Low Profit Limited Liability Corporation ( L3C) Update

I believe Low Profit Limited Liability Corporations (L3Cs),  are key entities that will allow believers to fund  BAM initiatives in mission environments.. L3Cs are entities that may allow Corporations to Fund Entrepreneurial Projects and yet still receive Charitable Contribution tax credits.

It's  still complicated to set up, but there is legislation pending, the PRIs Promotion Act,
which is aimed at making funding of  BAM and other social enterprise start ups easier.

The following article is an update on the status of the L3C and the legislation.

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by  Steve Gunderson, president and CEO of the Council on Foundations.

Earlier this year, Americans for Community Development held its inaugural conference, “L3C A to Z,” in Evanston, Ill., to educate nonprofits on Low-Profit Limited Liability Companies (L3Cs) and the advantages they provide for those pursuing program-related investments (PRIs).

At the opening plenary, I served on a panel, along with Robert Lang and Max Martin, on new philanthropic funding structures-focusing primarily on PRIs.

PRIs are an increasingly attractive tool because they allow achievement of charitable goals without depleting endowments, even producing a modest return in many cases. Such investments can provide much-needed capital to initiatives for which a foundation cares about and can often lead to innovative solutions. Examples include low-interest loans and equity investments to entities aligned with the core values of a foundation.

Another type of PRI is the L3C, a special IRS designation for for-profit companies whose primary goal is to provide a social benefit.

• It is a cross between a charity and a for-profit company. 
• While PRIs offer several advantages to foundations, government regulations are extremely burdensome. 
• Under the current system, before a foundation can enter into a PRI it must make a determination that the investment is primarily intended to further a charitable purpose. This is a legal determination based on the facts and circumstances of each transaction. 
• For old tried and true PRI models, this can be relatively simple because IRS regulation, published letter rulings, and other experience provide guidance about what is and is not allowed. 
• Newer models for PRIs, particularly L3Cs, are not so straightforward because there are not many examples to rely on to determine when a particular investment’s structure will be considered “charitable” by the IRS. 
• As a result, foundations may be uncomfortable with the uncertainty of a particular PRI, potentially leading to two choices: advising against the investment or recommending the foundation seek a private letter ruling from the IRS-in other words, killing the opportunity outright or delaying it so long it dies out. 

To ease the burdensome regulations and assist foundations in mission-driven investing, the Council supports legislation creating a voluntary procedure for entities seeking foundation participation in PRIs to obtain an IRS determination that such participation constitutes a permissible charitable activity.

• The PRIs Promotion Act would restrict how much time the IRS has to respond to these requests, thus encouraging lawyers to seek IRS approval rather than advise against the investment. 
• The legislation also would increase the efficiency of the system by allowing multiple foundations to rely on a single determination that a PRI is charitable. Currently, each foundation has to make its own determination-increasing the costs and time involved. 

The PRIs Promotion Act has yet to be introduced in Congress, but it is among priority legislation contained in the Council’s legislative agenda. To stay up to date on this and other legislative priorities relating to philanthropy, sign up for our weekly Public Policy Update and visit our Legislative Action Center.

And if you are attending the Council’s 2011 Fall Conference for Community Foundations, you have a great opportunity to learn more about L3Cs: Attend the preconference session, “The L3C-New Opportunities for Community Foundations.”

The Council has lined up a number of speakers, including Sanders Davies, senior partner, PKF O’Connor Davies; Ericka Harney, assistant director of development, The Council of State Governments; and Robert Lang (moderator), founder, Americans for Community Development. Community foundations will have the chance to learn more about using this new tool to help fulfill their mission. Steve Gunderson is president and CEO of the Council on Foundations.

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5 Christian owned Companies Uncomfortable With BAM

Christian entrepreneurs who own some kinds of businesses will become uncomfortable the deeper they get into Business as Mission. BAM Questions the world view that make them successful,and when they ask the hard questions, they must either embrace BAM  or turn away from it. People who own these five kinds of businesses will be challenged by real  BAM concepts:

1. Business by The World's Book :Acknowledge Responsibility only to the law and shareholders. Shareholders are majority Christian but exert not influence or do not believe they are accountable for the actions of the company.
2. Old School Sacred/Secular Separatists: Businesses who's Christian owners believe that business is inherently "old nature", and they separate secular and sacred activities and standards. Their job is to operate in the"dirt business world" according to its rules, and reclaim "mammon" to give to the church. Only an organization who's home is in a church building can do God's work. Often in co-dependent complicit relationship with a sacred only church.
3. My Kingdom Business. An un-surrendered business by me, for me and mine from which I donate occasionally to God's work.
4. A Jesus-free Business. Humanitarian based  Social Enterprise. May be Christian in name only, and thereby inoculated against any real Kingdom of God Contribution. a "good place" to work as long as you keep your god generic. Perhaps worships a large religious institution like "The Church" or has a large christian denomination in its name.
5.  Ministry wearing business clothes. A business designed to create interactions with people whether it grows revenue or not. Run by gifted Church planters, pastors or Missionaries, who have no entrepreneurial business gifts. Requires regular cash infusions from other sources to survive, and has no business plan that leads to long term profitability and growth.


More to be published later

-Lee Royal

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The Actions of Living A Surrendered Work Life

How do I inhabit my new life as a fully empowered ambassador of Christ in the business world?

A little word study of
Colossians 3: 1-18

Deliberately choose to set your mind on things going on in the spiritual world, in God's kingdom, in the heavenlies, things above the things being acted out in the natural world.

Because you'r dead to the natural world, and are hidden away in Christ.

When Christ is revealed, you will be too.

So......

Make a well reasoned and thoughtful decision to categorize your earthly parts as dead, as unresponsive to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (If my body is conditioned to reflexively respond to to those things, it amounts to being a slave to, or worshiping those things)

Why is this important? Because, it's those things that bring the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience.

You once walked on that path yourselves, you were once living inside those things.

But now, step out of those things, abandon that place, leave it deserted. Don't try to redecorate the house you used to live in that was  created by the four walls of anger, wrath, malice and slander. Don't even keep it or rent it, or even allows  someone else to live in that house you built. Walk away, leave it abandoned, deserted. Don't even try to destroy it yourself, that's God's Job. That's not how it works for us believers. We must abandon that stronghold of the enemy. Don't let your rage and greed "motivate" you to do good things. Thats like a broken water tank. It looks like it can satisfy your thirst, but when you try and drink from it you find no water.

Your actions are to abandon that house and  live in the world, not in a house but in fully protective new clothes provided by God.


So how do we do that?


First, we don't  lie to one another,since you have left that old house behind, and since you have put on the new self, like new clothes, new beautiful clothes that you sink into, clothes that completely cover and protect you, not clothes that try and dress up your old self.

Like clothes, we put them one one piece at a a time.

Five Principles

First, Dress. Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, letting them cover us completely, sinking deep into their covering.

Second, bear and forgive. with others when God's Children are doing or saying things that are offensive to you, and if they succeed in giving you offense, forgive them, right on the spot before it has a chance to fester and grow into something else.

Third, Peace is your Umpire act under the assumption that  the peace of Christ act as an umpire in your heart, an umpire that makes rulings as things come up in your life. What does The peace of God's Spirit tell you you should do, or you should not do?

Fourth, invest  frequent cosnsistent time time God's Wordtime so that the word of God completely fills you up, with a plethora of things, with all wisdom, teaching and lovingly correcting one another with pslams, hymns and spiritual songs. Singing them with thankfullnes in your hearts to God.

Fifth Do all  in your Master's Name, what ever you do in word or deed, in business, at home at church in all recreation, in all practcingof the arts, in entertainment, in your sleep, at night, in the day, do it all in the name of Jesus who is your highest authority, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

So How Do I  apply these five Principles in my  work life?


First, Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, letting them cover us completely, sinking deep into their covering with every candidate, employee, prospect, customer, Potential vendor, vendor, delivery driver, receptionist, warehouse worker, banker, project manager, trainer, leader, cleaning person.

Second, when God's Children are doing or saying things that are offensive to you ( and they will). Bear it without striking back, and even responding in love and affirmation both publicly and privately. Tf they succeed in harming you or giving you offense, forgive them, right on the spot before it has a chance to fester and grow into something else.

Third, listen carefully to peace of Christ in your heart, for every response, for every action, decision interaction.Let it umpire that makes rulings as things come up in your life. What does The peace of God's Spirit tell you you should do, or you should not do?

Fourth, invest time so that the word of God completely fills you up, so that His word is present as tools, in your heart mind and spirit, in your mouth. It is the sword of God for your workplace, where ever your are. And join together with other believers in your workplace and fight the good fight together, whether they goto your home church or not.

Fifth, what ever you do in word or deed at work do it all in the name of Jesus who is your highest authority, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

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These are the ACTIONS we take while on our journey in the workplace. We are not asked to passively take what the world gives us until we can run back to church to get cleaned up. We are  to take action in our role there by sinking deeply into the new clothes Christ has given us to cover us; we are to bear and forgive, listen to the peace of Christ as he umpires our interactions, stay steeped in His Word, and live an integrated life, doing every action including business in the name of the Lord.

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