Born in the Heart of God
EVANGELISTIC ASSOCIATIONS WITH TAX EXEMPT STATUS
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- STRENGTHS OF A LARGE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
- WEAKNESSES OF A LARGE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
- STRENGTHS OF A SMALL BOARD OF DIRECTORS
- WEAKNESSES OF A SMALL BOARD OF DIRECTORS
- HOW TO START AN EVANGELISTIC ASSOCIATION
EVANGELISTIC ASSOCIATIONS WITH TAX EXEMPT STATUSThe second type of organization is the evangelistic association. There are at least two types of these organizations. One type has a large board of directors while the second type has a small board of trusted friends as directors. STRENGTHS OF A LARGE BOARD OF DIRECTORSThe large board of directors has many strengths. First, there will be a large number of financial and prayer supporters that will be very involved in the evangelistic ministry. This will allow the evangelist to be involved in everything from overseas crusades to television ministry because he has broadened his base of support. Secondly, he will tend to be more organized because he has to let the board members know what is going on in his work. He must be organized enough to let them share the vision God has given him. This generally results in better revival planning, a strong prayer chain and much broader outreach for Christ. Thirdly, the evangelist can afford a team, such as a singer, music director, office helpers, administrator, etc.; A good example of this would be the Billy Graham organization. WEAKNESSES OF A LARGE BOARD OF DIRECTORSFirst, the board of directors may want the organization to go in a different direction than the evangelist feels led of God to go. This does happen rarely, but when it does it is an almost unbearable situation. Secondly, a great deal of time must be spent in sending out newsletters, cultivating board members, having board meetings and banquets. (It is worth the trouble). Thirdly, the cost of postage, and keeping an office is very expensive, however, a broad enough base will compensate. Associates can be hired to handle administrative tasks as well as workers to handle everything from mail to television cameras. Fourthly, the CPA fees and tax papers that must be filed with the IRS are staggering. All the paper work has drastically increased. STRENGTHS OF A SMALL BOARD OF DIRECTORSThe evangelistic association with a small board of directors (5 to 7) has strengths, too. The strength of a small board of advisors lies mainly in the fact that the evangelist can more easily maintain control of his organization by hand picking the small board members. Secondly, the cost of operation is less than the large board. The board can be called on short notice and business can be handled swiftly. Thirdly, everything the large board can do, the small board can do. In fact one of the largest evangelistic associations in the world uses this small board organization. WEAKNESSES OF A SMALL BOARD OF DIRECTORSThere has been much criticism of one large evangelistic association, which has the family as the directors, because only the family knows where the money goes. This criticism could be overcome with a full disclosure of their finances annually. Secondly, the financial support base is small, because fewer people are involved in decision-making. Annual banquets or a large non voting advisory board can overcome this. All three forms of these organizations have been shown to work well according to God's blessing. Honesty, integrity, and the leadership of God are a must in all three. By June 1974, I was sure of God's call into itinerant, revival evangelism. Many fellow students knew God was dealing with me and using me in this area during both college and seminary years. In fact, the last eight week's term prior to graduating from New Orleans, I preached eight revivals. In early July, I went to Sal Tardo's Barber Shop to get a haircut. Coming down the narrow stairway that led up to Sal's barber chair was a man whose spirit bore witness with mine as I spoke to him in passing. Later that day I ran into him in the Baptist Book Store on the New Orleans Campus. We shared testimonies and I told him about God's call in my life. This man's name was Leo Humphrey. God was using him mightily in a soul winning ministry on Bourbon Street. He told me about his organization and advised me to start an evangelistic association with a small, trusted board of advisors.
The next obstacle was the filling out of Form 1023. The lawyer drew up By laws that included Christian education as a purpose so that I could be further educated, or educate my children on the road with a full tax exemption from the government. However, the lawyer said that he did not know how to fill out the tax form and advised me to contact a tax lawyer. The tax lawyer said that he knew very little about this type non profit organization. In fact, he told me that it took two years for one man to get tax-exempt status and another never did get the status. The Lord intervened again by putting it on the heart of a fellow seminary student, Gary Bowlin, to complete the tax forms. He had been a certified public accountant in Mississippi and had gotten favorable rulings on difficult questions with the IRS. Gary completed the papers in September and within two months I got a phone call from Will Blakemore of the IRS in Texas. He said that I needed to send him a doctrinal statement of beliefs, and I would be given probationary tax-exempt status. That automatically meant I would receive permanent tax-exempt status when the probation period was over. The laws for Nonprofit Organizations vary from year to year, however, a number of evangelists have used copies of the "Keith Fordham Evangelistic Association, Inc.'s Charter", Bylaws, Statement of Faith, and the original 1023 tax form to successfully start their evangelistic associations. Consequently, copies of the charter, by laws, statement of faith, and tax forms are included in APPENDIX A.
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