Non Profit Status Approved!!!

We received a letter from the IRS yesterday stating that they have approved our request for non-profit status under section 501(c)3 of the internal revenue code! This is really a major triumph. Though it may seem basic and expected, the implications are huge for the growth of our organization. It qualifies us for more funding and stretches our funding further.

We are allowed to work under the assumption that this approval would come and have been doing so. I can now tell you for certain though now that your charitable donations, both monetary and in-kind, made directly to Servants Unite are deductible from your taxes. I can also tell you that this makes us accountable to the IRS as well as you when we allocate resources.

This is especially critical as our general funds are near $0 after our summer trips and the Bucyrus response.

This means we can accept corporate donations. Most corporations will only give to a 501(c)3 approved organization. You can help promote donations to Servants Unite from your employer.

We can accept employee donations and corporate matching funds through payroll deduction at your employer. Several volunteers have been waiting on this approval to donate through their employer. Please check with your Human Resources department. If you have payroll deducted donations to charitable organizations presently with your employer, you should be able to redirect some or all of this giving to Servants Unite. The process is not complicated in most organizations. Generally our tax ID number and some information about the organization (www.servantsunite.org) are all that is required.

This status also makes it more attractive to churches, mission groups, and other non-profits to support us financially. Please help make your church leadership and mission organizations aware of this update. We can use steady funding as we have functioned to date on one time gifts and special collections. We also need to get commitments from churches for special collections or reserve funds to finance our next response.

You can always give to us personally. Again, your monetary or in-kind (stuff) donation is tax deductible. You'll be getting calls from lots of unknown solicitors from now through Christmas. Please keep in mind that these phone solicitors frequently keep 80-90% of your donation. Donating to Servants Unite will assure that 100% of your donation goes to a worthy cause. You can donate through the Paypal link on the web (which will eat 2% of your donation), or mail a check.

As we've seen we can get a lot more mileage out of donations than the traditional and much larger recipients of corporate funding who have enormous overhead. Nearly 100% of funds donated to Servants Unite go directly to our mission with very small administrative costs and no salaries.

Finally, our tax exempt status saves us money when we buy materials and equipment for use in our work. I'll work on getting the appropriate information to vendors we purchase from.

Thanks for your continued support!

Servants Unite!