The thread about missionaries running out of food mid-month got me wondering about how missionaries are financed. Back in the last millennium, like maybe the late 60s, my half brother went on a mission. I seem to recall that my parents sent him a check directly every month to cover his expenses. If he needed more, he wrote and asked for it.

Also, does the money parents shell out toward their childrens' missions count as charitable contribution for IRS purposes? I used to manage a 501 (c)(3) nursing home and one family got its hands slapped for claiming its father's rent; the IRS said something along the lines of - you can't claim charitable contributions if you receive a direct, tangible benefit in return.

Oops, did I just post this twice?

In the mission I'm in, the money is all worked out before the mission. I think about £6,000 is needed, so the missionary pays as much as he can, then the parents and family members pay as much as they can, and then the ward pays as much as they can, then the Stake, then the Area, then the church, until they get to £6,000.

Then, the money is divided over the months that the missionary is out. On the last day of each month, the money for the next month is delivered to their bank account, by the Mission President.

If a missionary runs out of money, then their companion is expected to help them out until the end of the month. Family and friends can also put extra money into the missionaries bank account, although it isn't recommended (I think for fear that missionaries get pampered too much; they're not supposed to be living in luxury, especially in poorer countries).

The missionaries in our ward ran out of money completely, with 2 days of the month left to go, so we gave them dinner and breakfast. Ward members typically give missionaries anything they want, so that's another option if you run out of money.

Thanks for the info. So all the money for the entire mission has to be in place up front? What happens to the money if a missionary comes home early? Does LD$, Inc make any attempt to balance the burden of costs - two years in Tokyo is going to cost a family a whole lot more than two years in Alabama (not that I'm knocking Alabama, mind you).

I call bullshit, sorry. Unless there's something really REALLY weird and different in your area, this is the latest on how missionaries get financed:

Missionaries are expected to pay their own expenses while on the mission, often with assistance from family. In the past, each missionary paid his or her actual living expenses (that's what I did in 1975 - 77), but this approach created a disproportionate burden on missionaries who were assigned to more expensive areas of the world. In 1990, a new program was introduced to equalize the financial responsibility for each missionary and his or her family. Now, all young missionaries pay a flat monthly rate which is then redistributed according to regional costs of living. The cost of a mission as of April 2010 is USD$400 per month,which helps to cover food, lodging, transportation, and other mission related expenses. Missionaries are asked to bring extra personal money for any personal items they would like to purchase. Once the money is received by the Church it is then redistributed to the missionaries in amounts proportionate to the cost of living within the assigned mission area. As families now contribute to a general fund for missionary expenses, the sum is deductible under many nations' tax policies regarding charitable gifts.

I don't mean to denegrate you personally, but I find this highly unlikely.

Just sayin'...

Ron

I think the monthly fee applies to North American only (US and Canada), and not to the rest of the world. It seems Nona is in England.

Over here missionaries have debit cards but I'm sure they are tight on money. The missionaries in our ward are the luckiest, they get fed almost daily, it's rare that a day is blank on their calendar and if it is there are at least two families that they can call for a last minute dinner.

The missionaries serving from our ward get cash gift sent to the also, I know because I've heard the mothers thank all for the cash gifts sent to their sons.

D

My experience was during the mid 90's. I was on the equalization payment plan where between what I saved up and what my parents paid I think it was between $350 and $400 a month. The only difference between what you state above is that we were specifically told not to bring any extra money or request it from our parents. We were supposed to live off what we were given. Care packages were OK, but no money. I don't know if this was a specific mission rule, our's seemed to be rather strict when it came to "worldly goods". So, other's may have been "allowed" extra money.

Also, I forgot to add, I've never known of missionaries running out of money before, but I've been told stories about when it's happened. A missionary told me about how his bike go stolen, so he had basically had to choose between a new bike or food for the rest of the month (he chose the bike, obviously).

From what I know, the money is usually enough for the missionaries to live on. It's just when there's some unexpected event (e.g. bike being stolen, injury, etc.) where they would struggle for money. Infact, a lot of missionaries spend as little as possible all the way through their mission, and then they have a ton of money to spend in the last month on whatever they want pretty much.

Do I have this right? tscc Holds the entire sum at the beginning, and portions it out over the term of the mish?
I'm-a-betting that 'someone' is drawing INTEREST on that initial sum until the monthly payments are made...
Let's see.... who would THAT be?

The real story is that the Morg's down liners fork out anything extra the missionary needs, while the upper tier gets off scott free.

From my experience in 2007:
In the USA parents make monthly payments to the church for their children on missions. Payments are non-refundable under any circumstances. The payments show up on the year end receipt from the church and are tax deductible.

Again, I call bullshit. (See my post above). But whatta I know?

Ron

Some years ago there was a big change in funding missions. If you were called to a Paris France mission, it was relatively expensive compared to some small town in central Mexico. This could be a big hardship on some families if their missionary was called to an expensive mission.

So the church decided to equalize all mission costs and charge all parents the same amount per month regardless of where the missionary is sent. The parents pay their monthly checks to the church directly and the missionary is funded separately.

Some parents try to go around this by giving their missionary a secret visa card for emergencies. I'm sure that's a no-no, but it's what I would do if it were my kid.

I recall reading that the well connected in the past have been able to get their kids called to the more desirable and more expensive missions like Tokyo, Australia, New Zealand, London, and Paris. These families were also more in a position to afford the cost of those missions. With this new program the expensive missions become a real bargain and the poor third world missions become a whole lot more expensive.

So what I am wondering is if the kids of the well connected are still getting called to the primo $$ missions which are now being subsidized by the rest of the members?

I give my missionary a debit card and i put extra money in there as a buffer and when he needs even more i put that in, too

When I went on my mission, several people scraped together the monthly amount (only $100 back in the '60s!) and sent it directly to me in Italy. I cashed the check at a bank that would do it and converted it to lira. Then I paid my rent, food, and incidentals with it. It was plenty (went a lot farther then), and I got to keep anything that I didn't use.

But it was not fair to a poor family when they had to support a missionary in Helsinki or Tokyo while some rich dude in the ward was paying $30 a month to his son or daughter in Honduras. Plus, there was no tax benefit. The church rolled out the new system somewhere back in the early '90s maybe--I remember them doing it, just not when. There was great fanfare because it was now tax deductible, which it hadn't been before. The plan was that the money would go to a main fund and then be disbursed, the amount varying depending on the mission. They also stated that they would collect more than they actually needed in order to financially support missionary aspirants in poor countries. When I sent my son on a mission in 1996, I think it was $300 a month, then $350. From that he got a leased apartment and a car (in Quebec), and was given like $125 called a "consecration" (stupid name) for food and incidentals.

It seems now that they have found a way to make money by charging more and giving less. When they do away with all leased apartments and cars, where possible, they will be saving millions.

I've known a lot of missionaries that had debit cards, but some mission presidents have been known to confiscate them when they find out about them. (An already-established fact here at RfM is that most mission presidents are a$$holes.)

Respected sir i am vinodh from india. i am a indipandent pastor in
india. but i have no church.in sunday times i preach to poor peoples
about jesus.many orphan childs begging in streets in my city.many poor
students and dem and deff childs in my city.so many us and uk
authorized missions in india.but the mission directors and pastors
eating the missionary funds. this missions not helped to poors childs
and orphan childs.the mission directors only eating this mission
funds.please provide your mission team in my country and save this
orphane childrens.
thanking you.

Respected Vinodh:

The Church of Joseph Smith of Latter-day Saints does not worship Jesus. I commend your efforts, but no money for you.

Just sayin'...

Ron

When Missionaries come in, they are all told , this is your budget, you get this $$ each month for__(whatever), you have to keep milage under__( some small number) .
Then they give the don't do this, don't do that,what you are allowed to do on P day .

So they know what they have to deal with each month. Right now they get aobut $280 for food, laundry, soap, haircuts ( becasue if they are sane, they won't let members cut their hair ). Gas is seperate.

Locally members feed them dinner and lunch on the weekends as well, every once in a whle there will be an open slot on the calander.
A couple of members will also do a couple loads laundry for each pair a week, on a regular basis.
Housing, utilities, etc is managed by the mission.
Outside bug control is on them, the mission supplied stuff is uslesss, the roaches use it like sweet-n-low.

nomilk Wrote:
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> Right now they get aobut $280 for food, laundry, soap, haircuts...

That sounds tight but possibly workable. I live in a HCOLA (a high cost of living area,) and I spend a minimum of $80 a week as a single person on food and incidentals. I wouldn't want to try to get by on much less than that.

Back in the before the equal pay program I had a employee older than Me and he had 2 Missionaries out- one in England and one in Japan.

He stole money from the operation by taking cash and destroying the paper trail. He was finally caught by the accounting department and his excuse was he did it to pay for his kids missions.

I had to fire him.

The lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. I believe the Morg
had to pick up the tab after that because he did not find a good job for some time.