Legacy Montana
Visit our Blog

Who We Are

Missoula 3:16 Rescue Mission is a ministry to the homeless and hurting in Missoula. We began our work with the homeless and needy in November 1999 through a street ministry under the Higgins Street bridge.

Mission

Our Mission is to be God's hands, feet and heart to the hurting, poor and homeless of the Missoula area as we share, care for, educate, and equip them with the healing and victory that is available through a personal relationship with God.

Accountability

  1. One leader
    This ministry belongs to the Lord, not any individual.
  2. His vision
    The Lord has apparently chosen to place His mantle of approval on the mission. Nevertheless, He gives and sometimes takes away. If He ever closes the doors to this work, we will accept His leading and yield the outcome to Him. Until then, we will devote every ounce of energy to the task at hand.
  3. Honesty
    One of the ways we can discern the Lord’s will regarding our work is through the support He sends (or doesn’t sent) from His people. Therefore, during lean times we will make our needs known to our friends, but we will never resort to disrespectful or dishonorable methods of fund-raising, even when the needs are serious.
  4. Partnership with the church
    We will ask people not to support the organization until their obligations to the local church have been met.
  5. Accountability in stewardship
    We consider the contributions we receive to be sent from loving people who have sacrificed to make their gifts possible. Our obligation, therefore, is to spend that money conservatively and wisely in continuing the ministry. Every penny is stretched as far as possible to serve the needs of today’s homeless.
  6. Accountability in timeliness
    We will receipt all donations as soon as possible.
  7. Proper business practices
    When we make a purchase, we will pay the invoice within 30 days if possible. We do not intend to use the vendor’s money.
  8. Accountability in ethics
    We will not try to raise more money than we need.
  9. Mailing list
    We will never sell or rent our mailing list to those wishing to use the names of our supporters. We will maintain the highest security on our list of supporters and friends.
  10. Biblical approach
    All of our fund-raising practices will be based on biblical foundations, which will reflect all development as a ministry.
  11. Statement of faith
    Nothing in our fund-raising may contradict our statement of faith. We will include our statement of faith where appropriate or, if not provided in written form, its intent will be clear to the reader/donor.
  12. Adherence to purpose statement/mission statement
    We will involve donors and raise funds to meet the genuine needs of the ministry’s programs. We will not raise funds or ask donors to support programs that are outside of our purpose statement. If we receive a gift that does not meet this criteria, we will contact the donor, inform him of our inability to meet his designated request and allow him to decide how to use his gifts appropriately.
  13. Full disclosure
    We will practice complete financial disclosure and stand accountable to the Lord, ourselves and our supporters in determining the need and in raising and spending the Lord’s money. This will include publishing an annual report with audited financial statements, sending audited financial statements to anyone who requests them and honoring any reasonable request to inspect our financial records and expense reports.
  14. Truthfulness in communication
    All representations of fact, description of final condition or narrative of events must be current, complete and accurate. We will not mislead anyone through written or photographic materials.
  15. Role of persuasion
    We will actively pursue heartfelt, generous and cheerful giving to the great work we have been given in this ministry. We do understand that we are compelled to:
    • Be passionate – the needs touch human lives
    • Be persuasive – the message must be told and understood
    • Be urgent – the needs are immediate
    • Have integrity – we represent Jesus Christ
    Constrained to:
    • Present giving as an act of obedience to Jesus Christ
    • Be involved in fund-raising that meets our biblical guidelines
    • Be straightforward and sincere in our relationships and communication
    • Carefully appeal to both reason and emotion in our communication
  16. Donor expectations
    Appeals and communication must not create unrealistic expectations of what a donor’s gift will accomplish.
  17. Donor intent/designations
    All statements made in appeals and specific donor requests must be honored.
  18. Reporting
    The staff will seek to make accurate and timely reports on all programs.
  19. Percentage compensation
    The ministry will not work with any person or project involved in paying a percentage of what is raised or any other contingency. This conflicts with our biblical standards of keeping in mind the needs of the giver.
  20. Commissions and gifts to insiders
    Employees, officers, directors and other principals (and their families) cannot accept finders’ fees, commissions, or payments of any kind from any person or entity doing business with the organization.
  21. Acknowledgement of gifts in kind
    All property or gifts in kind will be described accurately without a statement of the gifts’ market value (unless prescribed by law). This is the responsibility of the donor.
  22. Acting in the interest of the donor
    In dealing with potential planned or deferred gifts, every effort must be made to avoid accepting any gift that would put the welfare of the donor in any hardship or place the future of the donor in jeopardy.
  23. Financial advice
    When dealing with persons regarding major estate assets, the organization will seek to guide and advise donors prior to receiving a commitment so as to insure that the needs of the family have been considered. The organization will encourage donors to consult with other professional advisors, such as accountants and attorneys.
  24. Matching grants
    The ministry will encourage use of matching grants provided the donor makes this clear when giving the gift and when both the gift and matching gift are properly accounted for and designated.
  25. Endorsements
    Endorsements may be used in development programs provided written approval has been attained concerning quotes, photographs, etc.
  26. Consultants
    The ministry may use consultants as necessary, provided that:
    • The ministry retains total control of content of any donor communication
    • A set price has been agreed to prior to any effort beginning
  27. Donor files
    All donor information is confidential and will be treated as such. As a general policy, we will not publish donor names unless warranted by a specific project and given Board approval.