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FOUNDATION NEWS Caring for the Ministry of Grace: "Ecclesia Perpetua" December 2017 | |||
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by the Church, for the Church By Kathy Vohland | ||||
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Did you realize that our church has a Foundation? And no, it is not the one under the floor downstairs. It isn’t even the one Jesus talked about in Matthew 16:18 (“… upon this rock I will build my church…”). Nope. It’s the one started at the Church Annual Meeting in January, 1995. Those members (and you may very likely have been one of them) voted on their belief that it would be prudent to start a fund, aka “Foundation,” with the funds gifted by Carl and Alice Ronnenkamp to encourage further bequests and gifts which benefit Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church and which further its religious and benevolent purposes. 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 Trust “A” (EFPT-A). The transfer occurred in January 2008. The money is invested by the ELCA 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. 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 income and/or earnings to be available to fund projects. The donation is known as the irreducible principal of the fund. The Foundation has had to weather some stormy times, not the hail and hard rain of this week, and not the kind of storm that Jesus calms in Matthew 23-27. It was the 2007 Great Recession which caused our market value to fall below our endowed principal. In times of a financial crisis the Foundation Board attempts balance the expectation of donors with the financial reality of the economy. They assume that a donor would prefer that the Foundation continue in its purpose as opposed to shutting down grants entirely. However, the Board also remembers the intent of the donor, which was to maintain the principal of their donations. Ten years ago, the Oregon Legislature passed a law allowing organizations with endowments to continue to operate in a very conservative manner even when the assets are below the endowed principal. All endowed funds are now above their endowed level. Continued on next page... | ||||
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Several years ago, the Foundation was asked to manage memorial gifts. Family members are encouraged to contact a member of the Foundation Board or a pastor to communicate any wishes they might have for the use of memorial gifts 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 might help them with some ideas. The quarterly report, included in our quarterly newsletter, include a list of “projects approved, paid and pending” during the calendar year of the report. Also included in the quarterly report are the expenses incurred by the Foundation during the course of its operations. In an effort to enhance all aspects of the Grace Lutheran Church (GLC) ministry, the Grace Lutheran Church Foundation (GLCF) Board has established policies and procedures with respect to approving funding proposals and disbursing payments. GLCF grants are primarily intended to support the ministry of GLC; the GLCF does not support normal recurring expenditures that are traditionally part of the general budget, or any other supported entities, from general funds. The complete guidelines are available online. They are also available in the church office. You can find the names of the Foundation’s Board members on page 1 of the newsletter. As of this writing, the Board is seeking another member. | |||||||||||||||||
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