SPIRIT LEAD ME MINISTRY, INC.
Shipping & Return General Policy
[Last Update: August 27th, 2019.]
GENERAL TERMS
Donations made through www.SpiritLeadMe.org, or through one of Spirit Lead Me Ministry, Inc.’s tools for charities are legally made to Spirit Lead Me Ministry, Inc. (hereafter referred to as "the Ministry"), a charity registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (registered under EIN: 82-2089849), but ensuring the gift is granted to the donor’s intended charity quickly is the Ministry’s priority. The Ministry will use all reasonable and best efforts to honor all donors’ wishes and instructions in disbursing their donation to the charity or charities of their choice. The Ministry acts on donations through an implied trust relationship, where donated funds are given to the Ministry to then be delivered to a final recipient charity or charities as identified by the donor. All donations are final, and donors will receive a confirmation when items reach destinations.
The Ministry therefore manages donations under the arrangement that a donation made through the Ministry is a gift made via trust, but with the constraints imposed by the IRS under the Income Tax Act. This means that:
- The Ministry makes all efforts to disburse the funds according to the donor’s wishes and intentions;
- Where gifts cannot be disbursed to the designated charity, the Ministry seeks further direction and advice from the donor as to the donor’s intentions, and suggests alternate choices for disbursement;
- Where no further directions can be reasonably obtained, the Ministry acts under the authority of the Income Tax Act to disburse the funds in a charitable manner.
DISBURSEMENT TO CHARITIES
Charities that have signed up for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) with the Ministry will receive donations weekly, directly into their bank accounts. There is no minimum donation amount for the funds to be transferred to the charity. Charities that have not signed up for EFT with the Ministry will receive donations, if any, by check. Checks will be sent on or before the 15th day of the month following the month of the donation(s). There is no minimum donation amount for the funds to be mailed to the charity by check.
FUNDS
Charities may choose to offer Funds to which donors can direct their gifts. If no Funds have been created, donations will be made to the charity’s General fund. On occasion, a charity will remove a Fund from their charity Profile on the Ministry or through their Customizable Donation Forms after a donation has been made but before the money has been disbursed to the charity; an example of when this might happen is in the case of a gift of Securities, which can take longer to process than gifts of cash, or for recurring donations where a charity’s needs may change over time and after the original gift was scheduled. If the charity removes a fund, the Ministry will redirect the donation to the charity’s General or default fund. Gifts made through the Ministry are unrestricted; If a charity cannot use the gift for the purposes identified in the Fund, or if the Fund is deleted by the charity after the donation has been created, the donation will be used at the discretion of the recipient charity where it is deemed to be needed most.
REFUNDS OF DONATIONS
The Ministry does not perform refunds of donations except under extenuating circumstances that are deemed appropriate at the discretion of the Ministry Administration. These exceptions and circumstances may include, but are not limited to:
- Credit card chargeback or threatened chargeback;
- De-registration of a charity recipient with the IRS;
- Dispute over authorization of the transaction charge;
- Suspected fraud or misdirection in the donation or by the charity recipient;
- Technical errors;
- Donor data entry errors.
If a refund is issued, the Ministry will cancel the original donation receipt issued to the donor. The Ministry is obligated to inform the IRS of any gifts refunded to a donor exceeding $50.
REDIRECTION OF DONATIONS
The Ministry may redirect a donation to a charity other than the one originally selected by the donor at the time the donation was made, in the following circumstances:
- At the donor’s written request if the money has not yet been disbursed to the originally designated charity;
- If the originally designated charity refuses to accept the donation;
- If a charity recipient has its charitable status suspended or revoked by IRS after the gift was made; or
- If disbursed funds are undeliverable or returned to the Ministry by the donor’s selected charity. We make all efforts to update the bank account and mailing address information by contacting the charity, however if unsuccessful, the Ministry will ask the donor to redirect their donation to another charity.
The tax receipt issued to the donor is legally issued by the Ministry and is therefore not affected by the redirection of a donation.
UNDISBURSABLE FUNDS
In very rare cases (representing 0.007% of the donations we process), we are unable to disburse funds to the intended charity by EFT or check. This can occur when a charity changes its banking information and fails to notify the Ministry, a charity changes their address and does not update the IRS, a charity becomes de-registered with the IRS during the short period of time between the donation being made and the funds being disbursed, or a charity is ceasing their operations for other reasons. When this happens, we make reasonable efforts to contact the charity to have the required information updated. If the charity does not update the required information, we make multiple attempts to contact the donor to get further direction on an alternate charity they would like funds disbursed to. If we cannot get direction from the donor, and after 18 months from the date of donation, the funds will be deemed “undisbursable” and the Ministry will act under the authority of the Income Tax Act and use the funds to carry out its work for other charities. The tax receipt issued to the donor by the Ministry is not affected if funds have been deemed “undisbursable.”
The Ministry is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law.