Draft of Powerpoint for Summit VIII

1. Wendy Cosby, Dwain Gullion, JT Olson,
Carrie Blaske, Rich Metcalfe

3.  I. God’s Pull
 Romans 8:15-17: “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall
back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by
whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our
spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of
God and fellow heirs with Christ.”
 II. God’s Promises
 2 Corinthians 9:8: “God will generously provide all you need.”
 Philippians 4:19: “This same God who takes care of me will supply all
your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in
Christ Jesus.”
 Matthew 7:11: Jesus said, “If you sinful people know how to give good
gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give
good gifts to those who ask him”
 III. God’s Provision
 Romans 8:32 “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for
us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

4. ◦ Overview of the Costs of Adoption
 How much will it cost?
 State Foster Care
 Domestic Adoption – $8-25k
◦ International Adoption - $20-$35k +
◦ All tools, ideas & organizations are just instruments in
God’s hands…
God is “Jehovah-Jireh ”!

5. ◦ Directly awarded to family for adoption expenses
◦ Given without repayment or fundraising
◦ Mirrors grace freely given to us
◦ Grants range from $2,000-$10,000+
◦ Disbursed directly to adoption agency
◦ Based on financial need

6.  Matching Grants of up to $4,000/per child ($1-for-$1 match)
 Kingdom activity: see adoption as “missions in reverse”…bringing
the mission field home. (involves family, church, community)
 Families given “turn-key” support raising kit
◦ Biblical act of making needs known (letter, Facebook, blog)
◦ Others donate tax-deductible gifts
◦ e.g. Harlow family - $2500 Matching Grant – raised over $11K
◦ 100% of donations to adoption expenses (no admin fee
deducted)
◦ Church, family friends become engaged financially & prayerfully
 Average Scenario: Matching Grant of $2,500 - mobilizes an
additional $5,000 - average total grant funds for your
adoption = $7,500

7.  Currently there is a federal adoption tax
credit of up to $13,360 per child (for 2012)
for unreimbursed “qualified adoption
expenses.”
 See IRS Tax Topic 607: Adoption Credit
(www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc607.html), which provides
general information about the current federal adoption tax
credit.
 Note: Please be sure to consult your tax adviser for
additional information and to understand how the federal
adoption tax credit works and may impact you.

8.  Reduces initial, upfront ‘cash-flow crunch’
 Maximizes stewardship by allowing family to capture up to
the $13k Federal Adoption Tax Credit
 Couples sign a covenant agreement to repay
 Monthly or Annually
 (can use Fed Adoption Tax Credit to repay loan)
 The loan is repaid & then circulated through the next family
 Funds can become self-perpetuating, where loan
repayments each month/year can help fund NEW families

10.  Tax Credits
 Federal (as mentioned previously)
 State
 Employer Adoption Assistance
 A number of companies have adoption assistance programs
built into their benefits with some providing between
$2,000--$10,000
 The military provides $2,000
 www.adoptionfriendlyworkplace.org

11. Meet Needs
• Orphans find homes, families are assisted and churches become more active
Share Jesus
• Adoption provides us with an opportunity to share the Gospel and point people to
Jesus
Encourage Others
• Allows us to put our faith into action; develop relationships/support
Live out Loud
• As the Church is active the community will see Jesus is alive and working in His
people (Matt 5:16)

12.  3 Options - in Creating an Adoption
Fund
1. Church CREATES own 501c3 (non-profit organization)
3. Church MANAGES own funds, donations,
distributions, screening, qualifying, etc.
5. Church PARTNERS with an organization who will
administer/facilitate the fund on behalf of the Church

13.  Building from ground up gives total ownership in
vision, opportunity & rewards
 Empowers lay people to get involved / but staff
doesn’t administer
 Spins off an entity that can grow nearly unlimited ways
 Gives church financial separation between Fund &
money
 Freedom to grow; not dependent/drain on church
 Allows the 501c3 responsibility to follow tax laws

15.  Gives the church complete ownership
 Gets church clergy, staff, and decision makers
involved
 Church can use the benevolence fund to avoid
501c3
 Funds can be from inside or outside church budget
 Funds are maintained as part of the church budget
 Step-by-step instructions & case studies available
 Church is not dependent on third party

16.  Build your team / Choose the right model
 Create your grant & loan guidelines
 What types of adoptions will we fund? Who is eligible?
 What percentage of the total adoption expenses will this
grant supply
 Who on the team will make the grant decisions?
 Managing
 Accounting, donation receipting, verifying qualified expenses,
funds disbursement, IRS guidelines, etc.
 Example/Sample:
 Step-by-Step Guide to start in-house fund:
www.showhope.org/fund
 Lake Pointe Church – www.lpcadoption.org

17. ◦ Partner can manage/facilitate the Fund & carry
administrative load on behalf of church
 All screening, reviewing, approving/denying as partner of the church
(agreed criteria)
 All accounting, receipting, disbursement of funds to approved agencies/
expenses
◦ Flexible – church can be as involved as desired
◦ Quick – funds can be set up in 1-2 days
◦ Branding – Church Fund is “branded” as Church desires
◦ Reports – monthly financial reports given to Church
(balance, disbursements, etc.)
◦ No Cost – no administrative fee / 100% of donations to
Fund

18. ◦ Church & Partner have initial conference call to set up Fund (Q
&A)
 Church shares criteria/preferences for making decisions
◦ Members of Church apply to Church Fund on church-branded
application
◦ Applications come to Partner, who processes application as
Church desires
◦ Grant/Loan decision make in conjunction w/ Church
◦ Partner handles all disbursements & expenses
 ABBA - www.abbafund.org/churchadoptionfunds.htm
 Lifesong - www.lifesongfororphans.org/adoptFund.html
Iriving Bible Church (Tapestry) - www.tapestry.irvingbible.org

23.  One for the WIDOW & One for the ORPHAN
 Innovative tool to remove financial barrier
 A team fixes up a widow’s home
 Renovation provided for free to widow (donated labor &
construction materials)
 Sponsorship donations help fund adoption expenses
 How does this help fund adoptions?
 100% of donated sponsorships are used for adoption expenses
 Disbursed as Adoption Grant
http://vimeo.com/6483710
www.bothhandsfoundation.org

24.  Challenge and Support families so
100 children can be adopted
 Adoption Fund exists as one
component to financially help those
same 100 adoptions
 www.hopefor100.org

25.  Connected Child (book)
 Created to Connect (Study Guide/workbook)
 Empowered to Connect Resources

26.  Adopting 1 yr old, cleft lip, India (already had 2
children in family)
◦ Adoption Cost: $31,350
 $3,300 - from savings
 $10,000 – adoption loan
 $2,500 – adoption matching grant
 $12,906 - donated, result of matching grant
 $3,000 – direct grant from organization
 $2,000 – unexpected property tax refund
 $300 - garage sale proceeds that friend held

28.  Adopted 2 yr old, China (already had 5 children in
family)
◦ Adoption Cost: $25,050
 $2,000 gift from their church
 $2,000 savings
 $2,000 sold personal items
 $3,000 matching grant
 $9,716 donated, result of matching grant
 $1,000 result of giver after reading newsarticle
 $2,000 (2) anonymous givers $1,000 each
 $3,500 sister donated FF miles to pay for flights/airfare

30.  abbafund.org
 achildwaits.org
 cadmanfoundation.org
 carolinespromise4u.org
 ggam.org
 hadassahshope.org
 katelynsfund.org
 lifesongfororphans.org
 lydiafund.org
 micahfund.org
 nafadopt.org
 ourcreatorshope.com
 showhope.org

31.  Wendy Cosby, Show Hope
wendy@showhope.org 615-550-5600,
ext 107
 Direct Grants, Church Fund guides
 Dwain Guillion, ABBA Fund
dwain@abbafund.org /
336-345-2369
 Covenant Loans, Administer Church Funds
 Rich Metcalfe, Lifesong for Orphans
rich@lifesongfororphans.org /
309-747-4528
 Covenant Loans, Matching Grants,
Administer Church Funds