Dear Friends and Family In Christ,

1. Impact Miami Church belongs to Jesus Christ. IMC staff are privileged to be his servants (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). IMC will exist only as long as God wants it to. If it becomes evident that His purpose for IMC is finished, we will close our doors. The sun does not rise or set on this ministry. It is simply a tool at God's disposal (2 Timothy 2:21), for Him to use how and as long as He chooses.
2. IMC has no desire to build a financial kingdom. We seek to keep overhead as low as possible. Our office is modest and comfortable.
3. As much as possible, IMC offers its services free of charge. We give away a great deal of our time, communication materials and services at no charge or an offering basis. Jesus said, "Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8). Consequently, we charge nothing for people to reproduce our website materials, and we have no fees for consultation or speaking. (We do accept speaking honorarium when voluntarily given.)
4. IMC operates without debt (Romans 13:8). Like any ministry, we must project ahead based on past giving levels, making financial decisions for which the bills will not come due for some time. We make reasonable projections. In those cases, IMC staff have voluntarily taken pay cuts. No vendors or special fund recipients have ever failed to receive funds, nor have they received them late.
5. IMC seeks to avoid unnecessary expenses and waste. Our mailings are an example of this. We rather use E-Newsletters than traditional forms of hard-copy communications.
6. IMC does not beg for funds. We will not send out fundraising letters with desperate pleas underlined in red. Even though "market research" shows it is effective to do so, we will not send emotionally manipulative response forms saying, "Yes, Jack, enclosed is ___$50 ___$100 ___My firstborn son, to end all sin in America, and to keep IMC's doors open until our next financial crisis in a month or so. In return, please send me my free booklet." Our practice is to inform E-newsletter recipients of periodic special opportunities to invest in eternity. This has not and cannot result in our own financial profit, since we do not keep these funds or any portion thereof. We do not regularly publicize our general fund needs, preferring to take them to the Lord in prayer. This, however, is a matter of preference, not conscience we don't believe it is wrong to do so (2 Corinthians 1:8). When we do choose to make general fund needs known, it is in a forthright and non-manipulative manner, without pressure to give.
7. We try not to make a major purchase without first praying that God will provide it at no cost or reduced cost, and waiting a period of time for God to provide or for an alternative to arise. If God has chosen not to provide it at that time, we will reevaluate whether it is truly a need. In any case, we will make the purchase only if funds are available. (Over the last year the Lord has graciously provided for us a desk, computers, office supplies and much more that would have cost thousands of dollars if we had purchased them when we first felt the need.)
8. We utilize volunteers to supplement work done by our paid staff.
9. We issue tax-deductible receipts for all funds and materials donated. To avoid the cost of extra mailings, these are issued bi-monthly and most via-email.
10. We will not sell or rent our mailing list to anyone.
11. We believe that 100% of all we are and have belongs to the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). A minimum of 10% is specially consecrated to Him and should be given regularly (1 Corinthians 16:2) to God's kingdom work (Leviticus 27:30; Malachi 3:10) be done through the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention. This minimum is to be supplemented with freewill offerings for special ministry purposes (Numbers 15:3; Ezra 1:4; 2 Corinthians 8-9). Scripture does not specifically state how much of the required and freewill giving should go to the local church and how much should go to other ministries cooperating with the churches in furthering God's kingdom (e.g., Focus on the Family, Prison Fellowship, Campus Crusade, mission boards, famine relief organizations, etc.). However, both scriptural example and common sense make clear that the believer's first and primary giving obligation is to his own church family. For this reason IMC council gives themselves give first and foremost to IMC, and ask that our supporters do the same. Giving to IMC should be the first priority of a member before giving to para-church or other non-profit ministries. Though the great majority of our support comes from individual tithes, we recognize that other non-church members give to help support our urban missional work in Miami and throughout the world.
12. We appreciate each financial gift we receive, realizing it often represents sacrifice and a heartfelt desire to invest in God's work. We take all contributions seriously, and are committed to carefully and honorably carrying out our role as stewards.
13. A statement of IMC's income and expenditures, including general staff salaries and benefits, and other distributions of funds, is available to anyone to see online. Other than donors' individual giving records, which are confidential, all the rest of IMC's finances are an open book.
14. IMC keeps careful and detailed financial records. Major policy decisions are made by the staff, pastors and council in consultation with our advisory board and other financial consultants. We seek to adhere to the standards of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. However, membership in the ECFA requires certain procedures that those examining our books tell us would create significant and unnecessary annual expenses for a ministry our size. Since we are small and our financial statements are forthright and detailed and examined by our church council monthly and an accountant annually, we believe we will maintain financial accountability as effectively as most ECFA organizations. When our organization grows we will seek to be part of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

• Contribution Opportunity