BP 11122023 129pm - Flipbook - Page 84
specific expenses, and to ability to withdraw support of funds in the event of suspected
inappropriate use.
Tax-deductible donated funds cannot be steered to cover any specific individual’s travel costs,
lodging or air fare. For example, the IRS does not allow a family to have a tax deduction for
donations made to cover their family member’s travel costs. Funds donated to a general ministry
fund may be used to support group travel costs, or for individual travel costs, so long as a
rigorous needs-based, documented assessment is done by an independent committee, and
approved by the pastor. Ultimately, IRS guidelines as to donor intent must be complied with for
any tax-deductible donations.
We recommend the attached checklist (below) be used in handling 501c3 organizations, charity
projects, collections and wire transfers, and approved by the pastor upon completion.
( ) ARCHBISHOP APPROVAL: Any second collection efforts used to accumulate funds must
be approved by the Archbishop;
( ) PARISH CONTROLLED FUNDS: For funds accumulated by the parish, and fully controlled
and used, documentation must be sufficient to comply with IRS requirements defined above.
( ) PARISH FUNDS SENT TO 501C3: For funds accumulated by the parish, and then
transferred to a 501c3 3 parish should provide details to the 501c3 to issue the tax letters; no tax
letter should be generated by the parish.
( ) FUNDS FROM PARISH ACCOUNTS SENT TO 501C3 3 any transfer of funds to a 501C3
by a parish must be done directly by the parish, from a parish bank account or a parish credit
card, and never from an individual’s own bank account or credit card.
( ) CASH AND INTERNATIONAL WIRES: international wire transfers should be placed by
the parish using Bill.com. If you need to send a wire to a country that is not supported by Bill’s
international payment process, contact the Archdiocese Office of Finance for assistance. If the
wire is processed through the Archdiocese; the wire will be funded by the Archdiocese, and the
parish will be billed or transferred from the parish D&L account. Wires should always be sent
directly to the international diocese or Bishop, and never to an individual, or his/her bank
account. Physical transfer of cash is prohibited, given the difficulty of tracking the usage.
( ) TRAVEL COSTS: Any funds accumulated by the parish to support general or specific
individual travel costs must comply with the guidelines defined above, as to a needs-based
assessment, documented and approved by the pastor.
( ) FORMALIZED MINISTRY POLICIES: Where a 501c3 is not involved, a ministry
committee must be established with the pastor’s approval, with defined financial oversight,
budgets, and funding, project scope, etc. The group also has the authority to withdraw support
for the project if concerns are raised as to how funds are used. Formal records must be
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