than needed to cover the cost of their specific program.

We ask that all participants wait until they have been officially accepted into the program before they begin their support raising for the program fees. 

We also provide this these fundraising guidelines (attached to the acceptance email for the LT) to help those choosing to raise support on their own to know a few steps to help with the process. 

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