So a chaplain at the University of Dallas wanted to be kind and reach out to someone who seemed needy. And now the Chapel at the University is $100,000 poorer! See the article in the Dallas Morning News.
Your church needs to have a clearly written benevolence policy – AND it needs to be followed! The policy should address questions like –
- To whom will your church offer assistance?
- For what reasons?
- How much?
- How many times?
By the way, you cannot offer assistance to anyone on staff or their relatives. By law, that is taxable income that MUST be reported to the IRS!
So take care! If you don't have a formal benevolence policy, give us a call – we'll provide help and a policy template.
Last week, we had a presentation here at PSK on this topic! Homeland Security and the Patriot Act are musts when thinking about your church's Mission Trips.
Steve Tiemann was our speaker. He is an attorney who has lots of experience both as a lawyer and as a church member in this area.
Main points –
- Know the guidelines. The US Treasury has issued Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines. Boring but an essential 16 page document to be aware of.
- Know who you’re dealing with. In the foreign country, have intimate knowledge about the organizations and/or individuals you’re sending money to. You can check out the Terrorist Exclusion List (TEL) at the US Dept of State's website – www.state.gov.
- Know that the US Gov't is serious. Federal law doesn’t allow you to use the excuse: I didn’t know!; If your church or organization inadvertently supports terrorists or terrorist organizations, you’re guilty!
Our clients keep us on our toes! Because we encourage them to call us when they have a problem and we generally don’t charge for phone calls, we get a steady stream of questions posed to us by our clients and friends.
Most of the questions are quite routine, dealing with things common to all churches: whether or not a particular employee qualifies for a housing allowance or if a designated gift should be treated as a deductible contribution. But occasionally something new comes along.
PSK hosts a monthly breakfast for church business administrators where in addition to a delicious meal the attendees are treated to a discussion of a topic relevant to church business administration. In May our breakfast was billed, “Know Before You Go” and we discussed things that must be considered when planning a short term mission trip. For example what do you do if a member asks for contribution credit for paying for a specific individual to go on the trip? We also covered trip organization (passports, visas, shots etc.), paymaster responsibility and record keeping and insurance.
But, something I was asked recently made me aware we had left something out. “We are sending money to a mission group in Africa. Can we get in trouble with Homeland Security?” Turns out they and other churches funding ministries like schools, hospitals and orphanages, should be concerned.
Now, I don’t want you to get overly concerned. The reality is that it is unlikely that a church will have its assets frozen or exempt status threatened by funding an orphanage. Provided, of course, it takes minimum precautions. Here’s just a few:
- First become familiar with Executive Order 13224 and The USA Patriot Act the legislation requiring that certain things be done. Helpful resources are The US Treasury’s Anti-terrorist guidelines and The Principles of International Charity.
- Educate your church, both staff and laity, of the implications of the anti-terrorist rules.
- Do background checks on the groups you are helping, particularly referring to several government lists that identify terrorists.
- Keep good records of all of your activities and insist on accountability.
There you go; something new to worry about over your Christmas holidays. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call!
Merry Christmas!
