Benelovence Application
Take care of him, and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend. . . . Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:35-37
The Purpose of the Fund The Community Church of Washington DC, in keeping with its Biblical and charitable goals, has established a Benevolence Fund ("Fund") to assist persons within our church and community in financial need. This policy is to explain the purpose of the Community Church of Washington DC (“CCWDC” or “The Church”) Benevolence Fund (“the Fund”),
The Sources of the Fund The Fund comes from these two sources: 1. A 10% tithe of the monetary offering that the church receives from the church’s weekly tithes and offerings. 2. Monetary offerings from individuals or organizations that are designated to the church’s Benevolence Fund.
Making a Contribution to the Fund - Any donor who wishes to make a contribution to CCWDC’s Benevolence Fund is welcome. However, the church has the right to decide which efforts will be supported as well as the amount of support that will be determined.
To make contribution to the Fund: 1. Please make checks payable to The Community Church and put “Benevolence Fund” on the bottom of the check as a remark. A donation receipt will be issued by the Trustee Board, Church Treasurer/Administrator to the donor as proof to file for tax purposes. 2. Do not put any specific name of an individual or an organization on the bottom of the check. The church will either return the check to the donor or make proper arrangements to transfer the donation amount to the specific individual or organization without providing a donation receipt to the donor if this is a designated donation.** 3. To make monetary donations to any specific individual or organization, please refer to other related church policies.
** A donation through CCWDC which is designated to an individual, a foreign organization, or a profit organization cannot be treated as a tax deductible donation. This will be considered as a personal gift by the IRS code. IRS has stated that if contributions to Church funds are intended by the donor for a particular individual, they are treated, in effect, as being gifts to the designated individual and are not tax deductible donation. (See IRS code, section 170)
Terms for support - The cap for one-time support for each recipient (individual or family) is no more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250). The cap for the short-term support is limited to 6 months and five hundred dollars ($500) in its entirety within a given calendar year. As much as possible, checks from the benevolent fund will be payable to vendors or creditors, etc., rather than to the individual requesting assistance. This is excepted when less than $100 is needed for living expenses when a check or gift card may be issued. Any long-term support is not recommended. Any exception(s) must be suggested by the Trustee Board and approved by the Diaconate Board.
Other 1. The Committee (when deemed necessary to convene) consists of the church’s Senior Pastor or one of the pastoral staff members, the Diaconate Board, and Trustee Board. The committee will convene in cases where a ¾ or majority determination cannot be made on an application. Other instances may include when a member of the board or his/her family member is applying for support. If there is a conflict, that member shall recuse themselves from the process to ensure that a fair determination process is followed. 2. The approval of this Policy and any changes rests on the Diaconate Board with final approval by the Senior Pastor. 3. The Diaconate Board is responsible for explaining the Policy and updating this policy annually (if necessary).
