So at this point you have looked at the alternatives, and you believe God might be calling you into vocational ministry that requires raising support. Hopefully you have taken my advice on the six things to do before you start raising support.
Where Does The Money Go?
Before you can start building your partnership team and receiving gifts, you have to somewhere for those gifts to go. You could begin asking for personal checks, but most people would be understandable leary about the lack of financial accountability. And frankly I would be concerned about the tax complications that such a scenario presents. Additionally, many donors prefer to take advantage of the tax deduction available for charitable donations, so you really need to have a nonprofit organization through which to raise your support.
The IRS has provisions for donations made to nonprofits for personal support raising to be considered as tax deductible; they call this process deputized fundraising. This allows a missionary to build a partnership team that supports their ministry efforts via tax deductible donations. The missionary is then paid by the organization. The only stipulation is that legally, the board of directors still has total control of where funds are allocated (so in theory, a board could chose to use donations given towards a missionary for another organizational expense instead).
Finding A Missions Agency
This leads to the main point of this article, which is the importance of choosing the nonprofit organization through which you are going to raise support and fund your ministry. For missionaries, this organization is usually referred to as a missions agency – it is the “sending” organization for that particular missionary.
Many laborers and missionaries begin raising support because they are already connected with a ministry that has a support raising system in place for missionaries. For instance, after attending Youth With a Mission (YWAM) Discipleship Training School, many people decide to become a YWAM missionary. In that case, you would obviously raise support through YWAM. Or if a college student was impacted by Campus Crusade (CRU), then they may decide to become a CRU campus missionary via that organization. After attending an IHOP-KC internship one might decide to be an intercessory missionary at the missions base there in Kansas City. Many denominations or church networks also have missions departments that can serve as missions agencies.
However, I have encountered many spiritual entrepreneurs and presence pioneers (myself included) with unique callings that need to either find or start an organization that can function as a missions agency.
To Join or Start a Nonprofit
If you find yourself without a clear missions organization to join, but you feel God might be calling you to raise support, there are basically two options. You can either join an existing missions agency that will allow you to pursue your vision or start a new nonprofit organization as a legal entity to fund your vision.
Which is the right path for you?
- If your primary need is a salary for your living expenses, so that your time can be freed up for ministry, then you should simply find a missions agency to join.
- If your vision involves both your personal salary and other major expenses, such as renting or purchasing facilities or a lot of travel, then you should probably start a nonprofit organization.
Finding A Missions Agency
The challenge with finding a missions agency for you to raise support is that most missions organizations only allow people to raise support if they are going to be serving that particular organization’s missions projects and leadership. If you have a specific vision from God to start something, go somewhere new or do something different, then many organizations would not permit you to use them as a missions agency to pursue your own vision.
However, I have found at least two unique missions organizations that have been established to cover missionaries and process donations, while still allowing missionaries to pursue whatever God has called them to do. Both Modern Day and Global Impact Resources are unique missions agencies in that regard. These missions organizations do not have their own vision per se. Their vision is to simply be a resource to missionaries and ministries who need covering, support and financial accountability/administration. Each missionary with Modern Day and Global Impact has their own unique vision or calling.
Global Impact Resources is a small missions agency in Greenville, North Carolina that was birthed out of GCF Church and “established as a resource-gathering agent for missionaries and ministries.” I am familiar with them because Shepard and I were missionaries with Global Impact for about six years. This organization was invaluable resource to us for handling and administrating our finances, as well as providing some credibility to our unique ministry efforts as prayer missionaries.
Modern Day is a larger missions organization with over 300 missionaries. Like Global Impact, they provide the missions agency infrastructure to collect donations and release laborers, without the restraints of serving their particular projects. Modern Day’s desire is “to come along side of you and help your dream become a reality.” I have a handful of friends who are Modern Day missionaries, and they speak very highly of this organization.
Starting a Nonprofit Organization
Depending on your vision, you may need to consider starting an entirely new nonprofit organization. A big advantage to starting your own nonprofit is that you can use the organization to raise funds for the entire organization’s vision & budget beyond your own salary – such as ministry facilities, travel and events. It is worth noting that funding a larger missions organization like this can be quite a challenge! Launching a nonprofit can be a bit daunting and expensive, but it may be worth it if you have a big vision requiring significant amounts of resources.
Many of the principles related to personal missionary support raising still apply to funding a missions organization, but other fundraising approaches can also be used to help cover the much larger budget. When we had the Boiler Room in Greenville, we utilized multiple funding sources such as recruiting monthly partners, collecting offerings, charging for events/products and organizing special campaigns for ministry projects.
I am not in a position to give any kind of legal advice on how to start a nonprofit. I encourage you to do your research and get some legitimate legal advice if this is the route you decide to take.