To receive funding through the Care Abounds in Communities® and Care in Regions® chapter Care programs, not-for-profit organizations must:

• Be exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. (This includes charitable, educational and religious organizations.)

  OR
  
  

• Be units of state or local government (e.g., cities, towns, counties, school districts, city parks, etc.). Local communities are eligible even though they are not exempt under section 501(c)(3).

Note: Although congregations are 501(c)(3) organizations, they are not eligible to be recipients of the Care Abounds in Communities® program because they receive their supplemental funding through the Care in Congregations® program.

Click here for more details on which types of nonprofit organizations qualify.

How to tell if an organization is a 501(c)(3)
Most charitable, religious and educational not-for-profit organizations are 501(c)(3) organizations. If a not-for-profit organization states that donations to it are tax deductible (often stated on the Web site of the nonprofit organization), you can assume it is a 501(c)(3) organization. A veterans organization, which is a 501(c)(19), or a fraternal society, which is a 501(c)(8), do not qualify as eligible recipients.

Note: Auxiliaries of organizations do not qualify as eligible recipients unless the organization has a 501(c)(3) designation.

If there is a question about the designation, a chapter leader or other member coordinating the activity should contact the proposed recipient nonprofit organization before the activity to verify it is a 501(c)(3) organization (that it is exempt from income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code) or ask if contributions to the organization are tax deductible.

Detailed information about 501(c)(3) organizations can be found in IRS publication 557.

Because Thrivent Financial expects that chapter leaders will do their due diligence to determine that a potential recipient meets the eligibility requirements, it is assumed their good judgement will prevail and Thrivent Financial does not require a copy of the exemption letter from the IRS, which would be proof positive of 501(c)(3) status.

Additional information about "qualified" not-for-profit organizations
Mutual insurance companies, veterans organizations, VFWs, credit unions, recreational clubs, trade associations, chambers of commerce, political parties, labor unions, cooperatives, and other types of organizations (such as the Green Bay Packers) that are nonprofit organizations but are not categorized as 501(c)(3) organizations are not qualified to receive funding through the Care Abounds in Communities® and Care in Regions® programs.

Note: Auxiliaries of organizations that do not have the 501(c)(3) designation also do not qualify as eligible recipients.

These types of nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations do not serve charitable, educational or religious purposes and are not aligned with the permitted purposes of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and its chapters. In addition, contributions to organizations that are not categorized as 501(c)(3) or government units are usually not tax deductible. Fund-raising for such organizations could inadvertently cause misunderstandings regarding deductibility of contributions to chapter fund-raisers.

The process of obtaining recognition as a 501(c)(3) organization provides a degree of assurance that the organization is required to be and is in fact a bona fide nonprofit and benevolent organization that is aligned with the purposes of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.