Support level is the amount of designated support as a percentage of fielding cost that is, the amount necessary to field a missionary, including allowance, housing and benefits. If a missionarys fielding cost is $15,000 and the amount of support received for that missionary is $10,000, that missionarys support level is 67 percent.
This does not mean that the missionary receives 67 percent of their allowance however. Other factors are involved. One of them is the fact that approximately 40 to 50 percent of fielding cost pays for things other than allowance, such as health insurance and housing. Another factor is that allowances are augmented by the General Fund and General Missionary Support Fund. Wouldnt it be wonderful if all of our missionaries were supported at the 100 percent level?
Here is how it looked in 2006:
The table below indicates that nine of our missionary units were fully supported for the year. This is a bit of a surprise since on any given month there are typically about 17 missionary units fully supported.
Support Level Missionary Units
0 to 49% 23
50 to 99%20
100% or more9
Total 52
Each year we categorize our expenses according to purpose: they are either program or administrative expenses. This table below shows that missionaries whose task is administrative in nature are supported at a lower level than those who are involved in program activities.
Functional Category
Program60%
Administrative44%
Years of service appears to be a major factor in support levels. The table below shows support levels based on terms of service. A term of service is usually 4 years.
Years of Service
First term31%
Second Term59%
More than 2 terms70%
Thank you for your partnership and for your concern for the support of our missionary family. If you are interested in supporting a particular missionary, maybe one not yet fully supported, please give us a call.