People come together at Hope United Church of Christ

 

 to worship God.

 to promote personal and spiritual growth.

 to develop a religious community which encourages tolerance and openness of thought and accepts diversity of thought and action.

 to search for meaning in life and for understanding of ourselves through the teachings of Christ and other great teachers

 to understand the way in which all things are related to each other, and to learn how we may best serve our local community and our world community.

 to celebrate with joy the richness of ourselves and our religious community.

 

 

 

I.     Preamble. The term endowment has been defined as to enrich and to provide an income. The phrase “Endowment Fund” signifies a special resource for income and enrichment. For Hope United Church of Christ, it is a resource providing future financial stability.

 

       It is understood that special gifts and bequests should not take the place of faithful stewardship of current income, but should be made to enable the church to continue and extend its mission in the future, both here and abroad. The gifts toward which this policy is directed may include bequests in wills, charitable remainder trusts, transfers of property, life income gifts, assignments of life insurance and special or memorial gifts. Such gifts are to be encouraged, and shall be used with care and sensitivity.

 

       The purpose of this policy is to establish a regular procedure for the receipt, management and disposition of bequests and special gifts that are received by this congregation but are not part of regular church operation.

 

With the creation of this fund, the Gifts, Memorials and Bequests Fund will beabsorbed by the Hope Church Endowment Fund. Memorial gifts to the church will still be encouraged and will be placed in the Hope Church Endowment Fund in memory of the deceased.

 

II.   Definition of terms: What does this church mean by endowment? In accounting terms, an endowment is made up of monies in which the principal cannot be spent and the income from the assets shall be spent.

 

     Planned Giving. A “planned gift” is a carefully considered way of giving one’s accumulated, inherited and appreciated resources for the support and perpetuation of the church’s mission. 

 

The gift may come as a “Direct Gift”, or a “Deferred Gift”.

 

*  “Direct Gifts” are gifts that are given directly to the Endowment Fund in the form of cash, publicly traded securities, closely held securities, real estate property, tangible personal property or other property.

 

*  “Deferred Gifts” are gifts that are promised but deferred until a later date through wills (bequests), Charitable Remainder Trusts, and Charitable Gift Annuities.

 

The gift may be either “Designated” or “Undesignated”. 

 

 

 

In accepting or rejecting these gifts, the Endowment Fund Committee will follow the guidelines of the Endowment Fund Policy.

 

 

III.  Accepting or rejecting gifts: Planned gifts and memorials received in the name of Hope United Church of Christ will be directed to the Hope Church Endowment Fund unless otherwise specified by the donor.

 

A. The church encourages undesignated gifts and bequests. However, if a will, or the instructions accompanying other special gifts, designates a purpose for which a gift is to be used, the gift will be used accordingly. If the designated purpose has already been achieved or is otherwise not a practical use of the gift, the Endowment Fund Committee will bring a recommendation for action to the Church Council. If necessary, the Endowment Fund Committee will seek the advice of legal counsel. If it is not possible for the Endowment Fund Committee to negotiate a change in designation with the donor or donor’s representative, the gift may be declined.

 

B. All gifts accepted in the form of property will be converted to cash at their fair market value as soon as is practicable, except in the event the Endowment Fund Committee deems it appropriate to maintain certain property received in other than cash form. Congregational approval in accordance with Church By-laws must be obtained under such circumstances.

 

 

IV.    Amendments and modifications: The Endowment Fund may be amended or modified in accordance with the By-laws of Hope United Church of Christ. 

 

 

V.    Invading:  The church cannot borrow from the Endowment Fund. Withdrawal beyond the normal distributions described in this policy will be allowed only in extreme and overwhelming circumstances, bordering on the survival of Hope United Church of Christ. Such withdrawals must be recommended by the Council and approved by a two-thirds vote at a congregational meeting.

 

 

 VI.  Distribution in the event the church merges or becomes defunct. In the event that Hope United Church of Christ ceases to exist or plans to merge with another church, disposition or transfer of the Endowment Fund shall be used by some other charitable organization at the discretion of the congregation.

 

 

 

A. The Endowment Fund Committee is responsible for the acceptance of gifts and the allocation of funds. The Endowment Fund Committee will be established in accordance with Church By-laws.

 

1.  The Endowment Fund Committee will work cooperatively with the appropriate church committees in soliciting projects for funding and in making the determination of distributions from the fund. 

 

2.  The Endowment Fund Committee will determine the investment strategies of the assets of the fund. The Endowment Fund Committee may obtain professional advice and is authorized to use the services of a professional management agency. 

 

3.  The Endowment Fund Committee will make recommendations to the Church Council on how much money will be available on an annual basis for distribution. 

 

4.  The Endowment Fund Committee’s recommendations for use of distributions will be referred to the Church Council for approval.

 

 

VIII. Relief from liability of the Endowment Fund Committee: Each member of the Endowment Fund Committee shall be liable only for their own willful misconduct or omissions in bad faith. No member of the Endowment fund Committee shall be liable for the acts or omissions of any other member of the Committee or of any accountant, agent, counsel, or custodian selected with reasonable care. No member shall engage in any self-dealing or transactions with the fund in which the member has direct or indirect financial interest and shall at all times refrain from any conduct in which his/her personal interest would conflict the intent of the Endowment Fund.

IX.     Adoption: The Hope Church Endowment Fund policy shall be adopted by vote of the congregation in accordance with Church By-laws.

 

 

 

A. Adoption of the Endowment Fund will be voted on by the Congregation at an annual or special meeting.

 

B. A report on the Endowment Fund will be presented to the Congregation at the annual meeting.

 

C. Hope Church Endowment Funds will be audited periodically.

 

D. Publicity and Solicitation. The Endowment Fund Committee will be responsible for publicizing information about the Fund, how it is used and how members can contribute to it.

 

 

A. The original investment of $21,120 must be maintained in the Endowment Fund.

 

B. Deferred gifts cannot be considered as monies available for spending until they are actually received. Designated gifts will also not be considered as monies available for spending.

 

C. The amount available for spending per year will be calculated by taking 5% of the average value of the Fund for the previous 5 years. During the first 4 years of the Fund’s existence the calculation will be based on the value of the fund during those years. The average value will be calculated annually at December 31st, and will be available for spending during the next 12-month period.

 

D. The procedure for requesting funds will be through a grant application. Grant application forms are available from the church office. Completed applications should be submitted to the Endowment Fund Committee. Funds will be awarded based on grant application criteria. The Hope Church Mission Statement will be used as a guideline for money distribution. Specifically, the Endowment Fund Committee will be looking to see if the proposed project upholds the Mission Statement. Approved grant money must be used for the specified purpose, or returned to the Endowment Fund.

 

E.   All grant applications will be reviewed and acted upon within 60 days of submission.