By Dave Tschantz, Vice President & General Counsel
*Editor’s note: This information was published in the August 2021 issue of Heartfelt Magazine, CHM’s monthly magazine that provides CHM membership-related tips and tricks, medical advice from doctors, testimonies from CHM members, and more. Please refer to the CHM Guidelines and applicable web pages for the most up-to-date information regarding CHM membership, sharing eligibility, and ministry news.*
Last month, I discussed CHM’s standard No. 10: Publish an online mechanism for its members to provide feedback and suggestions regarding ministry function. This article discusses CHM’s standard No. 11.
Standard No. 11: Refrain from utilizing for-profit contractors to provide the integral functions of member acquisition, direct member services or sharing of medical needs of the ministry.
In the rare event that for-profit contractor services are necessary to CHM operation, the ministry must contract only with individuals or companies who have no affiliation with CHM’s management team or any member of its Board of Directors; unless the service provided is minimal in size and scope and is disclosed to, and explicitly approved by, a majority of the disinterested directors.
Promoting transparency and ministry focus
This standard promotes transparency and ministry focus. If to perform a core operation—such as processing medical bills—a sharing ministry contracts with a for-profit business owned by the officers of that ministry or their family members, it could provide an opportunity for misuse of member dollars. This arrangement tends to create the possibility to skim gift dollars from the ministry in the form of exorbitant contract fees. Prohibiting this practice, or making sure of full disclosure, results in a maximum number of dollars remaining available to share members’ needs. We fully support this concept, as our focus is ministry and service.
