Terms & Conditions

Terms & Conditions

Last updated: February 2020

Please read these Terms and Conditions carefully before registering for Neighbourly. Your access to and use of Neighbourly is conditioned on your acceptance and compliance to these Terms and Conditions.

By participating in Neighbourly, you agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.

Overview:

The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada’s Neighbourly program is a sponsorship of a local church’s cause and represents our view of what we can do to help bring access to Jesus in all our regions, including caring for our local missions. This program focuses our energy and efforts by defining where sponsorship is needed, and how we can best get there. We will draw from the expertise, experience, and insight of pastors, church members, advocates and leaders as we define what “success” looks like and determine how best to achieve it. We will be fueled by the passion and commitment in our love of Christ, and we will be actively seeking to grow our impacts in this world.

Ensuring that our ministry thrives in an environment that supports mission deployment is the most important work we do—as official workers, lay persons, as Canadians. Like international workers themselves, the potential for positive impact is limitless.

Sponsorship:

The C&MA’s activities and programs are funded by the Global Advance Fund through a wide variety of sources, The commitments offered by the individual church are foundational to our ability to fulfill our mission. The C&MA welcomes the friends of our church membership as supporters of our programs and activities and seeks individual sponsors for the best interests of our local communities.

To ensure that we develop relationships that enhance our missional impacts in a responsible way, the Alliance in Canada has developed the following Terms & Conditions for Neighbourly which outlines how we work with church members and the types of activities are suitable for sponsorship. These guidelines:

  • outline the conditions by which the C&MA will enter into sponsorship agreements;
  • define acceptable elements of sponsorship agreements, to create a consistent approach to sponsorship;
  • ensure sponsorship agreements that are consistent with the goals and mission of the C&MA.

These Terms and Conditions apply to all agreements between the C&MA in Canada churches and the charitable sector. Sponsorship is understood to mean unrestricted financial support for designated C&MA activities and programs. The approval of sponsorship for C&MA activities is the responsibility of the National Ministry Centre (NMC) and not of individual C&MA churches, members, or Elder Boards. However, the program allows for the local church to share 50/50 in the funds raised by the local church members. The 50% portion raised by the local church is at the full discretion of the local church to deploy. The remaining 50% portion of funds are raised for the Global Advance Fund.

Key principles:

All relationships must be consistent with the C&MA Code of Conduct. Sponsorship should only be pursued if it does not compromise the following core values:

  • integrity and credibility of C&MA and its members;
  • consistency with C&MA mission, vision and values;
  • editorial and operational independence of C&MA;
  • transparency;
  • operating in the best interests of our Statement of Faith.

Overall Neighbourly Polices and Regulations

Regardless of the activity or program being sponsored by the individual church, the NMC will ensure that the following conditions are met:

Administration of project:

  • A written agreement (this document) between the church and the NMC must exist to clarify the terms, conditions, benefits, and financial commitment(s) related to the sponsorship.
  • The solicitation, use, and recognition of funds for all activities or projects will be discussed with the individual sponsor and will always be in keeping with Ethical Fundraising.
  • The C&MA will not enter into any agreement that could reasonably be perceived as product endorsement.
  • All projects will be reviewed by the C&MA Director of Development, with a report to the C&MA Board of Directors, to ensure projects continue to meet these guidelines.
  • Agreements can be terminated at any time if they no longer comply with C&MA policies and regulations.

Fundraising:

  • The C&MA has clear guidelines and policies governing relationships with funders and sponsors. These policies will include elements such as the solicitation of funds, the use of funds, and the recognition of funds. Ongoing activities will be reviewed considering these guidelines.
  • C&MA churches who participate will agree to maintain a minimum of last year’s GAF contribution levels as recorded by the GAF to NCO percent. The success of the sponsorship program is dependent on increased giving levels and not a shift from one source to another. Reduction in the GAF to NCO percent will result in a claw-back from raised funds to maintain the previous year’s percent level.
  • The case where an individual donor wishes to sponsor a charity that is different than the church nominated charity can do so by presenting the sponsorship charity to a church’s governing body. The church will decide whether to nominate additional charities to the C&MA Director of Development for consideration. If the individual’s charity is successfully nominated and approved, the individual donor can name the Neighbourly Sponsorship as they wish, within this policy’s guidelines. (An example of naming could be “the Smith Family Sponsorship of homeless youth”).
  • Any individual’s unique sponsorship must meet the minimum of $600 per year by the sponsoring individual, in monthly commitments via EFT (electronic funds transfer).
  • Decisions to enter relationships with sponsors must not conflict with the best interests of the C&MA. Joint initiatives must be consistent with the mission of the C&MA.
  • The C&MA will make every effort to ensure that the activities of sponsoring individuals is not inconsistent with the mission of the C&MA, and policies are in place to ensure ethical screening of potential sponsors.
  • The C&MA will not enter any sponsorship that could be perceived as a product endorsement.
  • Corporate sponsorships will be non-exclusive if the relationship could create the perception of product endorsement.
  • The use of all funds raised must be at the discretion of the C&MA.
  • The C&MA will demonstrate accountability to donors by ensuring that gifts are used as they were intended.
  • Donors will be appropriately recognized for their contributions, and their privacy respected if they wish.
  • The C&MA will adopt the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy’s Ethical Fundraising and Financial Accountability Code

Editorial independence:

  • The C&MA NMC retains full editorial and operational independence.
  • It is the sole responsibility of the C&MA to determine the scope and content of all programs and activities such as, but not limited to, authorship, format, illustrations, etc.
  • The C&MA is responsible for coordinating all activities where third parties are involved.
  • The C&MA has final approval over all content and materials used to promote sponsored activities and in all instances in which the C&MA name or logo is used. Use of the C&MA logo and/or name without prior consent is prohibited.
  • Once approved by the C&MA, materials or information provided by the NMC cannot be reproduced or modified in any way without prior permission, nor can they be used in promotional material for specific products.
  • In all instances, financial support from sponsors will be disclosed in an aggregated format by church. Individual’s financial support will be kept confidential according to C&MA Privacy Policy.

Financial considerations:

  • Once agreements are finalized, sponsors must fulfill all financial commitments, even if they can no longer participate in an activity.
  • The C&MA will not offer exclusive sponsorship rights to any corporation.

Partnership selection guidelines:

The C&MA welcomes the opportunity to work with organizations who meet the following criteria:

  • Products and services do not present a conflict of interest with the mandate of the C&MA, are not deemed hazardous to individual and population health or to the environment, in Canada and internationally.
  • Abide by territorial, provincial, and federal health protection acts;
  • Adhere to the principles outlined in their respective industry codes.

Sponsor acknowledgments and recognition:

  • Recognition varies for each activity and will be discussed in detail with the sponsor when reviewing sponsorship opportunities.
  • The C&MA will determine the final wording and placement of sponsor acknowledgments. Acknowledgement of sponsorship will not make any reference to supporting products, corporate information, and/or websites.
  • Sponsorship is reserved to individual level recognition and, as such, products and services are not eligible sponsors.
  • Use of the C&MA name and logo in any promotional materials is prohibited, unless otherwise agreed upon with the C&MA.

Products, services and unsolicited projects:

Requests to collaborate on unsolicited projects are considered on a case-by-case basis by the Director of Development and must clearly demonstrate a link to current C&MA priorities.

The Alliance in Canada’s approved list of sponsorships are only Qualified Donees as defined by Revenue Canada. The minimum requirement is a charitable registration number.