What does switching to the collaborative model mean for me?

All donations will come to Emerald Hills (physical checks and online donations) so you no longer need a forwarding agent. The checks and the online donations will be put into Team Expansion’s accounting software under your specific account number.

You will receive weekly reports that show donor details and fund balance. You will get set up with DonorElf, which helps track your donors and links to Team Expansion’s accounting software.

You will also be given access Expensify, a web-based software/app that ties to Team Expansion’s accounting software. This is the largest section of change for you as a worker. This is where you will keep track of your expenses and reimbursements (similar to giving your Forwarding Agent a monthly expense report). Expensify will be used not only reimburse your expenses, but also pay your benefits. This is how Team Expansion will transfer funds from your account to you. You will receive a financial report for you to add to your monthly newsletter; this will usually come out on the 3^rd or 4^th of the month for the prior month.

Team Expansion’s financial team is available for Expensify and DonorElf tutorials through Skype or Zoom. Email Jon May at jmay@teamexpansion.org to set up a meeting.

How do I switch to the Collaborative Model?

1. Start contacting your donors to change the mailing address for their donations.  Make sure they know to include your account number. That number is very important now.  Any checks that come in with that account number will be designated for your fund.  They can put that account number in the memo line or on a sticky note.  Or they can also address the envelope like this:

Team Expansion

C/O Account #0000

4112 Old Routt Rd

Louisville, KY 40299

2. Your forwarding agent can continue to record donations and expenses like always for the time being. Also note any automatic payments that are coming out of the Team Expansion account that need to be addressed. You will need to move these over and cancel at a later date.

3. When you and the financial team decide the account is ready, it will need to be closed and the balance sent to Team Expansion’s International Services. At that time you will also need to send in the Quickbooks record (the financial team will assist you in doing this).

4. Any checks that come in to your forwarding agent after closing the account should not be entered or deposited.  Please forward those to the office using the above address.

Additional Information

Please read the Financial Protocol section of the guidebook for more information on the Collaborative Model.