Christmas Possibilites!

‘Tis the Season of Year-end giving.  You are no doubt receiving many Christmas appeals letters from charities.  Charities know that Thanksgiving and Christmas are times when we ponder our blessings and consider ways we can share with others.  It is also near the end of the tax year, so if you make your gift by December 31, you may be able to claim a charitable deduction on your income tax return.

Have you considered adding an amount to one of the many existing permanent endowment funds at the United Methodist Foundation?  Gifts of any amount can be added to funds that benefit local churches and the agencies and ministries of our Annual Conference.   Send a gift and designate it for one (or more) of your favorite Conference-related ministries:  Burlington United Methodist Family Services, GlenWood Park, Spring Heights, House of the Carpenter, Scott’s Run Settlement House, Heart and Hand House, Community Development Outreach Ministries, Ebenezer Community Outreach, Tyrand Cooperative Ministries, Upshur Parish House, West Virginia Wesleyan College, Volunteers in Mission, and the United Methodist Foundation of West Virginia, Inc.   

Your gift will be placed into that ministry’s permanent endowment trust at the United Methodist Foundation to provide perpetual resources year after year for these Christian ministries long into the future.  Consider the possibilities of an alternative Christmas gift:  make a gift to ministry in honor of a loved one instead of a traditional present.  We will notify the honoree of both your gift and the transformational impact it will have in mission.

You may also want to consider starting a separate endowment fund.  For as little as $1000, you can start an endowment fund to provide a perpetual financial resource for your local church or any United Methodist ministry.  You can designate a name for the fund, perhaps in honor or memory of a loved one.  Then you might consider which of the many planned giving arrangements might provide the best vehicle to leave a legacy gift under your circumstances.  Legacy giving transforms a one-time gift into an unending resource for ministry.

Contact Kim Matthews or me if you have questions about how to make additions to existing trusts or how to create a new perpetual endowment.  Consider the possibilities…this Christmas, and always.

Jeffrey A. Taylor

President, United Methodist Foundation of West Virginia, Inc.