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Our Philosophy of Giving at TNLC
Our Non-Profit Status
Our Accountability with Contributions
TNLC Annual Budget and Financial Policies
Global and Local Support
Budget Surplus
Charitas Offerings
Employer Matching
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Our Philosophy of Giving at TNLC
At The Next Level Church, we are not ashamed of asking people to generously give to what God is doing in and through our church. The Bible speaks clearly and plainly about God’s desire for all of his followers to support what he is doing in the world. For that reason it is our desire as a church to accomplish two things:
- We desire our church to be as effective as possible in how we carry out our mission
- We desire to be held to the highest level of accountability for how we use the resources entrusted to us
Our Non-Profit Status
The Next Level Church is a non-profit organization under the IRS tax code 501(c)3. That means that all contributions to our church are tax-deductible. (Please consult your tax advisor for more specific information). Therefore, we send out statements twice a year to those who have contributed $250 or more to our church. The statement sent out in July is for you to check to make sure we have recorded all of your contributions to date. The statement sent out in January is the record of all of your contributions for the previous year.
If there is ever a discrepancy on your statement or a bank problem with one of your contributions, please contact Anne, our Office Administrator, at agriffin@tnl.org.
Our Accountability with Contributions
When it comes to handling money at The Next Level Church, we take the process very seriously. We do this to maintain good standing with the IRS and keep our non-profit status. But much more importantly, we believe that Jesus taught that how we handle money (both as individuals and as organizations) says a lot about our love of him.
We have a number of security and redundancy measures in place for the counting and depositing of money to ensure that every dollar given is counted, deposited, and that the contribution is credited to the individual who gave it.
Our annual budget is approved each year by our Elders. No staff member or ministry inside of the church is simply given a blank check, but each line item is rigorously examined to ensure the most effective use of TNLC’s resources.
Go to TNLC Annual Budget Report
We also submit our books to an outside auditing agency every year. The accountants verify that we are conforming to Generally Accepted Accounting Practices with our books. Also, we are in the process of having our organization certified with the Evangelical Financial Accountability Group.
Finally, to allow for the greatest amount of financial transparency, The Next Level Church has always had an open book policy. If you every have any concern about how money is spent at TNLC or have any questions about any of our financial practices or philosophies, please set up an appointment with a member of our Finance Team. Please contact Anne, our office administrator, to set up that appointment agriffin@tnl.org.
TNLC Annual Budget and Financial Policies
The leadership of TNLC is diligent with the resources that God has given us. Because of that, we want to be as open and transparent as we can with how we spend the contributions of those who support our church. Every year the Finance Team and Elders work with the staff to find new ways to efficiently use the financial resources of TNLC. We are pleased to share that The Next Level Church is a very lean running machine as you can see in the charts below.
Total Annual Budget
2007/2008 Non-Personnel Budget
2007/2008 Operating Budget
Global and Local Support
At The Next Level Church we are committed to what God is doing outside the walls of our church. We believe that as a community of followers of Christ, we have an obligation to support God’s Kingdom in the Denver Metro Area as well as around the world. Throughout the year we provide a number of opportunities for individuals at TNL to financially support various local and global ministries such as Habitat for Humanity, Compassion International and Operation Christmas Child. But it is our desire as a church to financially support various projects through our operating budget as well. Currently TNL gives 2.5% of its operating budget to individuals and ministries outside the walls of TNL. Our hope is to be able to increase that amount an additional 2.5% every year until we have reached at least 10% of our operating budget.
Budget Surplus
For several years now the leadership of The Next Level Church has desired for us as a church to give away more of our general operating budget. As a community we contribute individually each year to Charitas offerings to support what God is doing locally and globally. But it is our desire to give a more significant portion of our operating budget outside of TNLC.
With that desire in mind it is our intent to continue to grow our operating budget from one year to the next through the generous support of those who call TNLC home. However, half of what is given to TNLC over our current annual budget of $488,000 will be used for ministry outside of our church. We are committed to growing the amount we give outside of TNLC until 10% of our operating budget is used for what God is doing outside of our church.
Charitas Offerings
Several times each year our community takes a special offering to help with a specific need locally or globally. These opportunities give us a chance as a community to combine our resources to help meet physical needs of those inside of our community (Grace Fund), around the Denver Metro area (Local Fund), and around the world (Global Fund).
Although we highlight the opportunity to give to these designated funds a couple of times each year, you may contribute to them by using the designated envelopes at the Information Table on Tuesday nights.
Employer Matching
Many employers encourage their employees to participate in their communities through charitable volunteering and contributions. Some employers offer to match charitable contributions made by their employees up to a certain amount, or to simply give money away freely to their employee’s favorite charities. Especially if you work for a large corporation, talk to your employer about your company’s charitable contributions and the possibility of employer matching. This is great way to make your support of what TNL is doing go even farther. If you would like help on this issue, or are not sure that your employer will contribute to a religious organization, talk to a member of our finance team. Please contact Anne, our office administrator, at admin@tnl.org for more information or help.
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