It's Official: R|M is a Nonprofit!
Sometimes January sneaks up without warning. You’ve just finished all the Christmas dishes and poured some coffee when the calendar flips, and suddenly, you need to relearn what year it is. But sometimes, you’ve waited eagerly for January to arrive. And as a team, we’ve been waiting. We’ve quietly worked behind the scenes on something big and exciting. Now that it’s January, we’re bursting to share the news!
Last summer, we started the long process of becoming a nonprofit. We researched the process, filled out paperwork, scheduled meetings, and spent time in prayer. Late fall, we officially achieved nonprofit status and today, we're thrilled to announce some new changes for Risen Motherhood.
Now because we’re moms, we’re going to save the most exciting bit for the end, so hang with us while we explain how becoming a nonprofit changes how your donations function in three ways:
More of your money goes directly to the ministry.
Rather than using Patreon, we’ll be moving our donation platform to our own website to avoid Patreon’s administrative fee, leaving more funds for the ministry. Plus, by bringing it in-house, we can use a platform with more capabilities for a nonprofit, and better manage one-time and ongoing gifts, keeping all our donors in one spot.
We have a two-tiered perk system (that includes our one-time givers too)!
Second, we simplified our “perks system” by creating two giving tiers. Any donation above $5 or a $50 one-gift will receive a special newsletter called The R|M Report filled with behind-the-scenes details of the ministry, special announcements, and insider perks. Any donation above $30 or a $350 one-time gift will receive The R|M Report and an exclusive R|M donor thank you mug. (You know we love our mugs.)
Any gift you make in 2019 will be tax deductible.*
Lastly, we’re excited to share your gifts should be tax-deductible very soon. While we are an official nonprofit, we’re still waiting on confirmation for our 501(c)3 tax-exempt status. (These are two different things, coming from the U.S. government at two different times.) Once achieved (hopefully in the next couple of months), you’ll be eligible for a tax-deduction receipt at the end of 2019. For example, let’s say we receive official notice on March 1, 2019, that we are officially recognized by the U.S. government as a 501(c)3. This notice will allow any donation made throughout the entire 2019 calendar year be counted as a tax-deductible gift for an individual donor, even those made in January or February, 2019.
If you’ve supported R|M in the past, thank you. We can’t express how grateful we are for your generosity to our ministry! If you’re a Patreon supporter, you should have received an email about how to switch your donation to the new platform. We appreciate you taking the time to do this.
If you’re interested in becoming a donor, it’s a great time to start! You can head to our R|M Give page to learn more.
Becoming a nonprofit changes more than our donation model. It also means we have a Board of Directors! These six individuals have graciously agreed to help provide oversight, encouragement, and accountability to R|M as a nonprofit, and we’re thankful for the wisdom and experience each member brings to the ministry. We’re excited to introduce you to the R|M Board of Directors:
Karen Hodge | Board Chair
Karen serves as the Coordinator of Women’s Ministry in the PCA. She’s a frequent speaker and author of Transformed: Life-taker to Life-giver and Life-giving Leadership. She hosts the enCourage podcast each week. She’s having the time of her life serving alongside her husband, Chris, who is the senior pastor at Naperville Presbyterian Church in Naperville, Illinois, and they have two adult children: Anna Grace and Haddon.
Quina Aragon | Board Member
Quina is a wife, mother, and artist who enjoys writing, copyediting, and creating spoken word videos. She resides in Tampa, FL with her husband Jon and two-year-old daughter. Jon and Quina are members of Living Faith Bible Fellowship, where they serve as leaders of the small group ministry. Quina's articles, poems, and spoken word videos have been featured on The Gospel Coalition, Risen Motherhood, The Witness: BCC, Rapzilla, and Designed Marriage. Her first children's book, Love Made, releases in February with Harvest House Publishers. Quina writes at her website QuinaAragon.com, and you can find her on Twitter and Instagram.
Abigail Dodds | Board Member
Abigail is a wife, mother of five, and graduate student at Bethlehem College and Seminary. She’s a regular contributor to Desiring God and the author of (A)Typical Woman: Free, Whole, and Called in Christ (2019). You can find on Twitter, Instagram, or her blog.
Melissa Kruger | Board Member
Melissa serves as the Women’s Ministry Coordinator at Uptown Church (PCA) in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is the author of The Envy of Eve: Finding Contentment in a Covetous World, Walking with God in the Season of Motherhood, and In All Things: A Nine Week Devotional Bible Study on Unshakeable Joy. Her husband, Mike, is the president of Reformed Theological Seminary, and they have three children. She writes at Wits End, hosted by The Gospel Coalition.
Eric Schumacher | Board Member
Eric has been married to Jenny for 20 years. Together they have five children. He serves as Associate Pastor at Grand Avenue Baptist Church in Ames, Iowa. Eric is a graduate of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has collaborated in writing worship songs, such as “Not in Me," for fifteen years at Thousand Tongues. He also dabbles in country and folk music, as well as fiction and devotional writing. Connect with Eric on Twitter or his website.
Ruth Chou Simons | Board Member
Ruth is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and speaker who shares her journey of how God’s grace intersects daily life through word and paintbrush at GraceLaced.com—the popular blog, online shoppe, and Instagram community that reaches over a hundred thousand daily. Her first book, GraceLaced: Discovering Timeless Truths Through Seasons of the Heart, winner of a 2018 Christian Book Award, was released in September 2017.
Looking back at the last few years, we see God’s faithfulness and grace to R|M. Your emails and comments about the gospel’s impact in your homes leave us amazed at God’s goodness and work through the ministry. We look forward to all he will do in 2019, and pray we all grow in our understanding of how the riches of the gospel apply to the everyday realities of motherhood—dishes and cold coffee included.
