The Spiritan Office for Mission Advancement (SOMA), supports the Congregation’s public and charitable works of health, education, social services, and religious mission in the United States and throughout the world.
Since 2013 SOMA has distributed over $2,100,000 in support of that work.
Spiritans do change lives!
SOMA receives no funding from foundations or other entities. The funds dispersed as grants originate from United States donors, and are acquired entirely from the efforts of the Office for Mission Advancement.
Our supporters are a blessing, and allow us to continue our mission outreach.
March 2020:
2020 offers an epic challenge as the world faces a global recesssion.
The COVID-19 pandemic has and will continue to impact our donation income. It has caused us to cancel our major fund raising event scheduled for October 2020.
Spiritan confreres may submit one mission-related grant application per year. A maximum of three grant applications will be accepted over a 12 month period from any circumscription, meeting the requirements that follow, when they are approved and forwarded through the conscription's development office.
Eligible circumscriptions must be in full compliance with all requirements of the SRL, and be in operating harmony with the United States Province.
The maximum individual grant is $10,000.
Applications are reviewed by the Funding Approval Committee in June and December each year.
SOMA also can act as a "fiscal agent" when a province is making application to a funding foundation or agency. In those cases the potential funding entity will ask the applicant to direct them to the body acting in this capacity.
Definition: a fiscal agent is an established Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that agrees to accept donations on behalf of a group that does not have IRS tax exemption. Under this arrangement, a charitable group can get more funding to perform its mission. Many people won't contribute to efforts that don't provide them with a tax exemption for their deductions, which 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status provides, and most private foundations won't make grants to non-tax-exempt organizations. While a nonprofit acting as a fiscal agent can offer numerous services as part of the arrangement, it must at least retain supervision and control over funds, making sure they are used strictly for the sponsored group's charitable work; keep records proving that funds are used for tax-exempt purposes; and insure that funds are used in a manner that furthers the fiscal agent's own charitable work.
IRS Update: the IRS now requires that all charities show a personal relationship between the applicant and the fiscal agent, and how they verified the project. This regulation is in response to the extend of fraud through email with international applicants.
The IRS will eventually audit our connections to international applicants requiring us to prove that we can verify both projects and persons.
SOMA will withhold an administrative fee equivalent to 6% of the dispersed grant.
SOMA will withhold an administrative fee equivalent to 6% of the dispersed grant. This also applies to instances where we act as your fiscal agent. Additionally, SOMA will withhold the cost of the bank wire transfer which is presently $45.
Example: on a $10,000 grant, the administrative fee would be $600 and the transfer fee $45. The grantee would then receive $9,355.
In 2020 SOMA distributed $184,600 to projects in 13 countries. The average unrestricted gift was $5,392.
Past results, however, are no guarantee of future distributions.
Spiritan Office for Mission Advancement
1700 West Alabama St.
Houston, Texas 77098
713-522-2882
Ray Sylvester
Grants Coordinator missionprojects@spiritans.org
Skype:ray.sylvester
Consider opening a Skype account. Face to face conversations are more engaging, and, often, more productive. We can easily arrange a time that works for all parties.