GIVE

For anyone to give a one-time, immediate gift to University United Methodist Church. You will be able to specify how your gift is distributed.

Make a Single Gift

Give Weekly and Special Offerings

An offering is received each week during the worship service. Many people make a weekly gift during this time.

• An offering can be made by simply placing cash in the offering basket as it is passed among the congregation.
• Many people elect to use pre-printed custom envelopes for their offerings. These offering envelopes are numbered for each giver to ensure both confidentiality and accuracy in recording tax-deductible donations.
• Special offerings are received each year at Christmas and Easter. These are typically used for special ministries beyond the operating budget. In addition, special offerings for missions, disaster relief, and other projects also are received from time to time. Special envelopes may be provided in the bulletin or envelopes are available in the pews.
• A donation to a special project can be made by noting the name of the project on the envelope and/or on the check memo line.

Make an Annual Gift

Rather than giving weekly, or in addition to weekly giving, many choose to make annual gifts, often at the end of the year or on the anniversary of a special occasion. Many people make year-end gifts during the holiday season to benefit the church’s ministry and to receive tax credits before the end of the year.

Make a Planned Gift to Support UUMC’s Future

The UUMC Endowment Fund is all about assuring there are resources to sustain our church mission and its ministries of care and service beyond each of our lives. Your interest in supporting the church through a planned gift can make a difference in UUMC’s ability to serve our church community and reach out and serve others on behalf of Christ. An Endowment Fund is meant to be sustained perpetually in its corpus amount and its original purchasing power. Such a fund may have any number of accounts within it. The money spent annually on church ministries and projects consists of a percentage of the investment earnings of the fund.  A typical percentage spent is four percent of the value of each account within the fund. The primary purpose of endowed accounts for churches and other nonprofit organizations is to offer a means by which donors can make gifts and bequests that provide for permanent financial resources. When donors have special interests, such as youth education or the music program, or campus ministry, gifts can be earmarked to support such purposes. It is best to inquire about whether the Endowment Fund Committee will be able to accept a particular designation, however, most designations are permissible and welcomed. The proceeds of the Undesignated Account of the UUMC endowment fund are used at the discretion of the committee. It also is possible to create a Time-Limited account that will be managed by the committee as if it were an endowed account. For example, a contributor could provide a significant gift whose annual earnings only are expended for, say twenty years, and then the principal itself is to be expended.

Ways to Make a Planned Gift

There are many ways to make a planned gift: a financial commitment now that will benefit UUMC’s mission and programs in the future.

• Every adult needs a WILL, and yours should express your decisions about how your assets will be distributed to loved ones, your church, and other charities. Your will may state that your church is to receive a percentage of assets or a certain dollar amount you designate when the will is written.  A TRUST may be used for the same purpose.
• A CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITY is another way to make a future commitment. It is suitable for someone who wants annual income but doesn’t need all the assets that produce that income. The annual income percentage is guaranteed and it is attractive. Generous tax advantages make this a popular form of gift with senior citizens. To benefit the mission of UUMC through an annuity, you sign a simple document with the United Methodist Foundation of Michigan and simultaneously transfer money to create the annuity. The annuity then pays you a fixed percentage of the gift value each year during your remaining life. At your death, the money remaining in the annuity will be transferred into the endowment fund account you have identified in the document.
• You may have a whole life INSURANCE POLICY that has already served its purpose to protect you and your family members in their younger years.  A policy can easily be donated to the church. The church becomes both its owner and its beneficiary and a continuing annual gift to the church is used to pay the premiums while you live. At your death, the Endowment Fund Committee assigns the money to the endowment account you have previously selected.

Make a Memorial Gift

When a loved one dies, a donation or special pledge to the church is often an appropriate way to express your feelings to the next-of-kin and your affection for the deceased. Memorial gifts have become important sources of resources for UUMC programs and equipment for which the annual operating budgets are never adequate. UUMC is a frequent recipient of various types of memorial gifts.  Most of them are made in cash near the time of death. This is especially common when the family has recommended the church to friends. Your Endowment Fund Committee is responsible for managing this money. A number of gifts made in memory of a single person will be combined to support a project or to purchase a needed object. Special envelopes available at the church or a funeral home are convenient ways to convey information when you make memorial gifts. The next-of-kin is provided the names and addresses of memorial donors, as well as the cumulative amount of money donated following a death.  Individual gift amounts are not disclosed. Family members are frequently consulted before the Endowment Fund Committee assigns money to specific projects. The family members of a deceased person can support UUMC with their gifts too. The settlement of an estate may include a family decision regarding such giving. UUMC also receives contributions in memory of loved ones who died many years ago. The Legacy Board in the gathering space is one example. It was sponsored in part by a recent gift from the family of UUMC’s first pastor, the Reverend Wilson Tennant, who died in 1976.

Planning a Gift

Making a gift of assets to an endowment account is a decision that has financial consequences for one’s living expenses, one’s estate, and current deductions to income taxes. It is important to consult with trusted professionals for legal or financial advice when a significant contribution is being contemplated. You also may wish to schedule a confidential conversation with the UUMC church family. The Endowment Fund Committee consists of nine elected individuals, plus the pastor. Any may be consulted.

Submit a Proposal for Funding

Lay members who write proposals to request funds from the Endowment Fund Committee are typically associated with church work groups or committees whose members are committed to the success of the project being proposed. Projects that are funded are typically one-time grants and no grants are considered for permanent support. Workgroups that submit proposals normally do not already have available funding in church accounts, except perhaps as a voluntary match. Permanent support should be built into church operating budgets or by raising money through football parking revenues or other means of ongoing funding. The pastors or staff members also submit proposals from time to time for needs not covered by operating budgets. Download an application to request funds HERE