The Honoring Power of Endowments
Carol wanted to establish an endowment fund to honor her mother who had recently passed away. Her mother had a passion for missions so it was fitting that the endowment would support the work of the church’s mission team.
It would be difficult to find a better way to honor someone than to establish a named endowment fund. Such an endowment fund carries the honoree’s name far into the future as it benefits a worthy cause through annual gifts.
Every time the fund is mentioned, the memory of Carol’s mother will be acknowledged and honored. Grandchildren and great-grandchildren will identify with the endowment and have a sense of what was important to their grandmother or great-grandmother. Perhaps they will be inspired to establish an endowment fund to honor their mother.
The endowment fund bearing her mother’s name will produce a certain amount of income each year to support local and global missions.
Of course an endowment could be established to fund any ministry or program. An endowment fund preserves the principal and provides annual payments to the ministry forever. It is a witness to the foresight and commitment of the person establishing the endowment. An endowment honoring your parents or another person or persons can be established now with current gifts of cash, securities, or real estate, or created later through a bequest or planned gift.
Many establish charitable gift annuities to ultimately fund their named endowment fund. They will receive fixed payments for one or two lives based upon their age. The older you are, the greater the payments. There are also some nice tax benefits. It is really a win-win arrangement. The donor receives benefits for life, and the ministry receives benefits forever.
To learn more about establishing an endowment fund at the Foundation to benefit any ministry in the Oklahoma Conference, please contact David Battles, CPA, at 800-259-6863 or dbattles@okumf.org. Your action today will make a significant difference in the work carried on by future generations.