A chapter and its service teams may choose to conduct activities in collaboration with other organizations to meet a mutual goal. "Collaboration" means that the organizations involved join together and truly share (equal participation) in planning and sharing resources and responsibilities to meet the goal.

Before the activity, it's important for the service team and the organization to determine, together, each group's "fair share" of funds. A good rule of thumb to determine fair share is to ask how much more was raised as a result of the chapter involvement—perhaps based on the number of volunteer hours contributed by Thrivent chapter members.

Example: The chapter members volunteered 50 out of the 100 hours and a total of $10,000 was raised via the event. The chapter's fair share would be 50 hours and $5,000 of the funds raised. For large activities, it is recommended that the Thrivent community service team be responsible for a specific activity, such as a silent auction, food booth, bake sale, etc. (See "Reporting a cohosted activity" below.)

When can Care Abounds in Communities® funds be used for cohosted activities?
When a community service team collaboratively cohosts a fund-raising activity with another organization for the Care Abounds in Communities® program, supplemental funding can be provided as long as:

1. The activity was preapproved by the chapter leadership board.
2. The "fair share" of funds raised as a result of the cohosted activity are deposited into the chapter's checking account.

The chapter leadership board votes on how much to supplement the fair share of funds raised at the activity. Funds raised can be supplemented up to $1-for-$1, up to the recipient maximums for the recipient type as long as the chapter does not exceed its remaining allocation.

Important: Funds raised solely by another group or donated from the chapter or another organization are not eligible for supplemental funding.

If a congregational service team decides to collaboratively cohost a fund-raising activity with another organization for the Care in Congregations® program, the above guidelines apply with the following modification: funds must be deposited in the congregation's bank account. Additionally, funds raised solely by another group or donated from the chapter or another organization are not eligible for supplemental funding.

Cohosting tool answers commonly asked questions about cohosting
When working on fund-raisers with volunteers from other organizations, Thrivent Financial members on community service teams often are asked questions such as why checks need to be made to the Thrivent chapter, why do we require the money to be deposited into the Thrivent chapter checking account, and does Thrivent earn interest on the money deposited. It puts our members in an awkward position of having to come up with the answers on the spot.

To help our volunteers in these situations, a brochure titled Multiplying the Good We Do, Together is available for chapters to order. This tri-fold brochure:

• Answers the common questions organizations have about conducting a fund-raiser with a Thrivent chapter
• Describes the strength of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and its chapters
• Highlights the impact that Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and its members generate in the community through the Care Abounds in Communities® program

It's a great piece to give to service teams, which they in turn can share with organizations they are working with for fund-raising activities. And, chapters may want to provide it to organizations who express interest in working with a Thrivent chapter service team.

Chapters can order this piece from the Order Chapter Supplies page. The brochure is item number 22670 and up to 25 copies can be ordered.

Reporting a cohosted activity (fair share)

• If a chapter cohosts an activity with another organization, the chapter service team should report only the share of funds that it feels it was responsible for raising, and those net funds raised (gross funds raised minus the service team's fair share of expenses) must be deposited into:
  
  
  • The chapter's checking account for Care Abounds in Communities® program activities.
  • The congregation's bank account for Care in Congregations® program activities.

  If the chapter service team can't get its fair share of funds to deposit into its checking account, there are steps the service team can take to resolve the issue.
  
  

• If multiple chapter service teams host an activity, each service team reports only its fair share of net funds raised and deposits it appropriately.

• If a chapter service team cohosts an activity with an organization instead of another chapter service team, the service team should report what it feels is its "fair share" of the attendance (i.e., the attendance that the service team feels was a direct result of its members' involvement in the activity).
  
  
• If multiple chapter service teams host an activity, the attendance total should be split among all participating chapter service teams. For example, the service teams may want to divide the attendance total by the number of chapter service teams involved so that each chapter receives equal attendance credit.

• The chapter service team should report only its share of volunteer hours that it contributed toward the activity.
  
  
• If multiple chapter service teams host an activity, each service team reports only its fair share of the volunteer hours.