Grace Lutheran Church Foundation

The Grace Lutheran Church Foundation (GLCF) was inaugurated on January 22, 1995 at the annual meeting of the Congregation of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church (GELC). Initial funding for the Foundation was graciously provided primarily by the estate of Alice and Carl Ronnenkamp. The Foundation was created to encourage gifts to the ministry of Grace Church that would include cash, real estate, living trusts, stocks, bonds, collectibles and other assets. It is dedicated to preserving long-term assets (principal) as an irreducible fund and to invest them to support projects that will have a long-term effect on Grace's ministry. The Foundation is also able to accept gifts of shorter-term assets for special projects that are intended to earn interest and/or be spent entirely for church-related projects.

The Foundation's Articles of Incorporation specify that Foundation cash assets must be invested through a bank trust department licensed to do business in Oregon. Initially, the Foundation selected Union Bank of California to manage the money in the Foundation. In 2007 the Foundation felt it was time to select a new financial institution. The Board selected the ELCA Endowment Fund Pool Fund "A" (EFPT-A). The transfer occurred in January 2008. The money is invested in a variety of mutual funds, bonds and cash to optimize growth. A small amount is kept in cash accounts at a local bank to facilitate distribution of money.

Not at this time.

The Foundation's money is divided up into various funds. These funds have specific programs they support. There are endowed funds and non-endowed funds.

An endowment is a donation in which the donor's instructions state that they wish their donation to remain intact, with only earnings (income and/or interest) to be available to fund projects. The donation is known as the irreducible principal of the fund.

The Foundation Board attempts to balance the expectations of donors. They assume that a donor would prefer that the Foundation continue in its purpose as opposed to shutting down grants. However, the Board also remembers the intent of the donor which was to maintain the principal of their donation(s). In 2007, the Oregon Legislature passed a law allowing organizations with endowments to continue to operate even when the assets are below the endowed principal.

A donation made in memory or in honor of someone goes into the Memorial Fund. Family members are notified of all donations made in a loved one's name.

Family members are encouraged to contact a member of the Foundation Board to communicate any wishes they might have for the use of memorial monies made in their loved one's name. When a family member makes a specific request, the Board makes every effort to honor that request. If the family has no specific recommendations for memorial monies, the Board makes decisions on appropriate projects to support with memorial monies.