Policy


It is the policy of the Des Moines Area Religious Council that:

  1. all solicitations for donations to the Council are made respectfully, without any undue influence or duress placed on the donor;
  2. all donations are used in the manner indicated by the donor and in accordance with the Donor’s Bill of Rights, as set forth below; and
  3. all donations stipulated as an endowment fund by the donor are utilized by the Council in accordance with the donor’s intent and Iowa law.

Donor’s Bill of Rights


The Council has established the following Bill of Rights for all donors. Each donor to the Council has the right:

  1. To be informed of the Council’s mission, of the way the Council intends to use donated resources, and of the Council’s capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.
  2. To be informed of the identity of those serving on the Council’s governing board, and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.
  3. To have access to the Council’s most recent financial statements.
  4. To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.
  5. To receive prompt and appropriate acknowledgement and recognition.
  6. To be assured that information about their donations is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law.
  7. To expect that all relationships with individuals representing the Council will be professional in nature.
  8. To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the Council, or hired solicitors.
  9. To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.

Procedures


The Council has established the following procedures to implement the Donor’s Bill of Rights:

Donors should contact DMARC at info@dmarcunited.org with any requests to not share their information outside of DMARC and/or request changes or updates to their donor profile.

1. Honoring the known intentions of donors.

 It is the practice of the Council to honor the expressed intention of donors for the use of the financial contribution they have entrusted to the organization.

  • When appropriate, the Council will book the contribution to the intended account or class of contributions.
  • When appropriate, the contribution is banked in a savings account, certificate of deposit, etc., and is segregated in accounts that may contain similar gifts from other donors.
  • When appropriate, the Council will ensure that reports of a designated project include the donor’s name.

2. Managing Funds. 

The Council follows Iowa Code Chapter 540A in the management of its donated funds.

  • The Council will consider the intent of the donor expressed in a gift, the charitable purposes of the Council and the purposes of the donated funds in managing and investing the funds.
  • The persons responsible for managing and investing any donated funds will manage and invest the funds in good faith and with the care an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under the circumstances.
  • The Council will incur only costs that are appropriate and reasonable in relation to the Council’s assets, the purposes of the Council, and the skills available to the Council.
  • The Council will make a reasonable effort to verify facts relevant to the management and investment of the donated funds.
  • In managing and investing donated funds, the following factors, if relevant, will be considered by the Council:
    • General economic conditions.
    • The possible effect of inflation or deflation.
    • The expected tax consequences, if any, of investment decisions or strategies.
    • The role that each investment or course of action plays within the overall investment portfolio of a fund.
    • The expected total return from income and the appreciation of investments.
    • Other resources of the Council.
    • The needs of the Council to make distributions and to preserve capital.
    • A donated asset’s special relationship or special value, if any, to the charitable purposes of the Council.
  • Management and investment decisions about an individual asset contributed by a donor will be made in the context of the Council’s portfolio of investments as a whole and as a part of an overall investment strategy having risk and return objectives reasonably suited to the Council.
  • The Council will diversify the investments of donated funds unless the Council reasonably determines that, because of special circumstances, the purposes of the funds are better served without diversification.
  • Within a reasonable time after receiving property, the Council will make and carry out decisions concerning the retention or disposition of the property or to rebalance a portfolio, in order to bring the funds into compliance with the purposes, terms, and distribution requirements of the Council as necessary to meet other circumstances of the Council and the requirements of Iowa law.

Endowment funds

The Council follows Iowa Code Chapter 540A in the use of donated funds that the donor has indicated should not be expendable on a current basis.

  • Subject to the expressed intent of a donor expressed in the gift, the Council may appropriate for expenditure or accumulate so much of an endowment fund as it determines is prudent for the uses, benefits, purposes, and duration for which the endowment fund is established. Unless stated otherwise in the donor’s gift instrument, the assets in an endowment fund are donor-restricted assets until appropriated for expenditure by the Council.
  • In making a determination to appropriate or accumulate, the Council will act in good faith, with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances, and will consider, if relevant, all of the following factors:
    • The duration and preservation of the endowment fund.
    • The purposes of the Council and the endowment fund.
    • General economic conditions.
    • The possible effect of inflation or deflation.
    • The expected total return from income and the appreciation of investments.
    • Other resources of the Council.
    • The investment policy of the Council.

Privacy and confidentiality of all donors 

It is the practice of the Council to honor the privacy of all donors.

  • Donor information including, but not limited to, name, address, phone, donation amount and stipulations will be used to maintain accurate donor records for purpose of donation acknowledgment and ongoing communication with the donor where allowed.
  • Donation information will be aggregated over time for analysis purposes.
  • The Council will not publicly reveal a donor’s address or amount of contribution without the prior consent of the donor.
  • The stated preference of any donor for anonymity will be honored.
  • A donor’s request for curtailed solicitations from the Council will be honored.
  • The Council will not to sell, give, or otherwise share its donor mailing list with any other organization or person, although DMARC does reserve the right to share lists containing public information such as lists of Des Moines area congregations.