I have great news! Church of the Advent now has a Conflict of Interest policy!
I’m pretty sure this is not what most of our Parishioners are expecting to read when they get information about great news.
We are expanding the way we fund-raise and we are looking very forward to doing more to help others in the greater Kennett/Unionville area. In order to do this effectively, we need to increase our visibility as a reputable non-profit.
This may, again, seem a bit odd. We are a Church after all. Aren’t Churches automatically seen as reputable? Well….the answer to that is yes and no. We are a very established Church in an established Diocese within an old community. So, in our geographical area we are seen as a good and reputable organization. But, to the greater world, especially the digital universe where most fundraising is now done, we are just a name. We need to pass muster with established and reputable charity/non-profit clearing houses in order to build our online reputation. There is a process for this, one step of which is to have a Conflict of Interest Policy. This will also work to expand our Community reputation. Other organizations in our area like The United Way of Southern Chester County, and La Comunidad Hispana already have completed the registration process to be considered a ‘reputable’ charity.
The two biggest clearing houses we are working through are Charity Navigator (http://www.charitynavigator.org/) and Guidestar (http://www.guidestar.org).
What will this do for us? One major positive is we will be able to fund-raise through online organizations like Amazon Smile, Target, and Giant. This will allow us to increase our income base and help our Community.
It is so fabulous to live in a time where we can reach others in so many ways. Yes, it is a lot of work and requires awareness on our part in order to keep up with it all. The benefits we reap from this work will be well worth it in the long run.
Our Official Conflict of Interest Policy is visible by clicking here. It is also available on the Vestry page of this website under the Leadership menu option above. The Vestry just approved it at our June meeting a couple of weeks ago. I just wanted to be sure and share this great news about how we are moving up and out into the world!