Greetings from the NAB International Office!
This is a difficult and challenging season for us all, and in the midst of it we pray for God’s grace, strength, and provision. May He do a good work in us. May we represent Him well to all.
The US government has been busy making financial assistance available to individuals, businesses, not-for-profits, and churches. I suspect that many of you have received emails regarding this from a variety of sources and likely have attended one or more webinars, which is great. Whether you have or not, we thought it might be helpful to share with US NAB churches a few key pieces of information and insights that we have acquired:
The CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) provides a number of aid vehicles: Payroll Protection Plan Loans/Grants, Emergency Economic Injury Grants, Debt Relief for Existing and New SBA Borrowers, Paid Leave for Government Contractors, Resources for Business Counseling Services, Employee Retention Credit, and Delay of Payroll Tax Remittance.
Based on the research we have done to date, our conclusion is that the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) is the best aid option for the NAB International Office to support our ongoing operations given the economic uncertainty before us. We believe that the PPP may also be a viable option for NAB regions, associations, and churches. It allows a loan to be provided with favorable terms. The amount borrowed is up to 2.5 months of payroll, rent, mortgage interest, and utilities. In addition, up to eight weeks of the loan amount is eligible to be forgiven in the form of a grant. Our intent for the NAB IO is to set the loan amount to be equal to the eight-week grant amount. Thus, in the end we will receive a grant rather than a loan.
If you decide to apply for the PPP, we encourage the following:
- Do your research.
- Consult with your accountant or a qualified professional.
- Check with your church’s local bank/financial institution first to see if they are an SBA-approved lender, and ask questions.
- Loan applications can be filed with an SBA-approved lender beginning April 3, 2020, with a deadline of June 30, 2020.
Available funds are limited, so if you are interested in this program it would be wise to move quickly.
Many resources for learning more about PPP are available. Here are several that we have found to be helpful:
US Chamber of Commerce Foundation
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability
We are also making plans to host a video-conference call next week (details will be forthcoming), with the hope of providing an opportunity to discuss the PPP and other available government assistance as a family of churches. We will answer as many questions as possible and look into answers if we don’t have them. Ideally, this will also be a time to encourage one another.
Thank you for taking time to wade through this information. Our hope is to make ourselves available as much as possible in this season.
Blessings to you all!
Richard Brown
CFO and Acting Executive Director, North American Baptist Conference