CEF of Greater Jackson - Giving F.A.Q.s

This page contains some frequently asked questions about donating to CEF of Greater Jackson, our payment gateways, ways to give, etc. As always, if you have any questions that are not addressed here, you can get in touch with us via our contact page.

Are my donations tax deductible?

Yes they are. We have 501(c)(3) status approval through the IRS. When we receive a donation from you, we will send you an official receipt for your records.

Is your website secure (use SSL)?

Yes, every page in our website is protected with 256-bit encryption as implemented by our registrar, Cloudflare. They are widely respected for their advanced DNS and security methods.

Why do you have two payment processors, PayPal and Stripe?

We decided to use PayPal because so many people already have accounts with them and this gives you an option to use your existing PayPal account to send us a donation. We also use Stripe as a credit card processor because it is a simpler interface for those who may not have a PayPal account. Both of these companies are reputable and well respected. You can learn more about PayPal here and you can learn more about Stripe here.

Who is Stripe anyway?

You may not know who Stripe is, but rest assured they are a very reliable global company that has some very well known clients. Here are a few (besides us) organizations that use Stripe for payment processing: Unicef, Habitat for Humanity, Girl Scouts, Pinterest, Facebook, DigitalOcean, and Under Armour.

Can I make my donation a recurring monthly gift?

Yes, when you start the donation process, you will be presented with a check-box which allows you to “make it monthly.” Additionally, we can set up an ACH payment on a monthly draft if that is better for you. Just let us know.

Can I simply mail in a donation?

Yes of course, we realize that not everyone is comfortable with using a credit card online. Feel free to click the “Donate” button to make a pledge to give, so to speak. This way we will be aware of your intention. Go ahead and work through the online procedure. You will come to a choice labeled Offline “Mail In” Donation, select that and it will notify us of your pledge to give. When we receive your actual donation, we will mail you back a receipt for tax purposes.

Can I designate a donation?

Yes, you can designate a donation to be used for specific “purposes” but not specific people in all of our USA ministries. From time to time, we post special giving campaigns on our website. This could be for the purchase of Bibles for children, for example. We do track these donations and do our best to apply them directly to the campaign need. If we do not receive enough funds to cover the expense of the campaign need, the remainder typically will come from our general budget. If we receive more funds than needed to cover the campaign need, the remainder goes into our general budget to help fund day-to-day operations.

Can I designate a donation to a specific CEF staff person?

The Internal Revenue Service (in the USA) does not allow for individuals to be supported as they were in previous years. Certain tax laws are enforced that complicate such matters. We must follow their guidelines in order to preserve the tax-deductibility of your donations. So, in a nutshell, all donations go into our general operating budget and helps fund all activities needed to maintain and grow our ministry. These can include staff salaries, office rent, utilities, insurance, copy machine lease, and other support materials.

Official CEF statement concerning donations

Child Evangelism Fellowship^® of TN, Greater Jackson Chapter will make every effort to honor the contribution designation of the donor, yet contributions must be under the direction and control of CEF^®. CEF has the discretion to determine how to best use contributions to carry out its functions and purposes. Such control of the funds by CEF is required to ensure the donor’s contributions satisfy requirements for tax-deductibility.