Charitable Choice: Top 10 Tips for Faith-Based Organizations

Stanley W. Carlson-Thies

1. Plans, Not Just Visions. To be entrusted with
public funds to serve the needy, you need specific plans
for how you will help families overcome their problems.
Faith is essential but no substitute for plans. Specify
outcomes and demonstrate how your program will produce them.

2. Don't Chase Money. You have a right to compete
for funding to provide services. Just be sure that the funds
will help you carry out what you know how to do well. Don't
be tempted to start a new program just because money is
available for it.

3. Be Accountable. Make sure you have policies,
procedures, and personnel that enable you to account for
income and expenditures, monitor staff and volunteers, and
keep track of clients progress. Government will, and should,
ask you to be accountable for how you spend, what you do,
and what works.

4. Avoid Dependency. Never become dependent on
any one source of income. Plan ahead what you will do if
government funding dries up or an unacceptable condition
becomes the price of continued funding. Establish a maximum
percentage of funds from any single source.

5. Separate Incorporation. Establish a separate
but faith-based 501(c)(3) corporation to receive government
money and to operate your service programs. Your congregation
will be protected from unwanted government rules and prying,
and a separate structure can be specifically designed for
effective services for the community.

6. Join Hands. Your congregation has a vision for
service? Wonderful. First step: see if any one else is already
filling the need and join with them. If no one is yet active,
get busy, but draw in others who share your vision and can
bring their own expertise and connections.

7. Be Careful About Religion. Faith undergirds
the solution. But the poor are not necessarily without faith;
they may be suffering because of the evil of others. So
let faith be resource, guide, and connecting point, not
the end of the story. And respect, without ignoring, the
alternative faiths many will bring.

8. Get into the Loop. Government contracting and
policy making are long-standing operations with their own
language, information channels, and players. Want to be
serious about working with government? Find out what the
loop is and get into it. Don't try it alone, join a network.

9. Check With a Lawyer. No matter how well you
understand Charitable Choice, if you plan to get involved
with government you first should consult with an attorney
experienced with government rules and regulations, religious
organizations, and the nonprofit sector.

10. Advocate As Well As Serve. As you serve the
needy with your best efforts, don't forget that they may
also need you to be on their side as their advocate to government.
And don't let your focus on service blind you to the need
for justice in public policies and economic life.