November 2006 Stewardship Tip

It’s November – a month for gratitude and remembrance. And what better way to remember a loved one than to make a really lasting gift in his or her name? Does your parish or school have an endowment fund? If not, why not start one!

An endowment encourages and facilitates good stewardship of parish assets, providing a convenient way for parishioners to invest in the future of the parish, to provide funds for on-going maintenance of the buildings and grounds, and/or to generate scholarships for your parish school. An endowment can be funded with a fairly modest opening gift – call your diocesan Development Office for help in getting started. Resolve to add any “windfall” donations – those unexpected, large gifts which financial experts advise are best used for substantial capital expenditures rather than for operating expenses – and watch the fund grow! Does your parish tithe a percentage of the collection each week or month to some worthy charity? Add the parish endowment to the list of recipients one month a year. Pledge a percentage of the parish festival proceeds to the endowment fund. Invite the diocesan planned giving officer to give a wills seminar in your parish and then add to the endowment all bequests received by the parish, large or small. Designating the disposition of assets at the time of death is said to be the final act of a good steward. And don’t forget to add to the endowment any memorial gifts received at a funeral. Then plan to spend only a portion of the interest earned, leaving the rest to grow with the principal over time. Starting now, even with a very small endowment, can reap large rewards for your parish in years to come.

Oh, and… Have you remembered your parish in your will or trust?