The plain-language rules of the road — so every partnership blesses you, protects the church, and keeps the room sacred.
Sponsorship funds the room — it never shapes it. What we offer every partner is recognition and honor: your name and your story, celebrated by a grateful house. What we cannot offer is advertising. That line is not us being difficult — it is what keeps a church’s recognition clean under federal sponsorship rules, and it is what keeps the night feeling like worship instead of a trade show. Held rightly, it protects you as much as it protects us.
Show your name and logo · list your address, phone, and website with a direct link · describe your business in neutral words · welcome a display or sampling table where approved · and thank you publicly, warmly, and often.
Publish prices, discounts, or coupons · use “best,” “#1,” or comparisons · endorse or recommend a business from the platform · make calls to action (“book now,” “call today”) · or allow selling inside the gathering.
“Proud sponsor of The Encounter.” · “Supporting The Jesus Encounter Church.” · Use our logo in the form we provide · Link to encounteredbyjesus.com.
“The Encounter recommends us.” · “Endorsed by The Jesus Encounter Church.” · “Official ___ of…” · Anything pairing our name with pricing, a discount, or a call to action.
The reason is simple: a church cannot endorse a business — and a well-meaning post can create an endorsement we never made. Thank you for holding the line with us. It is far easier to set it up front than to take something down later.
Every gift receives a written acknowledgment from the church within seven days, issued from a numbered register. Your generosity is never left undocumented.
We describe donated goods carefully and specifically — but we never assign them a dollar value. Valuation belongs to you and your tax advisor, and that silence protects you.
Labor and services are honored with a personal letter of appreciation. We will always be straight with you about what that letter is and is not — so nothing surprises you in April.
We issue accurate paper and genuine honor — and we leave tax treatment to you and your CPA, where it belongs.
Declining is never personal. These lines are written policy, set before any offer is ever on the table — so no relationship has to carry the weight of the call.
Gifts or sponsorships from political candidates, campaigns, PACs, or party organizations. A church is absolutely barred from campaign intervention — there is no tier for this, at any amount.
Businesses whose primary trade is alcohol, cannabis, tobacco or vape, gambling, payday lending, or adult entertainment. This house exists so that people recover — and our convictions are not for sale at any number.
A few other categories — like network-marketing organizations — are reviewed by the board case by case. Our full board policies are available on request at eventinfo@encounteredbyjesus.com.
No gift — of any size — purchases a voice in governance, doctrine, the platform, or who we serve. That protects every partner equally: the house you are sowing into cannot be bought, which is exactly why it is worth sowing into.