A donor recent\u00adly asked me how funds giv\u00aden to our min\u00adistry are used. I thought that was a pret\u00adty rea\u00adson\u00adable ques\u00adtion, and so I thought I\u2019d post the response on the site. This is going to be long\u2013I\u2019ll make it as short as pos\u00adsi\u00adble, but because we\u2019re talk\u00ading about mon\u00adey I want to be pre\u00adcise.<\/p>\n
Tech\u00adni\u00adcal\u00adly, all funds giv\u00aden to our min\u00adistry are actu\u00adal\u00adly giv\u00aden to the Assem\u00adblies of God<\/a>, the denom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion with which I am a min\u00adis\u00adter and which spon\u00adsors Chi Alpha Cam\u00adpus Min\u00adistries<\/a>. The Assem\u00adblies of God promis\u00ades to dis\u00adburse gifts in accor\u00addance with the wish\u00ades of the donor and in accor\u00addance with Assem\u00adblies of God poli\u00adcies.<\/p>\n So what rel\u00ade\u00advant poli\u00adcies does the Assem\u00adblies of God have?<\/p>\n 1) Mis\u00adsion\u00adar\u00adies are assigned an amount of mon\u00adey that they must raise. This is com\u00admon\u00adly known as a mis\u00adsion\u00adary bud\u00adget. <\/p>\n 2) This bud\u00adget has two com\u00adpo\u00adnents: the per\u00adson\u00adal bud\u00adget and the work bud\u00adget.<\/p>\n 3) The per\u00adson\u00adal bud\u00adget cov\u00aders salaries and ben\u00ade\u00adfits (insur\u00adance and retire\u00adment). For home mis\u00adsions, the Assem\u00adblies of God cat\u00ade\u00adgo\u00adrizes min\u00adistry assign\u00adments into one of three cost-of-liv\u00ading index\u00ades. Because Stan\u00adford is in Sil\u00adi\u00adcon Val\u00adley we fall into the high\u00adest cost-of-liv\u00ading brack\u00adet. Per\u00adson\u00adal bud\u00adgets are mon\u00adi\u00adtored very close\u00adly and are adjust\u00aded only under extreme cir\u00adcum\u00adstances.<\/p>\n 4) The work bud\u00adget cov\u00aders every\u00adthing else: things like out\u00adreach mate\u00adri\u00adals, Bibles, office sup\u00adplies, meet\u00ading space expens\u00ades (dec\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtions and rental fees, for exam\u00adple), music equip\u00adment, retreat expens\u00ades, and min\u00adistry-relat\u00aded trav\u00adel expens\u00ades. Real\u00adly any\u00adthing that helps us achieve our mis\u00adsion of min\u00adis\u00adter\u00ading to Stan\u00adford stu\u00addents, fac\u00adul\u00adty, and staff. <\/p>\n 5) By Assem\u00adblies of God pol\u00adi\u00adcy, until mis\u00adsion\u00adar\u00adies ful\u00adly raise their assigned bud\u00adget they are not allowed to launch their min\u00adistry. This is because the Assem\u00adblies wants mis\u00adsion\u00adar\u00adies to suc\u00adceed, and as a denom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion we\u2019ve learned through painful expe\u00adri\u00adence that one of the best ways to guar\u00adan\u00adtee long-term suc\u00adcess is by requir\u00ading full fund\u00ading up front.<\/p>\n 6) Also by Assem\u00adblies of God pol\u00adi\u00adcy, the mon\u00adey that comes in goes first to sup\u00adport the mis\u00adsion\u00adary finan\u00adcial\u00adly and then to sup\u00adport the mis\u00adsion\u00adary\u2019s work. In oth\u00ader words, if only 75% of funds come in one month then it\u2019s the work bud\u00adget that gets short\u00adchanged instead of the per\u00adson\u00adal bud\u00adget. This is accord\u00ading to the the\u00ado\u00adry that a mis\u00adsion can sur\u00advive with\u00adout office sup\u00adplies for a month, but if the mis\u00adsion\u00adary gets evict\u00aded because they can\u2019t pay rent the mis\u00adsion will suf\u00adfer much more last\u00ading harm.<\/p>\n 7) Once a month mis\u00adsion\u00adar\u00adies are issued a check from the Assem\u00adblies of God. That check con\u00adtains only what has been giv\u00aden that month up to the amount of the assigned per\u00adson\u00adal bud\u00adget. There is a 5% admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion fee tak\u00aden off the top. Inci\u00adden\u00adtal\u00adly, that\u2019s an incred\u00adi\u00adbly low admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion fee: I\u2019ve seen oth\u00ader mis\u00adsions orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtions with rates as high as 20%!<\/p>\n 8) The work bud\u00adget and any excess funds sit in des\u00adig\u00adnat\u00aded accounts. When the mis\u00adsion\u00adary has a work expense (say we mail an evan\u00adge\u00adlis\u00adtic CD-ROM to every stu\u00addent on cam\u00adpus), we pay it out of our own pock\u00adet and sub\u00admit that expense to the Assem\u00adblies for reim\u00adburse\u00adment. We are reim\u00adbursed if and only if there are suf\u00adfi\u00adcient funds avail\u00adable. That reim\u00adburse\u00adment is tacked onto next mon\u00adth\u2019s check along\u00adside the per\u00adson\u00adal bud\u00adget.<\/p>\n 9) Here\u2019s the bit to remem\u00adber: the per\u00adson\u00adal bud\u00adget acts like a cap where\u00adas the work bud\u00adget acts like a spring\u00adboard. We can\u00adnot receive more than our assigned salary, but we can receive a the\u00ado\u00adret\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly unlim\u00adit\u00aded amount for min\u00adistry expens\u00ades (as much as peo\u00adple are will\u00ading to give). We are respon\u00adsi\u00adble to doc\u00adu\u00adment each min\u00adistry expense and demon\u00adstrate to the Assem\u00adblies of God that it was a legit\u00adi\u00admate use of God\u2019s mon\u00adey.<\/p>\n So here\u2019s the bot\u00adtom line: mon\u00adey giv\u00aden is used to pay the min\u00adis\u00adter first and any excess is used to pay for min\u00adistry expens\u00ades.<\/b><\/p>\n We also have answers to oth\u00ader com\u00admon finan\u00adcial ques\u00adtions<\/a> and an arti\u00adcle on the Bib\u00adli\u00adcal mod\u00adel for fund\u00ading mis\u00adsion\u00adary work<\/a> and a step-by-step guide to mak\u00ading a dona\u00adtion<\/a>.<\/p>\n