Local Benevolence Policy

Amount of local benevolence will be set by congregation as part of yearly budget at yearly congregational meeting. This amount will be set aside on a monthly basis in a fund named Local Benevolence. As it becomes available, the service committee will ask that it be distributed to local agencies or people. Each such request will be accompanied by a purchase order appropriately filled out and signed (forms available in church office). The service committee will select an agency/individual each monthly meeting by majority vote. When only one or two committee members are at the meeting, the chair is to select from a previously approved list (see below) or, if an individual, get approval from 2/3 of the actual committee membership before sending in the benevolence request.

If the committee has a focus for the year, the committee is encouraged to select agencies/individuals, which fit that focus. At the yearly planning meeting, a list may be made up of agencies for that list. This will be the list from which the chair may select a monthly benevolence if attendance at the meeting is only 1 or 2 members. Customary annual gifts should be on this list as well.

Money may be held in the account for several months towards a goal the committee has approved, such as a large donation to a single agency.

Agencies will be determined by their locality (Washington, Multnomah, Clackamas, Clark counties, southern Washington state or Oregon) and status as a non-profit. Mission/policy statements and contact persons/numbers for all such agencies will be kept on file in the church office in a binder marked for the purpose. As many as possible should also be linked to the service committee web page.

Individuals will be determined by referral. This must be from a local agency (see above) or person known to someone in the congregation, and subject to investigation by the committee. The individuals Benevolence to such individuals will not exceed 50% of each month’s benevolence. Long term support (over three months) should be discussed with pastoral staff.

Exceptions to these guidelines should be discussed with pastoral staff and voted on by committee.

Every time the committee decides to send in a request for donation, the amount and donee should be stated in both the monthly minutes and the monthly article for the newsletter. At the end of the fiscal year, the list of all donees and amounts should appear as part of the yearly report for the service committee.