Cost Share Program

How much is my cost share?

For current cost share contribution numbers, please email costshare@fcfthailand.org.

Are volunteer or project cost share contributions refundable?

Cost share contributions are not refundable.

Cost Share Program Overview

One of the most significant challenges on the field in Thailand is legal status. FCF grew out of the need for a solid legal platform for ministries and long-term volunteers serving in Thailand. While Christian ministries are welcome in Thailand, legalizing that work under a foundation is complex. What makes it even more difficult is that smaller ministries often don't have the capacity to navigate the challenging political and cultural aspects of establishing and maintaining a legal and reputable presence. It can be a costly endeavor and continues to grow more complex as Thailand pursues higher levels of international standards for foundations. This is good because it reduces corruption and helps better protect the vulnerable, but it also becomes more difficult for smaller ministries to exist. 

The cost share program is our way of covering the admin expenses that come with running this kind of legal foundation in Thailand. By sharing the administrative platform budget, we can provide a strong platform and keep expenses lower than if we each started our own foundation separately. FCF does some fundraising for the admin budget, but most of it is covered by sharing those costs among our various ministries and volunteers. Our goal is to provide quality service to each ministry by standardizing our processes to become as efficient as possible while still allowing for freedom in ministry and providing the basic accountability we all need. We all work together within our culture of trust and ministry partnership under a shared mission rather than the traditional top-down model of most organizations.

Volunteer Cost Share

Volunteer cost share is broken up into the following two categories:

Legal Services Contribution - This annual contribution correlates directly to the cost of processing documents related to your legal status in Thailand, such as your visa, work permit, invitation letters, etc. This includes legally representing you before the Immigration Bureau, the Department of Employment, the Governor’s Office, and the Department of Social Development and Welfare. This contribution helps cover the actual calculated costs of maintaining volunteer legal status in Thailand. This does not include the fees charged by the government after approval.

Ministry Support Contribution - This contribution, which can be paid monthly or annually, supports many of the other admin costs of FCF beyond maintaining your legal status in Thailand. This includes expenses like office rent, utilities, and the administrative staff salaries of the wonderful people you love and regularly interact with at the office.

When are my contributions due?

Please email costshare@fcfthailand.org or visit the office to find out when your cost share is due, and add this date to your annual calendar so you can plan ahead. Your visa and work permit with FCF will not be renewed until cost share contributions are paid in full. The simple reason for this is that it becomes difficult for us to pay our expenses if too many people are late. If you cannot pay on time because you have an emergency or need fundraising coaching, we want to help you! Please don’t wait to set up a time to come talk to us.

Legal Services Contribution

• New Volunteers - Legal services contributions are due on or before FCF orientation. This is typically within the first couple of weeks of your arrival in Thailand. 

• Existing Volunteer Annual Renewal - Legal services contributions are due before your start date anniversary. Every volunteer is assigned a “start date” by HR after arriving in the country or switching to an FCF visa in-country. If you paid on January 15th this year, your renewal is due on January 15th next year.

Ministry Support Contribution

• You have the option to make this contribution monthly or annually. In both cases, the first month’s contribution or full annual contribution is due on the same day as the legal services contribution. 

• For those who choose to pay monthly, subsequent monthly contributions are due on the same day as the previous month’s contribution. (i.e. If your start date is Jan 15th then your contributions are due Jan 15th, Feb 15th, etc.)

How do I make my volunteer cost share contribution?

*DO NOT BRING CASH TO THE OFFICE*

Transfer funds to:

Bank: Siam Commercial Bank (SCB)

Account Number: 840-207730-0

Account Name: The Family Connection Foundation มูลนิธิสานสัมพันธ์ครอบครัว

* You can also scan the QR code below using your Thai banking app.

Please send a picture of the transfer receipt to costshare@fcfthailand.org. If you don’t have a Thai bank account, you can still visit any ATM Cash Deposit machine to make the transfer. To request a transfer using any other method, please email finance@fcfthailand.org first.

Will I have to pay the higher "New Volunteer" rate if I have to start the visa & work permit process again?

New volunteers are assessed a higher cost share because the time and paperwork are substantially more than a renewal. Be sure to communicate your international travel plans with HR before leaving the country so they can help ensure you don't invalidate your visa or work permit. If you communicate with HR and there is no way to avoid losing your status, you can still pay the renewal rate upon your return. If you are gone for more than a year, you will be assessed the new volunteer rate no matter what.

How is project cost share calculated?

There is no percentage fee assessed to Project donations brought into FCF. Instead, we use a monthly Project cost share contribution. Each year we recalculate Project cost share to be as at-cost as possible. It doesn’t make sense for a small Project of 3 people to pay the same amount as a large Project of 27 so we factor in 17 measurable variables of Projects that help us land on a final number that reflects the percentage of FCF that the Project makes up such as number of staff, number of financial transactions, or whether or not they are at a branch office. Every year requires re-balancing as Projects evolve, but there typically aren’t large adjustments to be made for any given Project that would dramatically change budgets.

At the end of the year, whatever is not spent from the admin budget is rolled over into calculating cost share next year. For example, 30,000b leftover in the finance budget doesn’t mean the finance team gets a big party at The Duke’s to drain the remaining money. It stays in the general fund for the coming year, reducing the overall cost share needed. We hope to grow the fundraising piece more to reduce the burden on volunteers and Projects in the coming years. This is a challenge as a local organization in Thailand without an international presence or dedicated fundraising team for the general fund, but our leadership is pursuing leads as they become available and time permits.

In 2021, only 6.3% of our expenses went toward operating our 3 foundation administrative offices. We are committed to keeping admin costs low without compromising our high level of care for families and our impact on Thai society. Thanks to a dedicated network of volunteers for our Projects, we don’t have any fundraising expenses, enabling us to direct a high percentage of our revenue toward pursuing our mission.

How are project cost share contributions made?

Project cost share contributions are automatically transferred from local project designated funds monthly by the finance office.

What types of services do projects benefit from?

Foundation Administration - The primary role of the Chief Administrative Officer is to act as a liaison, consultant, and representative on behalf of FCF ministries. Khun Dao works as our CAO and has nearly 2 decades of knowledge and experience. You can reach her at sangdao@fcfthailand.org.

• Communicate with government agencies regarding FCF activities and vision, including hosting government officials and answering their questions about our foundation during audits at the office.

• Communicate with leaders of local communities to ensure understanding and cooperation in the places our Projects and programs serve.

• Pursue legal consultation on behalf of Projects and programs on specific topics, such as how to operate a small business under a foundation legally.

• Assist FCF team members with vehicle registrations, land registrations, and landlord negotiations.

Operations & Human Resources - The primary role of operations & HR is to manage the everyday processes that keep our foundation moving ahead and to support our volunteers & staff.  hr@fcfthailand.org.

• Provide human resource and legal services for all FCF Projects, staff, and volunteers. This includes visa & work permit services, onboarding, and training staff, as well as recruiting, onboarding, and training volunteers.

• Implement and manage technologies to assist FCF staff and volunteers in their productivity and communication, including web hosting, brand design, and communication consulting.

• Collect, translate, and submit regular volunteer reports to the Department of Social Development and Welfare.

• Serve the broader community through the sharing of useful information in regard to volunteers and foundations in Thailand.

• Lead the entire admin team in creating a high-quality annual report to submit to the government and to send to stakeholders.

Project Care - The primary role of Project Care is to provide care and support to FCF projects and people. jessemitchum@fcfthailand.org.

• Lead director meetings, community social events, and annual conferences.

• Lead the process of conflict resolution and reconciliation in partnership with the Executive Director & HR staff.

• Meet with projects on-location regularly to encourage, identify and find solutions to team or ministry problems, help with strategic planning and team development, and build community among FCF staff.

• Help find training or resources for projects and staff.

• Represent project director interests to the FCF board.

• Lead the application, onboarding, and offboarding of projects.

Social Worker & Child Protection - The primary role of our licensed social worker, Khun Jume, is to ensure FCF has a high standard of child protection. Khun Jume is also the Director of BanSanRak. If you have any questions or need to report anything related to child protection, you can contact her at jume@fcfthailand.org.

• Part of maintaining a social worker license is attending regular government training and informative meetings so Khun Jume can keep FCF updated on any changes to Thai law or policies.

• Create and enforce FCF’s child protection policy and train staff and volunteers on child protection policies and best practices.

• Respond to any child protection issues.

• Manage and advise Projects on child protection issues and specific cases.

• Advocate for all clients under FCF.

Finance - The primary role of finance is to make sure FCF meets the highest level of excellence in financial reporting, integrity, accountability, and government compliance without compromising our service. The goal is to have efficient processes that can help us keep those high standards and reduce costs yet keep the burden of work as minimal as possible for directors. Marcus leads the finance and focuses more on the broader picture of FCF finance. Khun Lume’s focus is on the detailed financial processes and daily transactions. General inquiries can be sent to finance@fcfthailand.org or you can contact them individually at marcusfey@fcfthailand.org or lume@fcfthailand.org. 

• Manage organizational cash flow, budgets, and financial reports.

• Provide timely, accurate, and complete information to the FCF executive board, auditors, Department of Revenue, and stakeholders.

• Meet the unique financial needs of all projects and programs while ensuring that all finance activities adhere to foundation policies and procedures, Thai accounting standards, and laws established by the government.

• Process payroll, which includes but is not limited to reporting salary changes, reporting and paying legally required workers’ compensation insurance, withholding and paying school loan payments, social security, and income tax.

• Review grant applications and reports to grantors that have an MOU directly with FCF. Projects are responsible for meeting the reporting requirements of their grantors.

• Fulfill funds requests, review expense reports, and keep our cloud accounting application, Aplos, up to date.

• Manage and keep 8 bank accounts and 82 active designated funds separated and updated for various directors and stakeholders to track.

• Submit annual compliance and maintain relationships in good standing with Cord Ministries, GlobalGiving, and PayPal so everyone can continue using them as resources.

• Work with accounting and financial reporting auditors to fulfill legal financial compliance requirements on a monthly and annual basis.

If you have any questions about the cost share program in general, please feel free to email our CFO, Marcus Fey, at finance@fcfthailand.org.