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Everything You Need to Know
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What is EquipNet’s Mission and Purpose?EquipNet is a 501c3, religious non-profit organization, that seeks to connect resources to well vetted Christian leaders, organizations and projects around the world, that have the capacity to bring the love of Jesus, innovation and Christian transformation to people in various formative spheres of a society.
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How Do I Join EquipNet?The application and enrollment process for EquipNet is all done online. Our enrollment system is accessible through the Join Now button at the top of the page, or you maybe follow this link to begin the process. During the enrollment process you will be asked to identify the Ministry Organization you are serving with. If you are with one of our pre-approved Ministry Partner organizations you will be able submit your application and provide all the information we need for your banking, account set up and Online Giving page in an easy 4-step process. If you are an independent missionary, church or ministry that we have not worked with you will be asked for some basic contact information and one of our team will call you to get to know you and the ministry you are serving in, as well as answer your questions about EquipNet before the enrollment process goes forward. You will also be asked to provide two references from two persons you have an accountability relationship with as you serve the Lord day to day.
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What are the acceptance criteria for joining Equipnet?EquipNet has a very broad Kingdom mandate, to advance the Gospel and the Kingdom of God in all the formative spheres of society. We have missionaries serving in a very broad range of Christian Ministry, from clean water projects, to community development, to Anti-Human Trafficking initiatives, to Church and Seminary planting and Evangelism and Discipleship. There are four main criteria for joining Equipnet: EquipNet wants to see that you have a vibrant and live testimony of Faith and Belief in God and that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life by which and through whose death upon the cross is the way all people must be reconciled to God. That you are working to advance the Kingdom of God and have a passion to see people’s lives transformed and are living out a commitment to spread the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ via Word and Deed. That you have a good matrix in place for accountability, for your own personal pastoral care and day to day accountability to others (i.e.: Mission Agency, Local Church, Advisory or Accountability Group or a Local Team) and are not operating independently as a lone ranger. That you have references from Spiritual Leaders who know your life and ministry and can vouch for your character and passion for God and the ministry.
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What are EquipNet’s administrative fees?EquipNet’s goal, has been to see as much of every donor’s dollar make it to our missionaries on the ground and to the ministries we serve. We are one of the lowest in terms of administrative fees at 5% and have kept our costs low for 20 years. This fee is to cover the costs EquipNet incurs for accounting, banking, donor processing and receipting the donor as well as legal fees we pay annually for dealing with the IRS and Tax Filings. Most sending mission agencies have admin fees ranging from 12-21 % because they must support a hierarchical management infrastructure to oversee and direct their staff and programs. EquipNet is not a sending agency but rather is a Missionary and Donor Services organization and will never grow and increase overhead by adding management staff. Donations given by Credit Card incur a fee of 3% which is automatically withheld by credit card and merchant services (American Express is slightly higher at 3.5%) before the donation is passed on from the donor to EquipNet. For example, if you receive a credit card donation for $100.00, you will receive $92. ($100 – 3.00 (3% credit card fee) – $5.00, (5% EquipNet fee), = net donation of $92.00.) If your donor decides to use the ACH feature, to make a donation by a debit to their checking account, there is no credit card merchant fee. In this case the 5% Equipnet fee is the only fee. In that case, from a $100.00 donation you would receive $100.00 – (5% EquipNet fee) = net donation of $95.00 deposited to your bank. The same is true of donations that come to us by check in the mail. There is no credit card fee for processing checks and only the 5% Equipnet fee.
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How often does EquipNet deposit my donations to me?EquipNet Deposits funds to Missionary Account via Direct Deposit to your Checking or Savings Account every week on the following schedule: Online Donations Via Your EquipNet Online Giving Page Deposited on the 5th and the 20th of the month. We batch all your incoming donations based upon when we receive the funds in our account not when the donor clicks the donate button. Banks and credit cards take 2-4 days to process and deposit given funds into our bank account. EquipNet batches all your donations from the 1st to the 15th of each month and deposits those funds to you on the 20th and then batches from the 16th to the last day of the month and deposits those funds to you on the 5th of the month. For donations that come in for you via a check in the mail, we batch and deposit on the off two weeks depositing those funds on the 12th and the 27th of the month. So essentially a missionary that is receiving both Online Donations via their Online Giving Page and who also has donors that mail checks in the mail will receive a deposit each week.
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Can my donor give gifts of appreciated Stock?Yes! Many donors love to give gifts of appreciated stock for the tax benefit they get in return! Gifts of stock can be transferred directly to our Charles Schwab Brokerage Account with the following information attached to the transfer: DTC Number – 0164 Receiving Firm Name – Charles Schwab, Inc. Receiving Account Registration – EquipNet, Inc. 8287-3328 Other Applicable Information Our Tax-Exempt ID Number is 94-3359561 Click Here to download Equipnet’s IRS Determination Letter Equipnet does not monitor incoming transfers daily and asks that you the donor, email or call in advance to our accounting team at 925-478-4320 ext. 301 to alert and notify us you are making a stock gift transfer so we can keep an eye open for the incoming transfer. Equipnet is not responsible for share price adjustments that may take place during the time incoming gifts are sent, received and settled in our cash account. We attempt to sell all incoming transfers the day they are received at market value or by the next business day.
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Will my donors receive a tax-deductible receipt if they donate through Equipnet?Yes, EquipNet is a 24-year-old 501c3 Religious Public Charity. All gifts through EquipNet are tax deductible. EquipNet’s Tax Exempt ID Number is 94-335 9561. Click Here to download Equipnet’s IRS Determination Letter
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How will my donors and I receive a record of a Donation when it happens?Part of the beauty of EquipNet is that we do the heavy lifting for you as a missionary and provide all the communication to your donor on your behalf. Donors will receive an instant email Tax-Deductible Receipt within seconds of making their donation. The receipt will represent to them the amount of the donation, the day of the month they have chosen to make the donation, the missionary they directed the gift to and their personal contact information for verification. You as the missionary are instantly copied on the notification as well so that you can thank the donor before we even receive the funds to deposit to your account. Your donor will also receive a year end Giving Statement if they give $250 dollars or more. The year end statement will list all their donations for the year and be sent to the donor by the IRS Tax Deadline of January 31st.
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Can someone make a donation online if they do not want to put their information on the internet?Yes. Please call 925-478-4320 and ask to speak to someone in the accounting department. We are happy to assist in making a donation or setting up a recurring donation.
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Can a donor give by way of a check in the mail?Yes, donors who desire to give by check should make the check payable to Equipnet and NOT to the missionary. Checks made out to a missionary will be destroyed as EquipNet’s bank will not allow us to cash checks not made payable to EquipNet. Checks should also include the Missionary’s unique account number in the memo section on the face of the check or on the check stub. Equipnet uses the Missionary’s Account number and not their name to be sure funds are deposited to the Missionary’s Account. The Account number will be Equip followed by four-digit number (ie. Equip2001). If you do not know the Missionary’s account number, you may secure it by viewing their individual giving page on this website, contacting the missionary directly or by calling EquipNet at 925-478-4320. To mail a check donation, please sent to: EquipNet P.O. Box 860 Alamo, CA 94507 While a donor can mail a check to EquipNet, we strongly encourage you to use the ACH Bank Transfer alternative provided on the Missionary’s Giving Page. In the Giving section of the Missionary’s page you will find the choice between giving with a credit card or giving via a Checking or Savings account. If you choose to give by way of ACH Bank Transfer from a Checking or Savings Account, you will get an instantaneous Tax Receipt and the missionary will receive a donation notification at the same time within seconds of the gift being given. This is a better method than sending a check as there is no chance for the donation to be lost in the mail and checks in the mail do not receive any instant tax receipt or notifications, but only receive a year end statement in January. Funds by ACH Bank Transfer also get to the missionary much quicker than the manual check in the mail process.
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How can a donor change or stop an existing recurring donation?To make any change to an existing donation, update a payment method or credit card, change the amount of the donation or the date it is charged simply, go to the missionary's Equipnet Giving Page by going to the URL that you were given by the missionary or by going to our Missionary Directory and search for your missionary. If you need to update a payment to a ministry go to our Ministry Directory. Once you are there you can find your missionary by last name and click on the Donate Button. This will take you to their giving page. Scroll down to the section that says UPDATE or STOP an existing recurring donation and follow the steps to enter any new information. Whatever you type into the system will replace the old information. If you click the "To stop your existing recurring donation" link, your old donation will stop and you will need to set up a new donation. However, if you click the button that says "An update to an existing recurring donation", you will not be creating a second donation, but will replace the old donation with new information. Be sure to click submit and finish all the steps to save the new information in our system.
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If I join EquipNet am I considered an Employee?No, all EquipNet Missionaries are considered independent self-employed contractors, and as such, receive a 1099-NEC at the end of each year, rather than a W-2.
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Does EquipNet withhold Federal and State taxes or FICA and Unemployment or other funds?No, all EquipNet Missionary affiliates are responsible for keeping track of their own income and must determine their own savings plan to cover any tax liability that may or may not be due on donation income deposited to your bank account by EquipNet. EquipNet does not withhold any taxes or hold funds in trust for any missionaries. It is the role of the missionary to consult with a tax preparation expert or a Certified Public Accountant and examine their individual income situation to access whether they need a tax savings plan or not.
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Does EquipNet give my information to other organizations for marketing purposes?No. EquipNet understands you may be concerned about privacy issues that surround the use of the internet. We believe that you should have complete control over who receives your personal information. Therefore, we do not use the personal information that you provide, except to complete the transaction. We only disclose personal information to the charities you selected if you give us permission. We will never sell, trade, or rent the personal information you provide via this site to other individuals or companies. All our data systems are fully encrypted with bank level security.
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Does EquipNet have a Statement of Faith?Statement of Faith We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God. We believe that God is the sole creator, sustainer, and ruler of all things, infinitely perfect, all-powerful, omniscient, omnipresent, and eternally existing as a Trinity... One God in three equal persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe that Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son, eternally co-equal and inseparable with the Father and the Holy Spirit; that even though He is Almighty God, Christ Jesus took upon himself a human form, being conceived by the Holy Spirit; born of the Virgin Mary; that he lived a sinless life; willingly and totally took all of man’s sins upon himself; that in accordance with the scriptures, He suffered and died as a sacrifice and full substitution for all of mankind’s sins; and that He rose again bodily from the dead. Afterward, He ascended into Heaven where He sits at the Father’s right hand, acting as our advocate and High Priest. He will bodily come again to the Earth to reign in Glory on David’s throne as Israel’s Messiah and afterward judge the living and the dead, and to raise believers to eternal life while casting unbelievers into Hell and eternal separation from God. We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential. We believe that all who believe are born-again into eternal life and comprise the Body of Christ and His universal church on earth. Each believer is baptized in the Holy Spirit and that our mission is to evangelize and preach the Gospel to all people. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit and that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin and that He alone converts people to salvation in Christ. That he sanctifies believers and dwells within their hearts, empowering them to lead Christ-like lives. That the Holy Spirit also endows us with individual spiritual gifts with which to serve the church and reach out to the unsaved. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation. We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
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