The Timothy Group

Makin' a List, Checkin' It Twice

I recently went through an interesting process with my mother. She was doing some estate planning and wondered what would be the best way to choose which organizations she should include in her charitable giving. My mother is a faithful believer who is very interested in being a good steward of the resources the Lord has given her.

We began by making a list of all the ministries that she wanted to help. First on her list was her local church, and then several mission agencies followed by some Christian colleges, radio ministries, and social service organizations.

Eighteen different ministries made the list. At first, we thought about just giving them all an equal percentage, but that didn't seem quite right. Because she had more interest in some ministries than others, we decided on a plan to weigh the distribution.

How to Give? Let's Count the Ways!

Gold, frankincense, and myrrh ... two mites ... five loaves and two fishes ... an alabaster jar of expensive perfume ... and a new, unused tomb. All these sacrificial gifts were given in spiritual acts of worship for the glory of God.

God loves cheerful givers and wants His children to excel in the grace of giving. There are many special ways to give. Good financial planning honors God and may allow donors to make larger gifts by avoiding unnecessary taxes.

As a part of your fund raising strategy, you should promote these giving options in your newsletter to encourage your donors with ideas on how they can partner with you.

How Do I Grow My Endowment (Foundation)?

At a CCI Sectional meeting, I asked camp directors at a workshop I was leading on planned giving, how many camps had an endowment fund. Not many did. Roger Camerer of Trout Lake Camp (MN) typified the response when he said, "All our past fund raising efforts have been targeted at current needs." The response confirmed information published by CCI that many camps and conference centers do not have an endowment or foundation today. I predict that in the next few years many camps will begin endowment funds and more will seek to grow their endowment. But how do you do this when there are so many other things that vie for your attention?

You might allocate certain types of current gifts for endowment. Bequest and memorial gifts are logical types of gifts to use for endowment. Both of them are once-in-a-lifetime kinds of gifts and donor family members might reasonably expect that you would do more than consume them in the year in which they become available. In fact, preserving them in this way might encourage family members to subsequently add to the gift to preserve the memory of their loved one.