As a ministry of the local church, having church board approval is necessary to know that church leadership is supporting the Core Settlement Team. The church board may also need to make a motion recognizing refugee sponsorship as a ministry of the church so that tax deductible receipts can be issued to individuals donating to the ministry.
The sponsorship does not become 'official' and legally binding until government forms are signed and submitted to ROC-O by your SAH representative.
The sponsoring group must have the approval of the church board to move forward with refugee sponsorship. The following documents may be helpful to give to board members for their consideration:
Church Board Motion Request
This document is a sample of what a core team could provide to their church board as a motion for affirming refugee sponsorship as a ministry of the church and to approve setting up a refugee fund.
Church Financial Guidelines
This document will be helpful for board members as they considering the motion to approve refugee sponsorship as a ministry of the church.
Church Letter of Financial Support
This is one of 2 documents the AGC provides as a template for our churches that must be signed at the start of the sponsorship process. This letter from the church Board to the AGC:
- affirms the church board supports this ministry,
- identifies who is being sponsored,
- records the expected cost of resettlement, and
- confirms the church will provide full funding for the sponsorship.
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
The 2nd of 2 documents provided by the AGC that every sponsoring church must sign. The content is taken largely from the Agreement the AGC has signed with the Canadian government. That being said, this AGC RSI Agreement is drafted as a template and there is room to negotiate some of the points so that responsibilities and expectations are clear between the sponsoring church and the AGC functioning as the SAH.
These 2 AGC documents must be signed before the government paperwork is started.
If a church is working with a co-sponsor in their community and will be holding funds from the co-sponsor in trust for the refugee (family), thena second Financial MOU will need to be completed specifically addressing the funds being held in trust.
Issuing Tax Receipts
The board may have questions about how to handle tax receipts, and gifts in kind. This document is a useful guide to help explain all things tax receiptable.