Ministry Fund Raising via Scrip (3)

    Scrip is a Ministry Fund Raising program that allows your people (BUYERS) to do their usual buying from applicable vendors where they pay the regular price and some 5 to 10 percent of the price comes to the named Ministry --- we will call it a "Retention Percentage". Learn more details about how this works when you go to  0101  and   PTO.  See below for a sample of a annual Scrip Ministry Fund Raising program activity:

	This Year	Last Year
Number of BUYERs at year end	133	125
Amount paid to Scrip vendors	$     322,365	$     306,443
Percentage Retention earned by BUYERs	$      18,839	$      16,563
Used by BUYERs for their Church Event costs	$      16,425	$      15,242
Excess carried forward	$        2,414	$        1,321
Available to BUYER at Beginning of Year	$      13,504	$      12,183
Available to BUYER at End of Year	$      15,918	$      13,504

    The usual process is for the Ministry (especially a Church) to immediately get the "Retention Percentage" and the Ministry decides how to use it. But an alternative process is for this "Retention Percentage" to be assigned to each Buyer -- or to the person who did the purchasing and generated the "Retention Percentage" dollar amount. The Buyer then can use their "Retention Percentage" amount for only such Ministry event costs to them like AWANA, Camps, VBS and other purposes as shown when you go to  5018. 
    This program obviously requires more record keeping ..... ask us about contacting Peggy who effectively uses a separate set QuickBooks for their Church Scrip program.

         Ministry Bookkeeping and "Online Sourcing" --- as apposed to "Out Sourcing" per se. (4)

          Your Bill Payment Check is in the (e)Mail  (5)

          Is Your Church Dead or Alive: (6)

          Onliner dialog about "Designated Donations" at a Church: (7)

From:  Onliner:
    When I go to a list of your Truisms, or when I  click here , I find that we need to handle tax deductible designated donations a certain way. Please provide me with some more input for such types as below:

1>  We have a certain church department that is funded within the General Fund (like Music or Junior High, for example) and people want to direct their gift to such an operating department.
2>  Like Brad explains within 3444, we have some self funding Ministries that the General Fund must underwrite.
3>  We have a Benevolence Fund and people want to specify a certain church family or give to people outside our church.
4>  People want to give in memory of a certain deceased loved one.
5>  Assist someone in their Church Event costs or someone's Private School costs.
6>  Staff Member Love offerings.

From:  JimRetCPA@bcidot.org
     Yes, such issues need to be clearly spelled out within your Church Finance Policy manual -- please  click here to access an example.  Please be careful as all such gifts must --
>>  Be given to the Church in furtherance of its tax exempt purpose
>>  Go to a Fund that has been approved by the governing Board.
>>  Be handled so that it is not simply a  "pass-thru" as described when you click here
>>  Not by-pass tax reporting --  if it is an approved Staff member "Love Offering," etc.

From: Onliner:
    Jim, please comment on each of my 6 examples above.

From: Jim
    OK - with the above issues in mind, it is my view that Donors: 
1>  "Can NOT" designate gifts for a certain GPFund operations department that is funded by undesignated gifts.
2>  Can designate gifts to a certain Self Funding effort.
3>  Can ask that certain needy Church people be helped, but the Church has the final say, etc. as set forth within the parameters found within  5021.  But "Can NOT" accommodate people outside the Church, etc.
4>  Can give to pre-approved generic Church Memorial Funds.  Often such funds are broad enough so that the deceased would already have an interest in one of them.  For example,  the family would know that the deceased would have an interest in a Ministry to Young People and make it clear in such announcements.
5>  Can give to applicable Self Funding effort like 2> above.  But "Can NOT" donate money to help a specific staff member or young person in their Private School costs.
6>  Can give to a generic staff Love Offering  ---  like funding a Christmas Bonus, etc.  I do not recommend that it be tied to a specific staff member like the Senior Pastor only, etc.

From: Onliner:
    After the Church has articulated their policies, how do we handle money received that meets your above "Can NOT" criteria?

From: Jim:
    My view is that the gift is temporarily placed in a  "Holding, or Suspense" account and the appropriate Church official writes a very positive "Thank You" letter to the donor reminding them of these policies and stating that the money will go into such and such similar Account unless you hear from them otherwise in a week, etc.  Do not encourage them to have the church return the gift.

From: Onliner:
        Very helpful -- thanks, Jim. 

          Click below for Potentially Helpful Online Links for JIMs JRNL Readers: (1)

Church/Ministry Software info via Christian Computer Magazine  ---- 
         http://www.nacba.net/PDF_FILES/CMS%20List.NBN%202004.pdf
Church Administration Resources ----  http://www.churchadminpro.com
Reduced "QBooks Online Edition (QBOE)" rates for Nonprofits.  --
         http://oe.quickbooks.com/nonprofits.shtml?sc=QOE-COM-EMAIL-nonprofits

           This month's chosen "Ministry Finance" Truism: (2)

        Below is one of my Ministry Finance precepts/beliefs/principles, or  "rules of thumb".  Please go to  0069  for our complete TRUISMS list.

    A ministry financial system MUST include the necessary internal controls that come about when people are a check and balance to one another; an entire financial transaction is NOT done by one person only. You are not questioning someone's integrity when a Ministry does this ---- it is safeguarding, or protecting, all parties involved in a Ministry's financial transaction.  See  0039   and  5039  for more info on the topic of internal financial controls.

             Prayerful Thots:

     This "Blogger" like monthly endeavor (99) allows me to share some personal comments/thoughts as to Ministry Finance issues plus matters concerning Righteous Personal Finance for Christian people.  Please go to  0200  for further explanation and links to earlier JIM's JRNLs.  The four digit links  xxxx  herein come from www.bcidot.org sources. 
    If you would like to receive the next monthly JIM's JRNL during the first week of the subsequent month,  please join the following Yahoo Group:   ---- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JIMsJRNL/.    Caution --- the non  www.bcidot.org  web links that I reference herein do NOT necessarily imply my endorsement.  Further, if any of these links do not work, let us know which one at LINK@bcidot.org.  Lists of our  www.bcidot.org  articles (or Web Docs), can be found at 9712.  9716  and  9705.  

 Probable "Ministry Finance Lingo", or "Frequently Used Vocational Terms" used herein, appear below:

            BLVR =  Someone who has accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, CBA = Church Business Administrator, CBAer;  CMS = Church Management Software/System;  CPA = Certified Public Accountant;  GAAP = Generally Accepted Accounting Principles/Practices;  GPFund or GPF = General Purpose Fund; MFTeam or MFT= Ministry Finance Team;  QBOE = QuickBooks Online Edition;  QBooks or QB = Quickbooks; RPFin  = Righteous Personal Finance , SPFunds or SPFs = Special Purpose Funds

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Click Here and go to a list of earlier JIM's JRNLs - Contact JimRetCPA@bcidot.org

This document was updated last on:  June 17, 2008