THE PASTOR’S ROLE

As spiritual leader of the congregation, the pastor plays a significant role in creating the vision for the endowment program and in encouraging his or her members to consider planned giving. Here are some of the things a pastor can do to help support and sustain an endowment program:

  1. Recruits an effective chair of the Ad Hoc Committee who may continue as Chair of the Permanent Endowment and Planned Giving Ministry Committee.
  2. Preacheson Biblical themes pertaining to being good stewards of one’s accumulated assets.
  3. Teaches in adult education settings the subject of responsible Christian stewardship in matters of personal financial planning and estate planning.
  4. Counselswith persons as part of your pastoral ministry on the importance of wills and estate planning, especially in conjunction with premarital counseling, preparation for baptism of children, counseling at times of health crises or at the death of a spouse, and pre-planning funeral arrangements.
  5. Refers members who would like to explore various ways of providing a legacy for the church to the Georgia United Methodist Foundation.
  6. Encouragesthe formation of a “Permanent Endowment and Planned Giving Ministry Committee” which will in turn seek to promote bequests, life incomes gifts and other planned gifts in the life of the congregation.
  7. Educatesyourself about Permanent Endowment opportunities drawing upon basic information available through the GeorgiaUnited Methodist Foundation or through The Permanent Endowment Resource Center of The General Board of Discipleship.
  8. Communicateswith church members through the various church media channels about wills and life income gifts.
  9. Prayerfully requests planned gifts from members of the congregation.
  10. Promotesas a service to the church membership and the community a wills clinic, gifts and wills workshop, estate planning seminar and/or financial planning seminar.
  11. Developsa long-range planning process with the congregation culminating in a mission statement for which major funding will be required to minister to future generations.
  12. Acknowledges personally and publicly the receiving of bequests and life income gifts to encourage others as well as to thank the donor. Donor (s) must have given their permission prior to disclosing their names.
  13. Celebrates with gratitude what faithful friends have made possible through gifts that support the ministry and mission of the church today.
  14. Evaluatesown estate plan. Prayerfully considers including the church in his/her will.
  15. Ministerspatiently and faithfully since this crucial aspect of Christian Stewardship takes time to bear fruit.

THE CHAIR’S ROLE

As the lay leader for the endowment program, the chair plays a significant role in creating the vision for the endowment program and in encouraging church members to consider planned giving. Here are some of the things the chair can do to help support and sustain an endowment program:

  1. Recruits and organizes (with the Pastor’s help) the Ad Hoc Committee. Gains a firm commitment of those who are going to participate.
  2. Attends all webinars or assigns a substitute chair.
  3. Reviews and monitors committee assignments and submits assignments to the webinar facilitator.
  4. Plans and schedules necessary committee meetings, including insuring the participation and commitment of committee members.
  5. Serves as spokesperson for the Permanent Endowment and Planned Giving Ministry Committee and coordinates communications and activities with other church organizations or groups.
  6. Reports endowment progress to the church annually and keeps church leadership informed about committee activities and issues.
  7. Representsthe committee at church functions and speaks for the committee when offered the opportunity.
  8. Prayerfully requests planned gifts from members of the congregation.
  9. Promotesthe benefits of planned giving and serves as advocate for the Legacy Ministry program.
  10. Acknowledges personally and publicly the receiving of bequests and life income gifts to encourage others as well as to thank the donor.
  11. Documentsolicitation visits with church members to summarize results and minimize duplication of effort.
  12. Celebrates with gratitude what faithful friends have made possible through gifts that support the ministry and mission of the church today.
  13. Evaluates own estate plan as consideration of a personal endowment gift.

THE PERMANENT ENDOWMENT AND PLANNED GIVINGMINISTRY COMMITTEE’S ROLE

The Permanent Endowment and Planned Giving Ministry Committee either acts as a committee of the whole for all purposes or assigns the following specific responsibilities to an individual or small sub-committee. The committee as a whole should conduct an annual evaluation.

  1. Communications:
  2. Creates primary church brochures
  3. Develops library of topical brochures
  4. Creates annual reports
  5. Maintains copies of original Permanent Endowment Fund documents, including Gift Acceptance Policies
  6. Creates newsletter articles about donors and gift opportunities
  7. Provides general information to estate planning professionals
  8. Determines method and frequency of distribution of all written materials
  9. Prepares articles about donors
  10. Prepares articles about Permanent Endowment Fund giving opportunities
  11. Determines who will respond to inquiries about the Fund
  12. Provides informational materials to be used by church office when responding to inquiries about the Permanent Endowment Fund
  1. Public Events:
  2. Develops lists of groups within the church that should be invited to special events
  3. Develops and hosts workshops on topical events
  4. Maintains a list of estate planning professionals in the community
  5. Plans annual celebrations focusing on one endowment area each year
  6. Investment:
  7. Oversees the investment of all assets described in the Fund documents
  8. Recommends investment policies to the Committee
  9. Selects and reviews investment progress of asset manager
  10. Arranges annual audit
  1. Disbursements:

a. Develops the process for distributing the income from each of the endowments

(unless specified by the donor)

b. Determines the process for requesting endowment funds

c. Determines approval process and procedure for making the disbursements

  1. Legal:
  2. Reviews basic documents in order to keep them in conformity with all laws that apply to such an endowment program and to ensure that the documents represent the best interest of the church
  3. Provides opinion to the Committee on the acceptability of any particular gift
  4. Represents the Committee to any attorney, CPA, or other estate planning professionals of a donor who is planning a specific gift
  1. Cultivation:
  2. Identifies congregational groups by age:
  3. Young Adults
  4. Middle Years
  5. Pre-Retirement
  6. Retirees
  1. Identifies congregational groups by social orientation:
  2. Singles
  3. Young Families
  4. UMW
  5. UMM
  6. Church School Classes
  7. Fellowship Groups
  1. Maintains a listing of potential donors, based on Permanent Endowment principles
  2. Recommends to the Committee those potential donors who should be cultivated
  3. Recruits those persons who should cultivate potential donors
  4. Evaluatesown estate plan as consideration of a personal endowment gift
  5. Prayerfully requests planned gifts from potential donors
  1. Donor Recognition:
  2. Recommends to the Committee the specific way(s) by which donors will be acknowledged
  3. Administers the donor recognition program
  1. Evaluation:
  2. Sets goals and analyzes progress on an annual basis.