Make financial support simple and grow your partner team

The Partner Account for Individuals is for those who are:

• working in Christian work 21 hours a week or more or,
• undertaking on a one-two year ministry trainee programme, church internship, or similar, or
• undertaking a course of study at a recognised UK Bible College for at least one academic year to be equipped for Christian work, to be equipped to serve as an effective leader or volunteer in a church setting or to influence your workplace or society with the Christian faith

And rely wholly or partly on support. Find out about our eligibility criteria. 

As a Christian worker or Bible College student, we will assess whether your work or study and circumstances have charitable purpose. Any funds given to you from a Partner Account are charitable funds given for your living costs or personal ministry expenses, or course fees, to support you to carry out the Christian work or study we have assessed. They cannot be used for any other purposes, for example, employing others, charity project costs, building projects, etc.

Most people can set up support to you easily.

There are restrictions around close relatives giving to the support of individuals. 

Individuals overseas can only give by card.

UK church, charities, trusts or companies can also give for your support, unless you work or volunteer for them.  To set up their giving, churches and charities can open a Giving Account for Churches and Charities. Companies can open an account here. 

There is a 3.5% fee on most gifts to Stewardship. To give an example, for a gift of £100 we claim £25 Gift Aid. The 3.5% fee is applied to the £125 so the support you receive is £120.63. If the gift is made without Gift Aid we charge a fee of 3% and you would receive support of £97. Find out more about our Giving Account fees. 

A Partner Account for Individuals has to be in the name of one person who we assess as being eligible to receive charitable funds from us. If you are married, we take this into account when calculating the amount you can receive from us per year. You can also add your spouse as an additional user and in your preferred name, which is the name your supporters will see on your online profile page and support form. Funds you receive are for your support as a household and can be apportioned between you for tax purposes.

If you are a Christian Worker, our understanding and interpretation of tax law is that payments you receive from Stewardship would be subject to UK income tax because of your vocation. We recommend that you seek appropriate professional advice from a tax adviser or HMRC.

If you receive support from Stewardship as a full-time student at a UK Bible college we regard our grants, funded by your supporters, as a bursary for your studies and our understanding is that these grants will not usually be subject to UK income tax. Again, we recommend speaking to a tax adviser or to HMRC.

However, it is your responsibility to ensure you are paying any necessary tax or national insurance. If you are in any doubt about your own personal position in relation to funds you receive from Stewardship, we recommend that you seek appropriate professional advice from a tax adviser.

As a general rule, we can open an account two months prior to commencement of your ministry/study but it can be longer in cases of long term service.

If you already have a Partner Account for Individuals, or if your support is received into a Partner Account for a Church or Charity, you are able to join our Support Raising Training. 

We also offer our free Support Raising Surgery to support those who have completed the training as they continue on their Support Raising journey.