How much of my donation to special appeals is used in administration?

As of January 1, 2005, at least 95% of designated funds will be used to help those in need. Up to five percent of your gift will be used to cover shared administrative costs associated with the processing and distribution of your gift.

The total for salaries, benefits, administration, information and interpretation represents just 4% of the PDA budget.

Can I make a gift in honor of someone?

Yes, we have special cards that can be sent indicating a gift has been given in someone's honor. Contact Pamela Burdine to make this connection.

Yes, funds are sent to Central Receiving Services. PDA will send a letter of thanks, but the official record of your gift is sent from Central Receiving Services. Any questions you may have about the processing of your donation should be directed to Steve Sexton (888) 728-7228, x5571.

If you do not have a strong interest in the situation of a particular country the best way to direct your gift is to DR555555. These designated funds for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance supplement the core administrative support for the work of PDA, and will allow the use of your gift where it is most needed, either in a national or international response.

The critical element in decision making is the basic definition of an emergency as "an extraordinary event that causes destruction to people, property and structures to such an extent as to exceed the capacity of the affected community to cope with the situation relying solely on its own resources". In the United States for national response we follow the lead and ministry of our presbyteries. Internationally, we have a general decision tree which is not a hard fast formula but forms the basis for decision making. These decisions are made in consultation with the area offices of the World Mission program area. We look at seven variables and rank them low, medium, or high.

The seven variables include:

1. Relational Value defined as the number of Presbyterian mission workers serving in the affected country, the extent of presbytery partnerships, and our history relative to the country in question.
   
2. News Value looks at how much news coverage both print and broadcast is focused on the crisis thus raising awareness and interest in response.
   
3. The level of Human Suffering.
   
4. The Viability of a Response is defined as whether we have organized a broad ecumenical response that will get support from many churches and/or previous disaster experience in the area.
   
5. Partner Response Capacity is always considered.
   
6. Availability of Funds in the One Great Hour of Sharing, the Rapid Response account and designated giving.
   
7. Impact of Funds. We seek to give where the amount we have available makes a significant difference.

My company does match grant for gifts. Is PDA tax exempt so my gift will qualify for this program?

Yes, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation, is a federally recognized, tax exempt organization pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Its tax ID number is 13-3462549. Receipts will be issued for charitable contributions made to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation, for disaster-related or other mission work.