Donation FAQ
Thank you for your support of Youth With A Mission; we appreciate it and feel honored by your confidence that God is at work in and through us. Below you will find information that will hopefully assist you in understanding the following :
• the support process in YWAM
• where to actually direct your support to, and
• whether your contribution might qualify as tax-deductible (see FAQ #s 4, 5 and 6)
As per US IRS regulations, Administrative/Processing Fees (Transfers, Credit Card processing etc. ) will be automatically deducted from donations as necessary. As per US IRS regulations ywam.org's Donation Processing Service has complete and total control and jurisdiction over the use and disbursement of donations. Rest assured, we do our best to interpret and honor the intent of every single donation and disburse it for ministry purposes within the Mission.
For online giving you are encouraged to donate directly to the ministry of your choice (search for contact info above). If that ministry does not offer donation options on their own site, please go to the Donate Page on this site, or click on the Donate Button on the home page of this site. We encourage designated giving.
DONATING THROUGH THIS SITE
Making General Donations
If you would like to make a general donation to YWAM, we encourage you to go to the Donate Page and choose a Specific Cause (from the DropDown menu Eg. Where Needed Most, Emergency Fund etc. ). Please note that YWAM is not a centralized organization, and therefore does not have a centralized funding operation in place to receive or distribute such donations. As per IRS regulations, the YWAM ministry providing Donor Services for this site has complete and total control and jurisdiction over the use and disbursement of donations received through this site.
Donating to a Specific YWAM Staff Person
Most YWAM workers need to raise support from financial partners in order to do their ministry, so financial gifts play a vital role in enabling them to reach people for Christ. If you would like to help support the ministry of a particular YWAM staff person, please follow the instructions in FAQ #1 below.
Donating to a Specific YWAM Ministry
Most YWAM ministries also depend on support from financial partners in order to do their ministry. If you would like to support a particular YWAM ministry, please follow the instructions in FAQ #2 below. There are many YWAM ministries among which you can choose; each of them would welcome your support. We encourage you to directly contact a YWAM ministry of your choice to find out from them what may be the best method to direct funding their way. If you are not very familiar with YWAM, you might want to peruse some of the many YWAM websites that are linked from here (you can use the Search field at the top of this page, or you might want to look at YWAM ministries by using the map on this page: Click here to use a worldmap to find YWAM locations.
Making A Donation to Benefit a Participant in a YWAM School (e.g., DTS Students)
If you would like to support a particular participant in a YWAM training program, please follow the instructions in point # 6 below. Please note that Donations made with a request to cover education expenses are NOT tax-deductible for U.S. tax payers.
DONATION FAQ’s
1. How do I support the ministry of a specific staff person in YWAM ? (see FAQ #6 for non-staff persons)
There is no centralized support processing (nor location) for all of Youth With A Mission worldwide. There is also no requirement that supporters must send their funds through any particular YWAM office at all. Individual YWAMers may set up any process for receiving financial funds that suits them and their donors (e.g., staff can also receive support directly from donors, or through a church or YWAM ministry they have made an appropriate ministry support processing arrangement with).
As a potential donor, please first contact the individual staff person whom you would like to support, and inquire about any support options they may already have in place. YWAM does not maintain an international database of individual staff or donors worldwide; we have over 18,000 staff people serving in over 200 countries. They have been recruited in, and have been sent out from many different countries. There is no one person or place in YWAM that knows where all YWAMers are located.)
Individual recipients of donations must be active YWAM staff. If recipient staff status changes during the process of fund transfers, donations may instead be applied elsewhere in YWAM (where needed most). Once the recipient's YWAM staff status is verified, and an administrative fee retained for processing, efforts will be made to transfer the funds will be forwarded on to the ministry location where the staff member presently serves. This verification and transfer process could take several weeks.
2. How do I support a specific YWAM ministry location ?
There is no centralized support processing (nor location) for all of Youth With A Mission. In other words, you can send your donation directly to the YWAM ministry location you want to benefit. If that ministry is not located in the same country you are in, you should probably contact them first and find out what is their preferred way to receive money. They may have a preferred support processing system already in place in your country, and/or they may operate under a different local name in the country they are in).
3. How can I make a general donation to YWAM ?
If you would like to make a general donation to YWAM, please note that YWAM is not a centralized organization, and therefore does not have a centralized funding set-up in place to receive or distribute such donations. There are many YWAM ministries to choose from; each of them would welcome your support. Please contact a ministry of your choice directly to find out from them what may be the best method to direct funding their way. If you are not very familiar with YWAM, you might want to browse through some of the many YWAM websites that are linked from this site (you can use the Search field and look at YWAM ministries by using our YWAM worldmap) Click here to use a worldmap to find YWAM locations.
4. Is my support to YWAM tax-deductible (US tax payers) ?
YWAM is a movement of ministries operating in over 1,200 locations worldwide, including dozens in the USA. Most (possibly all) YWAM ministries in the USA are registered with US tax authorities (the IRS) in such a way, so as to be able to receive tax-deductible donations. To check if your donation is tax-deductible, please contact the particular US YWAM location you intend to send money to, and ask them. PLEASE NOTE: Contributions to YWAM designated for the educational expenses of an individual (i.e Discipleship Training School) are not tax-deductible (see also FAQ #6 below).
Donations made through this website (ywam.org) are tax-deductible for US tax payers (except for donations for educational purposes).
5. Is my support to YWAM tax-deductible (non-US tax payers) ?
Depending on the country and its tax laws where you are a tax-payer, financial contributions to YWAM in that same country may be tax deductible. To determine the tax deductibility of your contributions, please contact the YWAM ministry location of the person or ministry you wish to support. (For Canadian tax payers: Ph: +1.604.436.4433, Email: donorservices@shaw.ca). Donations through ywam.org may be tax-deductible only for US tax payers.
6. Can I support a specific individual attending a YWAM school or other program (non-staff / student) ?
If you are a U.S. taxpayer, please note that your contribution to YWAM designated toward school expenses (or travel expenses to a YWAM school), are NOT tax-deductible according to IRS rules. Please send money directly to the person you want to help (please review the introductory paragraph above). You can also send money directly to the YWAM location where that person will attend a school with a note attached that indicates who or what program the money is to benefit. You will want to ask the person (or YWAM school) as to how that location prefers money to be sent, and how it is to be made payable (YWAM maybe registered and operate under other local names in various countries based on context).
7. Do YWAMers get paid?
Youth With A Mission (YWAM) is a volunteer movement of thousands of Christians in hundreds of locations who are seeking to make Christ known in word and deed. Most people in YWAM need financial partners in order to do their ministry. They depend on God to motivate people to contribute their financial resources. Any amount is greatly appreciated. If you would like to support a particular YWAM staff person or family, please follow the instructions in point # 1.
8. What donation methods can I use?
You should probably first direct that question to the particular YWAM ministry or staff you plan to support. Most can receive and process donations by check (however, please note that YWAM may operate under different legal names in different countries and thus require checks to be made payable accordingly, or, depending on the country, it may be safer to obtain information for a bank-to-bank transfer). Some YWAM locations are able to process credit card donations, and may even offer that option on their particular ministry's website. Some can arrange for regular withdrawals from your bank account. Some may have accounts that make it possible to receive donations of financial instruments.
• For online giving through ywam.org, go to the Donate Page on ywam.org, or click on the Donate Button on the home page of this site.
• For other Donation questions please read through the rest of this FAQ page.
If this page does not answer the Donation related questions you may still have, please email : donations@ywam.org
9. How Do I make a Donation "in memory of" or "in honor of" someone?
Thank you for thinking of Youth With A Mission when wishing to make a gift in memory or in honor of someone special, such as a loved one, family member, friend or colleague. You can do so by adding a note to your donation, specifying the name of the person in whose memory/honor you are donating.
If you wish, you may designate your gift to a general category of needs within YWAM (see Donation Form), or specify a specific YWAM ministry. You may also request that YWAM send an acknowledgment letter (e.g., to a surviving family member or representative, or to the person or family member in whose honor your are making the gift). The letter identifies the donor by name and refers to the special gift that was made (it does not disclose the amount of the gift). When including such request, please provide the appropriate name and address.
10. For YWAM Staff seeking to set up a regular support processing procedure in the USA
If you anticipate receiving regular support from the USA, you will want to set up an account with a U.S. based YWAM ministry to process that support for you. Here are two other U.S. YWAM ministries that are able and willing to set up and provide a support processing service for you.
1. YWAM Garden Valley in Texas: +1.903.509.5309
2. YWAM Kailua Kona in Hawaii: +1.808.326.4400
(For Canadian tax payers: Ph: +1.604.436.4433, Email: donorservices@shaw.ca).
Donations through ywam.org may be tax-deductible only for US tax payers.
