Thank you for your support of Youth With A Mission; we appreciate it and feel honored by your confidence that God is at work in and through us. Here is some information that will hopefully assist you in understanding the following :
• the support process in YWAM
• where to actually direct your support to and
• whether your contribution might qualify as tax-deductible (FAQ #s 4, 5 and 6)

1. How do I support a specific staff person in YWAM ? (see FAQ #6 for non-staff persons)
There is no centralized support processing (nor location) for all of Youth With A Mission worldwide. There is also no requirement that supporters must send their funds through any particular YWAM office at all. In other words, individual YWAMers may set up any process for receiving financial funds that fits them and their supporters (e.g., staff can also receive support directly from donors, or through a church or YWAM ministry they have made an arrangement with).
Therefore, you should always contact the individual staff person whom you are interested in supporting, and enquire about the support option they may already have in place. (For your information, YWAM does not maintain an international database of individual staff worldwide; we have over 17,000 staff people in nearly 200 countries. They have been recruited in, and have been sent out from, many different countries. There is no one person or place in YWAM that knows where all YWAMers are located.)

2. How do I support a specific YWAM ministry location ?
There is no centralized support processing (nor location) for all of Youth With A Mission. In other words, you can send your donation(s) directly to the YWAM ministry location you want to benefit. If that ministry is not located in the same country you are in, you should probably contact them first and find out what is the best way to send them money (it may be that they have a support processing set-up in place in your country).

3. How can I make a general donation to YWAM?
"YWAM Support" (a ministry of YWAM International Communications Network in Colorado Springs, which also brings you ywam.org, the web portal to the YWAM online world) can process such a donation for you. Our experienced staff will make sure your donation goes to meet a worthy need. You can mail your donation to the address below, or make an online donation using a Visa or MasterCard (see link in the navigation on the left). Please read more about "YWAM Support" in point # 12 below.

4. Is my support to YWAM tax-deductible (for US tax payers) ?
YWAM consists of about 1,000 locations worldwide, including dozens in the USA. Most (possibly all) YWAM locations in the USA are registered with U.S. tax authorities (the IRS) in such a way, so as to be able to receive tax-deductible donations. To be sure, however, you might want to first contact the particular U.S. YWAM location you intend to send money to, and ask them. PLEASE NOTE: Contributions to YWAM designated for the educational expenses of an individual are not tax-deductible (see also FAQ #6 below).

5. Is my support to YWAM tax-deductible (for non-US tax payers) ?
Depending on the country and its tax laws where you are a tax-payer, financial contributions to YWAM in that same country may be tax deductible. To determine the tax deductibility of your contributions, please contact a tax advisor or the YWAM ministry location of the person or ministry you wish to support. (For Canadian tax payers: Ph: 1.604.436.4433, Email: donorservices@shaw.ca)

6. Can I support a specific individual attending a YWAM school (not a staff member)?
If you are a U.S. taxpayer, please note that your contribution to YWAM designated toward school expenses (or travel expenses to a YWAM school), are NOT tax-deductible according to IRS rules. You may therefore be better off to send money directly to the person you want to help (please review the introductory paragraph above). You can also send money to the YWAM location where that person will attend a school with a note attached that indicates who the money is to benefit. You will want to ask the person (or YWAM school) as to how that location prefers money to be sent, and how it is to be made payable (YWAM may operate under different names in some other countries).

7. Do YWAMers get paid?
Youth With A Mission (YWAM) is a volunteer movement of thousands of Christians in hundreds of locations who are seeking to make Christ known in word and deed. Most people in YWAM need financial partners in order to do their ministry. They depend on God to motivate people to contribute their financial resources. Any amount is greatly appreciated.

8. What donation methods can I use?
You should probably direct that question to the particular YWAM ministry or staff you plan to support. Most can receive and process donations by check (however, please note that YWAM may operate under different legal names in different countries and thus require checks to be made payable accordingly, or, depending on the country, it may be safer to obtain information for a bank-to-bank transfer). Some YWAM locations are able to process credit card donations, and may even offer that option on their particular ministry's website. Some can arrange for regular withdrawals from your bank account. Some may have accounts that make it possible to receive donations of financial instruments. (If your preferred method cannot be facilitated by the YWAM ministry you are trying to support, we ("YWAM Support") may be able to help out; please read more about YWAM Support below.)

9. How will you disburse my designated contribution ?
When we (YWAM Support) receive a contribution designated for the support of a YWAM staff person, we will contact that staff person in order to find out where (which YWAM ministry location or church) they normally receive their financial support through. We will then issue a check (or wire the funds, if so requested; international wirefees are $30) payable to that YWAM location or church, and mail it with an accompanying letter indicating who it is for, and who the donor is. It is that YWAM location or church then which will make the money available to the staff person. YWAM Support does not make payments directly to individuals. Each YWAM staff person worldwide has some kind of support process in place (please see FAQ #1).

10. How soon will my designated beneficiary receive my donation?
The enquiry process described in FAQ #9 could easily take a couple weeks (depending on how much detail the donor has provided about the beneficiary's contact information, and / or how fast the needed disbursement information is received from the individual staff or YWAM ministry).

11. How Do I make a Donation "in memory of" or "in honor of" someone?
Thank you for thinking of Youth With A Mission when wishing to make a gift in memory or in honor of someone special, such as a loved one, family member, friend or colleague. You can do so by adding a separate note to your check donation (payable to YWAM Support), specifying the name of the person in whose memory/honor you are donating.
You may designate your gift to a particular category of needs within YWAM (General Operations, Emergency Fund, Staff- Outreach- or Mercy Ministry Support), or specify a specific YWAM ministry. You may also request that YWAM Support send an acknowledgement letter (e.g., to a surviving family member or representative, or to the person or family member in whose honor your are making the gift). The letter identifies the donor by name and refers to the special gift that was made (it does not disclose the amount of the gift). When including such request, please provide the appropriate name and address.

12. Who is YWAM Support?
YWAM Support (a ministry of YWAM International Communications Network located in Colorado Springs, USA) assists donors in their ministry of giving to YWAM, particularly those who feel led to make undesignated / general donations to YWAM. YWAM Support does this by informing donors and YWAMers alike about the support process in YWAM, and by administrating and strategically distributing funds throughout the YWAM world.
a) If you would like to make a "General Donation" (undesignated) to YWAM, YWAM Support may well be your most appropriate option, as our experienced team is a support office to all of YWAM worldwide. Any undesignated / general donations allow us here at YWAM Support to meet a great variety of needs around the YWAM world. Your gift changes lives!
b) Donations to YWAM Support are tax-deductible to U.S. tax payers (except for donations designated for school/training related expenses, or if you have received any services in exchange for your gift).
c) You can make secure online donations at ywam.org using a Visa or MasterCard, or mail donations payable to YWAM Support to
YWAM Support, PO Box 26479, Colorado Springs CO 80936.
d) We can also accept donations in the form of financial instruments (E-mail: YWAM Support for further information).
e) In addition to "General Donations," you can also make designated donations via YWAM Support toward staff or ministries if the set-up that your donation's beneficiary has in place does not work for you, but in that case we DO need contact information about the person/ministry you would like to designate).
f) Please note that YWAM Support will withhold a five percent processing fee of any credit card donation given through us (the maximum processing fee for check donations is $100). If a wire transfer is requested by the recipient (or registered/insured mail becomes necessary) to send support overseas, the cost will also be deducted from the donation. Any gift of US $25 or less is treated as a "general donation" to be used as needed.
g) We are currently not set up to initiate automatic withdrawals from your bank account (you may want to enquire with your own bank, as many banks are able to set up automatic periodic disbursements.
h) Once again, FAQ # 1 is one of the main items to understand.