Fund Raising Policy and Procedure[1]

 Because the mission of the Church is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by means of Word and Sacrament (Matthew 24:14; 28:19; Mark 16:15; Luke 27:47), it is important that all activities of the Church support and give clear testimony to this mission. It is also clear from the Holy Scriptures that the Lord’s work is supported primarily through the free-will offerings of the people of God (2 Corinthians 8:1-15; Leviticus 27:30 and Malachi 3:10).

 Because of these Scriptural truths, Trinity Lutheran Church and School adopts the following policy and procedure with regard to any and all fundraising activities:

1. Fundraising activities should not be a prominent focus of our congregation or of its organizations lest they obscure the mission to our community.
2. All fundraising activities in the Church and School shall be brought before the Board of Elders no later than the 30^th of September in the fiscal year in which they are to occur. Information will be presented to the Elders as is detailed in attachment A to this policy/procedure for each fundraising activity. The Elders may consider fundraising requests presented outside the above window, but the presentation must also include an explanation of why it was not possible to meet the policy deadline. The elders will maintain a calendar of fundraising events (Policy History: Date was changed in November, 2000 policy to 30 Sept from 30 June to accommodate PTM schedule. Last sentence added by Elders, June 5, 2003).
3. Fundraisers may not be used to support the general fund. The Church Council and Elders may approve fundraisers to support specific line items that would otherwise be funded from the general fund. (Policy History: Approved by Voters’ Assembly, March 27, 2003).
4. In the event of conflicting dates or duplicate projects, the elders will give preference to the projects in order of their chronological presentation to the board.
5. Fundraising activities must at all times be presented to the congregation and community in ways to enhance our Christian witness. The value of donations will be identified by the sponsoring organization according to current IRS regulations.
6. There will be no sales in the main hallway of the Church and in the Narthex. The Dorcas Society has permission to sell Christian cards and stationery in the Christian Resource Room off of the Narthex.
7. At the end of each fundraiser, the sponsoring organization will be required to submit a report detailing the results to the Board of Elders. The Board of elders will consider no further fundraisers until the financial report is received.
8. The financial records of each fundraising organization will be reviewed at the end of each year. A report of assets not maintained in the church treasury will be submitted to the congregational bookkeeper on a monthly basis (Policy History: passed by the Church council, July 15, 1999).
9. All fundraising activities that are not managed within agency funds must be collected and accounted for by the church office depositing and tracking receipts through the congregational finance committee. Payments to vendors, for fundraising items sold, must be made through the church office according to standard fiscal procedures (Policy History:  June 5, 2003 by elders’ action).
10. The congregation has voted to give the Senior Pastor authority (at his discretion) to include financial information in the church bulletin (Policy History: Voters' Assembly, June 28, 2007 overturning a policy adopted in 1997).

In addition to the above, the following additional guidelines will apply to fundraising activities by the Trinity Lutheran School Parents-Teachers in Mission (PTM) organization:

1. Any fundraiser suggested for the upcoming year must pass by a majority vote of the PTM members in attendance and receive approval of the Board of Elders.
2. The summer planning meeting of the PTM board will tentatively set-up fundraising activities and their dates in accordance with the preceding policy (Policy History: PTM executive board interpretation of PTM constitution Article II.B., made in agreement with elders, November, 2000).
3. Financial reports will be given in accordance with policy numbers 7 and 8 and will be shared the organization membership.
4. Children of Trinity Lutheran School will not be asked to sell items door-to-door.