Blog

The end of the year is here!

Remember, there are a lot of important dates and reminders to keep track of in this season for you and your donors. Please take some time to review the bullets below as well as the detailed Solomon page for helpful end-of-year giving and payroll information. 

Important Reminders:

• The Reliant Central office will be closed December 24, 25, and 31 as well as January 1 
• When talking to your donors about end-of-year giving, please encourage them to finalize their gifts before the December 31st deadline
• Keep in mind that all checks sent via the mail need to be postmarked by December 31, 2020, in order to count towards this years giving - please mail the donor's check along with the original envelope so that we can use the postmark to confirm the correct year on the donor's tax deduction receipt
• We will have a helpful FAQ page on our website if your donors encounter any issues while giving
• We will mail out the paper Year-End Giving Statements by the end of January - donors may opt-out of physical mailings in the communication preference section of their profile on reliant.org or by sending an email to Gift Services
• Donors can also access any of their year-end tax statements, beginning in 2018, electronically on reliant.org

2020 End-of-Year Important Dates

Wishing you a joyous Christmas season,

Reliant Finance teams

Merry Christmas from Reliant Central!

Don't forget that this year we need you to make a choice and fill out your shipping information to receive your Christmas gift from us. You have until this Friday, December 11, to make your selection. Please take a few minutes today to jump on and let us know which gift you would like before the website closes.

Choose Your Preferred Christmas Gift

Thank you for all you do, especially in this busy season. It's an honor to partner with you in ministry. 

Tom Mauriello

On behalf of the whole Central Team

Merry Christmas from the Reliant Central Team! We wanted to reach out about two important things this holiday season.

First, we appreciate your hard work and dedication to your ministry and spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ! In this unique year, we still want to celebrate all of our staff with a Christmas gift and have worked with LeaderPromo to provide some Reliant-branded options that you all can choose from. Click the button below to choose your gift and fill out your shipping information, so we know exactly where you want it sent. As with many things this year, the stock availability has been extremely unpredictable. So in order to guarantee the availability of these specific products and in the hope of getting things shipped out to you on time, you will need to place your order before next week, Friday, December 11th.

This should not take more than a few minutes of your time, and we would love your prompt response. In years past we have done different Christmas gifts for international staff due to shipping restrictions; however, this year all staff can choose from these gift options.

We are excited to bless you with a small token of our appreciation and for the opportunity to serve you and your mission. 

Choose Your Preferred Christmas Gift

We are also mailing our annual Reliant Christmas card and end-of-year giving appeal to your financial supporters in the U.S. this week. For most, it will arrive by December 9th. We know December is a time where many partners give special or additional gifts, making it the largest giving month of the year and a time for many staff to catch up on MTD or prepare for financial needs in the coming year. In a season where we celebrate the Father sending the Son, we're praying that God's people will give generously to the work of sending people out on mission! Our theme for the card and appeal this year is "Prince of Peace." Given how difficult 2020 has been for many, we wanted to focus on Isaiah 9:6 for this year's Christmas card and appeal. You can see a mockup of all of the pieces below. 

"For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

This year has been full of challenges, and we hope that this season brings a unique opportunity to rest in the peace of our Savior come down among us. Thank you for all that you do for the Kingdom. It is an honor to partner with you in ministry. Have a Merry Christmas!

-Tom Mauriello on behalf of the whole Central Team

As you know, Reliant missionaries serve all over the country and around the world in many different types of ministry settings. While the work varies from place to place, what should stay the same is that each staff member experiences a safe and healthy work environment. This is incredibly important to us. 

As a staff member, it's essential that you understand you have both the opportunity and responsibility to report concerns about your ministry and work environment to leaders. The first place to report those concerns would be to your supervisors. However, we understand that there are times, for one reason or another, that you are not able to or not comfortable with reporting directly to your leadership. Because of this, Reliant provides several channels for making a report. You can send a confidential email to notifyHR@reliant.org, call 407-490-0141 to speak to Julie Thomas, the HR Compliance Officer, or reach out to your Program Team Lead at Reliant. We also want to make you aware of a new way to report, if you'd like to do so anonymously. 

Reliant is now partnering with Lighthouse Services, a company that provides reporting hotlines to over 4,000 clients worldwide, to administer Reliant's Employee Reporting Hotline. This "hotline" can be accessed many ways (toll-free telephone number, a website, email, and even fax) and is available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week for anonymous reports of misconduct, fraud, abuse, harassment, discrimination, and other violations of Reliant’s Code of Conduct. Regular ministry and employment matters that do not require anonymity should still be directed to the employee’s supervisor, to the Reliant Program Team Lead, or to Reliant Central (notifyHR@reliant.org) and are not intended to be submitted using this service. You can find a lot more information about Employee Reporting here including a whole set of helpful FAQs.

We have updated two of our policies that are related to this issue. One is the Suspected Misconduct and/or Fraud, and Whistleblower Protection. The major change to this policy is the updated reporting procedures and channels. The second updated policy is the Grievance System. Changes include clarifying what a grievance is and the grievance procedures steps. Please take time to familiarize yourself with both of these updated policies.

If you have questions on any of these updates, or the new reporting hotline, please reach out to Julie. And thank you for your dedication to furthering the Gospel of Christ in a safe and healthy environment.

Julie Thomas, HR Compliance Officer

Tom Mauriello, Executive Director

As this year comes to a close, we want to get you a list of helpful dates and information about end-of-year gift processing, payroll, and reimbursements. We also want to make sure you're aware of when the Reliant Central office will be closed for the holidays, as well as deadlines for sending any year-end gifts from donors. You can review this important information by clicking here. And please remember to mail any checks you receive from donors along with the original envelope so that Reliant can use the postmark to confirm the correct year on the donor's tax deduction receipt.

Best wishes for a blessed holiday season.

We are here to serve you, 

Reliant Finance teams

During these unusual times, we all have to make some adjustments to what were formerly routine activities. Whether it is remembering to grab a mask before heading to the grocery store or trying to decide if you will accept that offer to a dinner party, we now must consider our safety and the safety of others in so many of our daily decisions.

In March, we implemented restrictions on most work- and ministry-related travel. However, to balance legitimate needs for travel with the safety of Reliant staff, missionaries, and ministry partners, we have updated our travel policy and included procedures for approving travel within the U.S. Please find the policy here. This applies to all work/ministry-related travel, whether by car, plane, or other modes of transportation, that takes you outside of your usual ministry context (i.e., where you may travel during your routine day-to-day duties.) You may also want to review the entire page for all of the current Coronavirus Policies and Updates.

Please note that you will need to do a few things before getting your travel approved, including completing a notification form (which is linked on the Solomon page and below), so plan accordingly and give yourself enough time.

Travel Notification Form: If you know you will be traveling within the U.S. outside of your normal ministry/work contexts then please fill out the travel notification form. You will need to "copy" this google sheet, fill it out entirely, and then share it with notifyHR@reliant.org

If you have any questions, you may contact your program team or Julie Thomas, HR Compliance Officer.

We are praying for your safety and well-being during this time.

Julie Thomas, HR Compliance Officer

We are excited to officially release our 2019 Annual Ministry Report that celebrates 30 years of service! We hope that you will find it encouraging and informative as we take a look at all God has accomplished in our 30th year. In previous years, we sent out a physical copy of our Annual Ministry Report to all staff and donors, but in this unique year, we have decided to make it available in a digital format instead. You and your donors can access the 2019 Digital AMR here.

We apologize for the delay in publication this year. Reading it with today's eyes, we know this doesn't address the realities we have gone through in 2020. We do not want the lack of reflection on the defining moments of 2020 to be interpreted as insensitivity to the dramatically different place or pain so many have experienced in 2020.

Our sincere hope is that looking back in this way, with both praise and humility for all that God has done, will only serve to strengthen our faith and embolden our hearts. We know that "he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus".

We encourage you to share this with your supporters and anyone else who might benefit from hearing what God has been doing in our ministry. As we move toward the end of 2020, I pray that each of you is moving closer to Christ, looking to Him for His grace and peace. As always, the Central team is praying for you all and here if you ever need anything. 

Serving together with you,

Tom Mauriello

Time to plan for your End-of-Year Ask!

An End-of-Year Ask is an important element of a Sustaining Missionary’s MTD strategy. It is a good annual rhythm for connecting with and cultivating your ministry team. Now is the time to begin praying over and planning your End-of-Year Ask. We have created a sample timeline on Solomon to help plan out your steps starting this month. (Click on the button below for more details.) If you are still raising your initial support this might not be for you, please discuss with your MTD Coach.

Your End-of-Year Ask could be for a tangible and current need (any rising health insurance costs, increasing monthly rent, vehicle or family needs, etc.) or could be a call for your donors to give generously (which allows you to build in times of strength to help in the lean times). It is an important part of your MTD lifestyle to give your ministry partners opportunities to be engaged through giving. 

Statistics indicate:

• 31% of all charitable giving happens at year-end
• 12% of all giving happens in the last three days of the year

Not sure how to plan for the ask? Here are four key elements you can read more about on our helpful Solomon page.

1. Pray and renew your donor list – identify how to approach your various donors
2. Relationally reconnect – determine who you need to connect with on a personal level before sending
3. Ask – craft elements of communication and customize based on your donors and your need
4. Personal reminders – this is likely the single greatest factor in having a successful end-of-year ask campaign

End-of-Year ASK (EOY)

As always Reliant will also be sending out a Christmas card to all donors with an appeal to give towards your ministry during this holiday season. We hope this is a support and reinforcement to your personal strategy to connect with them in this time.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to your program liaison or email  MTD@reliant.org. 

Your Reliant Central Team

A Message from Tom Mauriello

I'm sure you've heard the stories of ministries who went through painful times or even closed down because of misconduct by their staff or leadership. I've personally had to walk through this with some of our partner organizations, and I can say with certainty it is the most emotionally draining and difficult part of my job. After reviewing multiple instances of misconduct over the last year, the Board of Directors and I began working on an awareness and prevention plan. Part of that plan was to hire Julie Thomas, our HR Compliance Officer, to give dedicated time toward this effort. Another part is the implementation of new awareness and prevention training and policies that reinforce our beliefs, values, and expectations.

Because we're committed to empowering you to uphold the highest standards of ethical and professional behavior, this summer, we are requiring all Reliant Staff to review Reliant's new and updated policies and complete web-based training courses on child abuse and sexual harassment prevention. These courses are taught from a Biblical perspective and are meant to equip you and your team in healthy ministry. Your supervisor has been made aware of what is included in these courses and policies as well as the expectation that you complete this education by August 7, 2020. Thank you for taking the time to thoughtfully work through these steps.

We encourage you to visit the Getting Started and General Questions Solomon page to begin and reach out to Julie Thomas with any questions you may have. Also, watch your Reliant email inbox over the next 24 hours for invitations from Telios Teaches and from Julie with the MinistrySafe links. These are the vendors who host the individual training courses.

Grateful to be partnering with you.

-Tom Mauriello
Executive Director

Postmarked Envelopes Required for 2019 checks received in 2020

If a donor mails an end-of-year check directly to you, you must save the envelope and send it in with the check. The December 2019 postmark on the envelope serves as proof that it is a 2019 donation. If a check is dated in 2019, but the postmark on the envelope is 2020, that will not count as a 2019 gift.

Please check your mailboxes early in the new year for these types of gifts and immediately send them to Reliant. They must be received by January 13, 2020, to be included with 2019 gifts.

For more information and to see all of the important dates for gift processing, please see the Solomon page 2019 End of Year Important Dates.

We are here to serve you, 

Reliant Employment Services and Gift Services teams

An End-of-Year Ask is an important element of a Sustaining Missionary’s MTD strategy. It is a good annual rhythm for connecting with and cultivating your ministry team. Please consider sending a special ask to your ministry partners as this calendar year closes.

This End of Year Ask could be for a tangible and current need (rising health insurance costs, increase in monthly rent, needing a vehicle, baby on the way, etc) or it could be a call to the action of generosity (which allows you to build in times of strength to help in the lean times). It is an important part of your MTD lifestyle to give your ministry partners opportunities to be engaged in your ministry through opportunities to give.

Statistics indicate:

• 31% of all charitable giving happens at year end.
• 12% of all giving happens in the last three days of the year.  

Not sure how to do an End of the Year Ask? We have a new section on Solomon to guide you.

• Pray and renew your donor list. – Identify how to approach your various donors.
• Relational connect – Who do you need to connect with on a personal level before sending out the ask?
• The Ask – What should it look like and contain? Add some personal touches for those to whom you are sending the ask.
• Personal Reminders – Other communications surrounding the End of Year Ask.

Click the button below to read up on the End of the Year Ask.

Click Here

Open Enrollment will occur between October 16 - November 6, 2019. You MUST submit all changes and benefit selections by November 6, 2019 in order for them to take effect on January 1, 2020.

This year we have decided to provide all information for your open enrollment benefits options prior to the beginning of open enrollment. This should give you ample time to read through all of the information and be prepared to make your choices when open enrollment begins on October 16, 2019. You can find the main Solomon page that contains all of the most important information here. There are multiple sub-pages below that main page that will give you more information on anything you might have questions about. 

Please note that all Reliant U.S. Missionaries working 30 or more hours/week are required to participate in open enrollment. 
International Missionaries will have a separate open enrollment period. Be on the lookout for information coming later in the month. 

New Updates for 2020

1. After two years of zero premium increase, Reliant is unfortunately experiencing an increase in Premium rates for all of our medical plans this year. We have done a lot of work to get you all the best possible rates with the best possible coverage.
2. Due to the increase in premium rates, we have decided that we need to transition from the HS 1500 from previous years to the HS 2000 plan. We are confident that this new plan will be a great way to get you many of the same benefits that you have been enjoying with the 1500 plan, but also offers an opportunity to save money on your monthly Reliant Health premiums (as compared to the proposed rates for the 2020 HS 1500 plan).
3. In consideration of these new 2020 premium rates, we have new HSA contributions. You can learn more about them here. 
4. The HS 2000 and the HS 3000 plans both now have a $250 Emergency Room (ER) co-pay which unfortunately does not count towards your deductible or out-of-pocket max. 
5. The HS 3000 plan now has a lower out-of-pocket max! The out-of-pocket max for this plan is now $5,000/$10,000 for an individual or family accordingly - down from $6,000/$12,000.

Questions?

We will be having a Facebook LIVE in the secret Reliant Missionaries Facebook group on October 16th at 2pm EDT to answer any questions you may have! If you are not a member of the group and would like to join, send a link to your Facebook Profile to commrequest@reliant.org and we will get you added! Can't tune in at that time but still want to see it? No problem! The recorded video will stay in the group on Facebook and we will upload it to Solomon so that those of you without Facebook will have access to it as well. 

Dear Missionary,

By now you have heard news about Hurricane Irma coming to Florida.  We expect our office to be affected, and want you to know where to find information or help that you might need.  

Where can you get updates about office closures and changes in communication?

We will provide updates to Reliant Missionaries here on the “Reliant Missionaries” private Facebook group.

If power is out, or if our building has to be closed, we not likely be able to answer to or respond to phone calls immediately.  We have contact information below.

What about my paycheck?  

The finance team is busy completing the internal processes related to your September 15 paycheck and it will be transmitted to the bank before the office closes this week.  The paycheck deposits will be made to your bank account as scheduled on September 15th.

How will the hurricane situation affect me? 

 By and large, the vast majority of services you receive from Reliant will not be affected.  

The situation where it’s possible for you to experience interruption may be New Gifts which are given online through reliant.org. That process may be interrupted during power outages at the Reliant office. For those of you who are actively raising support, we ask for your patience.  It may help you to keep track of which donors were not able to give online during a power outage and contact them when the website is back up.

Our internal support sites - Solomon, StaffNet, CoachNet and Toolbox - will all be down if we lose power for an extended period of time at the office.  

Will the Reliant Office Close?

Based on current predictions we will close at noon on Friday the 8th and be closed all day Monday the 11th.  It is entirely possible we will be closed for longer than that into the week, yet it’s too early to make that call.  We will follow along with Government recommendations and school closings. For the latest information, follow the situation on the private Facebook Group.

How can I contact you while the office is closed? 

While the office is closed email and phone systems will continue to operate, with email being the best option.  If you need to reach us during a power outage our regular email will continue to function, but our phone system will not.  We have special phone number for you to call to leave a voicemail if needed: 407-986-5530.

We appreciate you prayers for Florida and the team here in the office!  It’s a privilege to partner with you,

Tom, on behalf of the whole Reliant team.

December is the largest giving month of the year, and we're praying that God provides graciously again this year.

The Reliant Christmas Card and end-of-year giving appeal is in the mail to each financial supporter. For most of them, it will arrive in the next week.

Our theme this year is  LIGHT with the visual theme of a star.

• "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." -John 8:12 
• "After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with great delight." Matthew 2:9-10

Your Appeal

Our card is designed to work alongside any specific appeal you do on your own. If you haven't already this year, this season is a helpful time for you to communicate any specific needs in a prayer update.

e.g. "Financial Update: We are so grateful for your financial support all year! Even as we've had some amazing ministry, our finances for the year are short by X amount. If you're able to consider an additional gift by this December 31, 2016, it would really make a difference on meeting our shortfall and would be so encouraging as we focus on the coming new year of ministry. Give at reliant.org/first.last. You are our partners with us in this gospel ministry—Thank you.

Instead of creating a reply card, it's much faster and most secure to direct people to the website and then watch Staffnet for incoming gifts so you can say a special thank you.

In Him,
Tom Mauriello