Presbyterian Foundation Annual Report

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2011 Annual Report

2011 Annual Report 6-5-12 11-12704.indd 1 6/6/12 9:11 AM

A vital part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),

the Foundation cultivates, attracts and manages

financial resources of individuals and institutions

to serve Christ’s mission.


3Bringing people and mission together. Listen. Learn. Do.

2011 has been a year of both reflection and action for the Presbyterian Foundation. In an effort to embrace our own identity and purpose within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), we’ve spent much of the year collaborating with donors and ministries, listening to them and working to develop solutions that better fit their ministry needs.

As I’ve talked with pastors and elders, mid-council and seminary leaders and para church ministry leaders across the country, what I’ve heard again and again is that these ministries need tools that fit the ways people give today—online giving, donor-advised funds, recurring electronic funds transfers, giving through social networks, and finding ways to accept gifts of non-traditional assets. Tools like these make giving easier for donors and the ministries they intend to benefit.

Unfortunately, ministries that recognized the need for these services also saw significant barriers to their implementation—complicated systems, high maintenance requirements and even higher costs.

This is where the Foundation can help.

We’ve spent the last year putting these kinds of tools and systems in place so that congregations and ministries of every size can access and use them. We’ve introduced our Creative Gift Fund, a donor-advised fund that provides an unprecedented amount of flexibility for donors and their families. We have also broken ground on our Presbyterian Community website, an online resource that simplifies the giving process for both donors and ministries.

Finally, the Foundation has listened to donors and beneficiaries who have expressed a desire to see better investment performance. In 2011, we partnered with two world-class investment firms to provide the potential for the best performance and robust reporting for the funds that we steward.

Through our commitment to those we serve, the Presbyterian Foundation will continue to expand and refine our services in 2012 and beyond. I look forward to carrying on this important work, finding more ways to connect passionate people with the missions and ministries they care about.

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Dr. Thomas F. Taylor President & CEO

Letter from the President

As Presbyterians, we all want the best

stewardship of the resources we have to

advance Christ’s mission.


42011 Presbyterian Foundation Annual ReportListen. Learn. Do.

What is the Foundation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Bequeathing That Which Has Been Bequeathed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

One Fund, Three Schools, and a Big Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

A Flexible, Efficient Way To Give . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

A New Kind of Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Foundation Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Foundation Staff and Board of Trustees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Table of Contents

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a

new creation: everything old has

passed away; see, everything has

become new!

2 Corinthians 5:17



The Presbyterian Foundation was established by the 1799 General Assembly to solicit from individuals and congregations, “pious donations and bequests in order to supply the funds which are absolutely necessary to carry on with advantage the great and charitable work” of the Church. For more than two centuries, the Foundation has carried out that charge by raising, safeguarding, and distributing funds for Christian mission and ministry.

The Foundation provides a unique combination of financial planning expertise and strong Presbyterian values to help ministries and individual donors alike utilize their resources, connect with mission efforts worldwide, and be faithful stewards of God’s provision. Through a diverse set of services, ranging from permanent endowments and charitable gift annuities to donor-advised funds and online giving services, the Foundation offers knowledge and experience to ensure the Church has the resources it needs for mission today, tomorrow, and 200 years from now.

Whether the mission you want to support is within your own congregation or on the other side of the world, the Presbyterian Foundation can help you realize your charitable goals.

Endowment Funds Support Numerous Ministries and Mission Efforts

The Foundation provides a unique

combination of financial planning

expertise and strong Presbyterian

values to help both ministries

and individual donors utilize their

resources, accomplish their mission,

and become faithful stewards of

Christ’s church.

What is the Foundation?

42%Congregations

41%General Assembly Entities and Mid Councils

4%Family Services, Senior-Care Facilities & Social Services

5%Other Validated Missions

8%Education, including

Theological Education



The James and Melva Costen Story:

Bequeathing That Which Has Been Bequeathed

Dr. Melva Costen, widow of the late Rev. Dr. James Costen, spoke recently about charitable bequests. Though her husband passed away in 2003, she strongly maintains that her story is actually their story – her words their words.

“The whole matter of bequests has to start somewhere—especially in the black community, where we have been most often the recipients of bequests,” said Costen. “It was our decision at the beginning of our marriage to continue that by becoming the bequeathers.”

James and Melva Costen serve as an example to us all of what it means to be a committed Presbyterian. James Costen was the fifth president of the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) and the 1982 moderator of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. Melva Costen is an icon in church music and worship and retired in 2005 from her position with ITC as the Helmar Emil Nielsen Professor of Music and Worship.

Melva and James Costen met and fell in love at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Not long into their marriage, James Costen was called to start a new multi-racial church in Atlanta—in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement.

“It took off by leaps and bounds. We were getting people from the North who heard about what we were doing and joined our church,” said Costen. When it came time to name the

church, they decided on the Church of the Master, named after a church of the same name in New York that was, in the words of James Costen ‘doing ministry like it should be happening here, too.’”

“Not long after that, we had a Presbyterian Foundation person who worked in this synod, and he came to our house and began talking to Jim about wills and bequests,” remembered Costen. “My husband said, ‘You are just the right person I need to talk to.’”

The couple decided that as they began to earn their living, they wanted to do something more with that money—to show their appreciation for all that God had done for them and to ensure that it would continue to be of service after they both were gone.

“It is not coincidental that our Presbyterian denominational legacy as African Americans is based on the fact that we respect our heritage as recipients of a solid foundation of educational preparation. I am a fourth generation Presbyterian and a fourth generation recipient of Presbyterian educational foundations, with my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and their siblings also graduates of Presbyterian education. Our bequeathing urgency is about responding to God’s grace through educational institutions.”

They set aside a portion to go to their family, but the majority has been designated to continue the ministry of the organizations that both Costens have helped to build and support during their lives.

“I remember that, once upon a time, the Foundation had these itinerant people who would come and talk to congregations,” remembered Costen. “There used to be a time when blacks couldn’t go to a nice restaurant, so we would have them for dinner—cooking and talking about these gifts.” It was around the kitchen table that much of this conversation of leaving a legacy took root.

“Charitable bequests are just so basic to my lifestyle, to our lifestyle,” said Costen. “Any money that I have, the kids will have a portion,” she continued. “But a larger percentage of what we have accumulated will be going to the things that we care about—as long as I’m in the business of giving.”

According to Costen, this ‘bequeathing’ is something that needs to be taught in order to be internalized. “It has to start somewhere—and if it can start in the congregation, that’s a good place for it to begin,” she said. Costen suggests it’s a matter of asking oneself, “What can I do with what God has given me to facilitate the ongoing life—not just of one person, but of others?”

Though the couple rarely mentioned it, they both came from roots of poverty. “I didn’t talk about being poor because I didn’t know what it was,” shared Costen. But growing up Presbyterian, Costen knew that, even in pre-civil rights South Carolina, she was going to get an education. “With that education, you can do whatever God wants you to do. That was the Presbyterian ethos on which we grew,” she remembered.

“We have been helped so that we can help others. It has been part of our lifestyle,” said Costen. “Being Presbyterian meant that you did not have to die poor—even if you had an education, you would be rich in being able to help others.”

”The basic foundation of our story is that we were bequeathed because of our Presbyterian heritage—a gift of God’s grace,” said Costen.

“Whenever Jim would get up to preach or to speak, that is how he would start: by saying, ‘By God’s grace, let me tell you the story of our lives...’”

It is that grace that brought James and Melva Costen together, that sustained their life together, and that will continue on through their shared legacy of ‘bequeathing.’

“My husband said to me, ‘Meeting

you here and marrying you was

God-given—so let’s work together

and see how we can keep alive

these institutions.’”


“We have been helped so that we can help others. It has been part of our lifestyle,” said Costen. “Being Presbyterian meant that you did not have to die poor—even if you had an education, you would be rich in being able to help others.”



Mission in Ethiopia: One Fund, Three Schools, and a Big ImpactIn Ethiopia, the Christian church is growing at an almost staggering rate. The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY), one of the country’s national evangelical churches, has grown from 20,000 to nearly 5 million members over the past 40 years.

And in the midst of those big numbers, a small group of Presbyterians is making an impact within the EECMY’s Western Wollega Bethel Synod.

The EEEF has as its focus three schools: Berhane Yesus Elementary School (BYES), Bethel Evangelical Secondary School (BESS), and Gidada Bible School.

In 1918, Dr. Thomas Lambie, a Presbyterian medical missionary, established the elementary school that has become Berhane Yesus Elementary School. Dr. Lambie, who had been working in Southern Sudan, was invited by the governor for the Wollega area to come into Ethiopia to treat military personnel who had been affected by the flu epidemic. He agreed if he could establish a hospital, and could educate and evangelize in the area. The governor’s

positive response was the seed that planted the Presbyterian educational connection in the Dembi Dollo region of western Ethiopia. Today BYES has approximately 600 students in first through eighth grades.

In the late 1960s, the town elders asked the Presbyterian Church to fund a local secondary school to provide university-preparatory education. Bethel Evangelical Secondary School (BESS) was built and is now home to approximately 500 students in the ninth through 12th grades. Of the graduates of BESS over the years, 95 percent or more of the 12th grade students proceed to university studies. That is in contrast to the local government school in Dembi Dollo (6000 students), where only 30 percent of twelfth grade students continue on to university studies. Since its founding in 1968, BESS has been a premier source of higher-educated Ethiopians.

The Gidada Bible School, also in Dembi Dollo, prepares evangelists and pre-seminary students for service to the Western Wollega Bethel Synod. In the mid 1900s a blind Ethiopian Evangelist, Gidada Solon, for whom the school is named, traveled throughout western Ethiopia teaching, preaching, and planting churches. Gidada Bible School is a two-year adult school of 45 total students.

A Partnership was Born

Due to the radical political shifts within Ethiopia from the early 1970s to the 1990s, the funding and the future of these three schools became more and more challenging. “We have been in partnership with the three schools since that time,” explained David Reed, M.D. Dr. Reed, born in the Sudan of missionary parents, has shared the leadership of the EEEF with Dr. JoAnn Griffith, who was a faithful missionary teacher at BESS for over 30 years. “We don’t have any official responsibilities for the fund – our focus is to promote the endowment fund and to strengthen relationships in Christian fellowship.”

The fund supplies approximately $20,000 per year, divided among the three schools, as supplemental funding for their operating expenses. Reed says, “We also work to enlist volunteers, such as commissioning English speaking teachers for the elementary and secondary schools.

The schools have occasionally proposed projects to our EEEF Development Committee for consideration, fundraising, and participation. These have included a women’s dormitory (2006), an institutional kitchen building (2008), and the refurbishing of the classrooms of the schools (2010).

The EEEF Development Committee is a small group supplemented by project volunteers who undergo life-changing experiences by visiting and working in partnership with our Christian friends in Dembi Dollo.

The Endowment Fund is supported primarily by individual contributions and a few congregations. As private schools where even the poorest students may apply, these schools rely heavily on low tuition, scholarship donations and the endowment fund proceeds. It is this fund that has supplied a vehicle for those who have a heart for Christian education to support the ongoing work and ministry of the three schools. While the fund furnishes only supplemental income for the schools, without it they would not have sufficient resources to continue providing excellent quality Christian education for southwestern Ethiopia.

“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.”

– Nelson Mandella

In 2003 this small group of

Presbyterians, concerned about the

quality and availability of Christian

education in the Dembi Dollo area,

came together to create the Ethiopia

Education Endowment Fund (EEEF)

through the Presbyterian Foundation.

This fund provides a vehicle for

individual contributions to support

these educational efforts.


“Our primary focus for the endowment fund is to sustain the work of the schools—that covers pretty much every age from first grade to twelfth. Secondarily, we focus on adult training for church workers.”Photo by Bruce Whearty



Donor-Advised Funds:

A Flexible, Efficient Way To Give.For John and Marcia Porter, lifelong Presbyterians who have been married 45 years, giving is simply a way of life.

“For pretty much all of our lives, the charitable causes we have given to were associated with the mission program of our local congregation and presbytery,” shared John. “That is one reason that we have really appreciated being able to use the Creative Gift Fund: the donor-advised fund of the Presbyterian Foundation.”

A donor-advised fund is a flexible, creative way to give to multiple missions or causes within a single, centralized fund.

Before using the Creative Gift Fund, the Porters would typically make stock gifts to their church—First Presbyterian in Kingsport, Tennessee—and make cash donations for smaller gifts. But the streamlined approach of the Creative Gift Fund has made both record-keeping and tax time much easier for the couple.

The gifts given through a Creative Gift Fund are not limited to Presbyterian causes, but can benefit many different organizations. The Porters are using their fund to support the First Presbyterian Church of Kingsport, the local United Way, the YMCA, the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Kingsport, Grandfather Home for Children, Agnes Scott College, and King College.

“Our gifts are mainly to institutions and to programs that we have actively worked in and continue to support,” said John.

Because the Porters both have financial backgrounds, they can really appreciate the benefits and flexibility of a donor-advised fund.

During her career, Marcia often advised clients about the timing of contributions, including tax efficient strategies. “After we set up our Creative Gift Fund, we were able to transfer gifts from appreciated securities to the fund at any time.” Marcia said. “That allowed us to employ market timing in making our gifts.”

The couple also chose to make their most significant gifts into the fund before their retirement.

“We were both ending our careers and entering retirement, so the tax benefits from our assets were greatest when we had the most income,” Marcia said.

However, by giving to the fund rather than directly to a charity, Marcia and John were able to take as much time as they wanted to make decisions about distributing their gifts.

“That allowed the assets in our fund to grow in the investment portfolios of the fund.”

It is this flexibility in timing that has been most advantageous to the Porters. Prior to using the fund, the Porters had to distribute money at the same time that it was being donated, which is not always ideal.

“We really appreciate that we can make equity allocation decisions for assets in our account when we think that a change is warranted,” said Marcia.

“I feel that John and I have been given so much. We have been blessed and we have a responsibility to go forth and share that,” said Marcia.

John agreed. “As we grow older and are confronted with opportunities where we think we can help, we have seen more and perhaps have a broader perspective on what the needs are in the world,” he said. “‘To whom much is given, much is required’—that’s scripture.” (Luke 12:48)

For the Porters, the Creative Gift Fund has connected their lifelong commitment to giving with their financial knowledge of the best ways to implement their generosity.

“All of this is just such a gift—the way we see our lives, the blessings in them—we want to give some of that back.”

“When we began using the donor-

advised fund, our giving became

a lot easier. We could make one

gift to the fund, then direct it to

different causes out of that fund.”


As we grow older and are confronted with opportunities where we think we can help, we have seen more and perhaps have a broader perspective on what the needs are in the world.



A New Kind of Ministry

Even though they had a very small congregation, Pilgrimage Presbyterian was, by all accounts, a successful ministry in metro Atlanta. However, the congregation began to feel called to a new and different kind of ministry.

The congregation knew that they were not going to grow as they had hoped. They realized that God could use the proceeds from their church’s property to be used across greater Atlanta and around the world.

“Certainly, they were some of the most interesting years I have had in ministry,” recalls Rev. Greg McMinn, who was pastoring at Pilgrimage Presbyterian when they made their transformational decisions. “We went from being a congregation that was really struggling to find its way, to a congregation that, in many ways, found its purpose through actually dissolving the church and voting to sell the property.”

God’s future for Pilgrimage Presbyterian wasn’t clear to the congregation at first. “We were certainly a long way away from really having trouble in terms of financial difficulty,” said McMinn. “But when the church was originally formed, it was a neighborhood church. A lot of the members could walk to the church on Sunday morning. Over time, there were no members in

the immediate neighborhood anymore. We could tell that the area was changing, and we simply weren’t equipped to do the kind of ministry that was needed in the neighborhood.”

Through meeting with the presbytery and the Foundation, and through time of prayer, the congregation discovered that even though they were transitioning from being a congregation, God wasn’t finished with their mission.

McMinn recalls the difficult emotions many members of the congregation were going through during the process. “At first, we had a few people that felt like dissolving our congregation would be the ‘death’ of the church…that we had failed somehow,” McMinn said. “But the fact was, our ministry wasn’t ending. It was going to take on a completely different form—a rebirth, and a new life that may be unrecognizable to what we had done before—but our ministry was far from over.”

The new mission of Pilgrimage Presbyterian was an incredible success. Their first gift went to the two churches which most of the former congregation had chosen to join. They designated the money to be used for community outreach and the creation of a new gathering space, with a smaller portion to be used at the discretion of the congregations.

Next, the Pilgrimage Fund was established at the Foundation to support a mission worker, Judy Moore-Padgett, who was a member of Pilgrimage Presbyterian Church. After her service ends, the fund will be used for Church Transformation and Revitalization within the presbytery.

A third use of the assets was rather unique, but speaks to the hearts of the members of Pilgrimage Presbyterian Church. They provided the presbytery with the funds to purchase

defibrillator units for a number of churches in the area.

“We had a longtime church member—a Sunday school teacher and elder—who passed away of a sudden heart attack during a church workday,” explained McMinn. “The fact that we could, through this new ministry, provide something that might help someone in a similar situation was just amazing. The congregation and the session really responded to that.”

McMinn said that working with the Presbyterian Foundation helped the Church find focus and build confidence in their new calling.

“If the congregation had felt that somebody else would decide where those funds went, I think we would have dug in our heels and stayed there, maybe until it was too late to make the impact we have.”

First Corinthians 12:12 says, “We are the body of Christ together and each is given important gifts for the common good.” Through their journey, the congregation of Pilgrimage Presbyterian saw that lesson first hand, learning that God can multiply our faith to continue to do wonderful things.

“Knowing that our funds would

always be there—and that they

would always be used for the

purpose we designated—was really

important to us.”



Creative Gift Fund

Our most flexible giving option, a Creative Gift Fund is a donor-advised fund for individuals who want to give whenever they like, in whatever amount they like, and to whatever ministries or missions they like. It’s a great option for families to gain a charitable tax benefit now, and disperse their funds to several organizations over time.

Ministry Partnership Fund

Simply put, a Ministry Partnership Fund allows ministries to accept charitable gifts via the web. This flexible, easy-to-manage fund can also increase gift size, simplify back-end bookkeeping, and reduce stress for both donors and ministries alike.

Project Re-Generation

Project Re-Generation is a unique consultative service, led by experienced and unbiased financial specialists, that helps congregations find meaningful and sustainable ways to create their ministry’s legacy.

Endowments

Trusted by thousands of Presbyterians and ministries for more than 200 years, our Endowment Funds are designed to preserve your passion and create a legacy of goodwill, providing meaningful support for generations to come.

Gift Plans

Whether you want to support your ministry today, tomorrow, or for hundreds of years into the future, the Presbyterian Foundation offers unrivaled expertise in charitable gift plans such as trusts, gift annuities, and pooled income funds. Many plans also provide you or a loved one with lifetime income.

Wills & Bequests

Through estate planning, the Foundation can help you map out a future that takes both your loved ones and your church into account—a plan that reflects your life, your values and your faith.

Trust Services

As part of our work to bring mission and people together, we established our subsidiary, New Covenant Trust Company, N.A., a team for trust services, which offers a full suite of consultative financial management services. We act as loyal stewards for Christ’s mission on your behalf.

How can the Foundation help?

At the Presbyterian Foundation,

helping you support the ministries

and missions you care about is what

we do. No matter your charitable

goals, we have the tools, services, and

expert guidance you need to be the

best steward of your resources.

Foundation Services



Stephen [email protected]

Olanda CarrNorth [email protected]

Eric [email protected]

Ann [email protected]

Robert [email protected]

Lisa [email protected]

Mary “Minner” [email protected]

John [email protected]

Paul GrierSouth [email protected]

Elizabeth “Lee” [email protected]

Ann [email protected]

Ministry Relations Officers

Institutional Services Officers

Located across the country, our

Ministry Relations Officers are talented

financial consultants who collaborate

with Presbyterian pastors and other

ministry leaders, working together

to assess the giving health of their

congregation and develop fundraising

solutions tailored to their needs.

The Foundation’s Institutional Services Team helps

congregations who are addressing special opportunities

and unique needs. The team works in collaboration with

the Ministry Relations Officers to assist congregations as

they seek to maintain healthy and

vibrant worshipping communities.



2011 Foundation Trustees

Senior Staff

Tom TaylorPresident & CEO

Greg RousosExecutive Vice President & COO

Rob BullockVice President, Marketing & Communications

Tim ClarkSenior Vice President & COO, New Covenant Trust Company

Anita ClemonsVice President, Investment Relationship Officer

Angela DuffySenior Vice President, General Counsel

Vanessa ElkinVice President, Director of Operations

Kevin GarveyChief Ministry Relations Officer

Paul GrierVice President, Institutional Services

Debbie HaagSenior Vice President, Director of Human Resources

Doug McArthur, Centennial, CO, Chair David A. Davis, Princeton, NJ, Vice Chair Harry E. Bartel, Forth Worth, TX Steven Bass, Seattle, WALois A. Clarke, Bristol, TNRobert G. Crist, Bellevue, WAElizabeth Dunning, Salt Lake City, UTEnid D. Flores, Guaynabo, PRKaren L. Garrett, Olathe, KS

Jack D. Hodges, Lake Oswego, OR, GAMC LiaisonMarilee K. Hopkins, Chicago, ILVictor L. Hymes, Alamo, CAPaul E. Lee, Barrington, ILRobert Olcott, McLean, VARoscoe W. Overton, Sr., Austin, TX Gradye Parsons, Louisville, KY, Ex-officio TrusteeLinda Valentine, Louisville, KY, Ex-officio Trustee

Jane L. Searjeant Watt, Old Saybrook, CTD. Scott Weimer, Atlanta, GA James Welch, Seminole, FLMargaret Cannon West, Concord, NCLouise Westfall, Cleveland Heights, OH(Not as pictured)


FDN 03-12-01

527 donors

200 E. Twelfth StreetJeffersonville, IN 47130

800-858-6127www.PresbyterianFoundation.org

Bringing people and mission together

1,362 gifts

$14,598,161 in new gifts

$65,972,204 distributed to mission and ministry

During 2011, there were...


Documents

Presbyterian Foundation Annual Report