Notice of Change Regarding World Mission Extra Commitment Opportunity Project Accounts
Drawing on its longstanding partnerships that span the globe, Presbyterian World Mission is honored to help U.S. Presbyterians build relationships with churches and other organizations around the world.
When global partners share stories of their ministry projects, U.S. Presbyterians often want to participate in these endeavors in a variety of ways, including financial contributions. World Mission is glad to process these contributions through a system that has a history of reliability and integrity. In 2011, the Presbyterian Mission Agency prepared cost comparisons using industry standard categories, so that donors could compare the efficiency of Presbyterian Mission operations with other charitable organizations, using a service such as Charity Navigator. The calculations showed that Presbyterian Mission Agency work is remarkably efficient, allocating a higher percentage of funding to program costs than many other charitable organizations.1
The Presbyterian Mission Agency has had a history of covering the true cost of its mission work within the variety of funding streams that support Presbyterian Mission. In 2008, the General Assembly directed the Presbyterian Mission Agency to “fairly and accurately allocate all costs associated with individual projects…including the costs associated with the systems necessary for the support, promotion, and accountability of each item.” The General Assembly gave five years to implement this directive.
Following a comprehensive study of the true costs for each project, in 2013, a new method of covering these costs was implemented. The impact on Presbyterian World Mission ECO project accounts is that 89% of each gift will be used for the direct costs of the project, and 11% will be used to cover the indirect costs, which are necessary for us to fulfill our commitment to efficiency and transparency to our mission constituency. We believe that this accurately relays the true cost of our mission, and exhibits the transparency that donors expect.
Indirect costs for Presbyterian World Mission include such necessary components as:
- The true cost of international wire transfers, including compliance measures required by U.S. Homeland Security
- Assurance that global partners receive and use funds as designated by donors.
- Communication to donors regarding the impact of their gifts.
- Ensuring that gifts meet IRS requirements for tax exempt status.
Presbyterian World Mission’s proven way of stewarding funds for international projects provides many advantages to churches and donors, so they don’t have to incur these risks and costs individually.
Good stewardship of all dollars received is a priority of Presbyterian World Mission. We stand ready to serve all Presbyterians who want to engage in God’s mission around the world.
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1 See note 14 of the 2011 audit for Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) A Corporation and the website: http://www.charitynavigator.com
Download this report as a pdf.
