Mission Trip Financial Policy frequently asked questions?

Question: “Why is there a nightly charge to stay at Lagniappe?”

Lagniappe Presbyterian Church is very young church (started in January of 2006). We are in a leased facility and have no membership, diaconate or board of elders. Our weekly resident attendance at worship includes local individuals, many of whom are paying mortgages on homes that no longer exist. Local giving to Lagniappe is almost non-existent. In church planting terms we are a ‘seedling’. The facility which we use to house, feed and host teams is leased to our ‘seedling’ little church. We have lease payments, utility bills, insurance payments and staff/food costs that are necessary for us to keep the doors open to host teams. Most of these costs are fixed. In order for Lagniappe to be ‘open’ we must rely on the teams staying with us to help shoulder the expenses it takes for that to be a reality.

Question: “We stayed with another church last trip and they only charged half of what you are charging, why is that?”

We sincerely wish we had unlimited resources and could host everyone for free or for less than $22/day. One of the differences between Lagniappe and an established church is that most established churches have facilities and membership. There is no additional cost to using existing buildings for housing and the membership is accustomed to giving and covering expenses like utilities- that just leaves food costs. With established membership, other churches can have local volunteers cook or coordinate cooks for teams leaving the only ‘cost’ being the actual food costs themselves. We have full-time kitchen staff that do the ordering, preparation and planning for all of our meals. The logistics of our operation are much more involved than a local church hosting a youth group of 20 for the weekend. At full capacity we serve over 1,000 meals per day. That type of operation requires staff beyond what would be considered ‘normal’ in any church context. Lagniappe DOES OFFER free room/board to teams or team members who will come and specifically work at our facility for their time at Lagniappe. Service in this area is desperately needed and deeply appreciated. It is a great way for ‘unskilled’ volunteers to use skills other than construction to help facilitate this mission.

Question: “We are bringing youth who cannot afford the $22 per day, can we get a discount?”

Please consider the above explanations and understand that we cannot. The $20 does not cover all the costs as it is. We presently have to raise funds outside of the per diem cost to stay open and fully staffed. We would ask that churches and other organizations raise funds locally to cover the cost. Asking Lagniappe to ‘scholarship’ individuals is like asking the poorest member of your family for a loan. Very simply, we don’t have it to give.

Question: “If we can’t raise the money, should we just cancel?”

As odd as it may sound, no. We believe in grace. If, after exhausting all other avenues of funding, you just can’t get the funds, don’t cancel, just come. We don’t want money to stop you from coming. God will provide for our needs. He has done so in abundant ways already. Please let us know that what you can provide and you won’t hear another word about it from us. We mean it. We simply ask that teams pursue all of their local resources before asking Lagniappe to host them at a reduced rate rather than full cost.

Question: "When is the deposit due and why is the deposit NON-REFUNDABLE? Why do we have to pay the full balance of our trip 30 days prior to our arrival?"

Your deposit is due 15 days after a tentative date is reserved with Lagniappe. Your trip, reservations, beds and meals ARE NOT reserved until you pay the deposit of $50/person. (If your balance due for the trip is less than $50/person then the full balance is due upon booking.)
It is the team leader's responsibility to make payment for the entire team within that 15 day period. If the deposit is not paid within 15 days your trip IS NOT held. Beds and space will be given to another team who is able to make a complete reservation. We cannot overstress this point: You DO NOT HAVE a reservation if we do not have a deposit and a copy of the faxed checklist which is completed through STEP 3, it is that simple.
Lagniappe Presbyterian Church operates on a VERY TIGHT budget with no margin and no annual reserves. We have hired full-time kitchen staff, full-time staff to assess work, to order materials, to lead teams and to do the administrative leg work necessary for permits and resources.

When we 'schedule' a team, wheels go in motion. Beds are reserved. Numbers are given to the kitchen and, most importantly, 2 things happen concurrently: teams are turned away and homeowners are notified that we'll have teams to help.
WE DON'T WANT TEAMS TO CANCEL! We want you to come, but if you don't, LPC's long-term viability is put in jeopardy because of the infrastructure decisions we made based on your team's commitment to come. The deposit offsets those financial decisions prior to 30 days out.
Your full balance is due 30 days prior to arrival because we are purchasing and/or committing to purchase food & supplies PRIOR to your arrival. Those commitments must be made in advance and orders must be placed for supplies. Additionally, we want the registration and check-in process to be as administratively easy as possible. We cannot process payments securely at every random check-in time. Your payment in advance simplifies registration and confirms your final numbers.

Keep in mind- if you reserve 45 beds and 40 people drop out 38 days prior to arrival, you ONLY lose the deposit on the 40 who cancelled. Prior to 30 days out only your deposit is jeopardized and there is no further obligation if you cancel. However, if 40 people cancel one week prior to arrival, those funds are not refundable. Keep in mind you will have already paid the full trip price for all of them (a $50 deposit 15 days after booking and the remaining balance 30 days prior to arrival.) Please understand, we have turned away other teams and planned for your time with us. We'd rather have you come but if you cancel, within 30 days, we will not refund any monies. Please don't ask us to do so. We make NO exceptions to this policy. NONE. As you can imagine the more accurate your numbers are at reservation time, the less problems there are regarding cancellations if that becomes necessary.

NOTE: After you have paid your deposit and given us your numbers (including male/female ratio, etc.) you CAN transfer any monies or deposits to new team members of the same gender for that same week AT ANY TIME right up to check-in. We reserve beds in gender-specific bunkhouses so it is immaterial to us whether bed #22 in bunkhouse 1 is occupied by ‘Sally’ or ‘Suzy’. What is important to us is the gender consistency in your numbers. Bear in mind, we will still need waivers, etc. from the 'new' team member and the chaperone ratio of 1 to 6 still applies. Please consider adding a team member of the same gender when one drops out before you give up the bed for which you have already paid!

Final word: this may seem like 'overkill' to you at first glance, but we have had teams of 50 drop to 5 and inform us 'from the road' on the way to Lagniappe 2 hours out. We had dinner prepared and waiting for them. We had homeowners hoping that work would be done. The stories are endless and there have been thousands of dollars worth of cancellations with no one left to absorb the cost other than Lagniappe. The policy is in place to protect the long-term viability of this ministry. We hope and expect that you will understand and honor this policy by not asking for any exceptions to it.