From Tom’s Desk 

Greetings, and many thanks for your gift of faith during this difficult period of COVID-19; for the fearless commitment and support, both physical and financial, you offered to sustain your church and its mission; and for the trust you placed with the Foundation to weather the ups and downs of the economy and its financial markets.

We are relieved and grateful to report that what started as a very alarming year -- including the stock market’s precipitous drop in March and April -- closed with record returns being earned on our Diversified Portfolios. Thanks to these market returns and your continued deposits, our assets under management grew to $81 million at the close of 2020.

Our board of directors is also growing. Rev. Erica Spaet (Bend, Oregon), Rev. Peter Perry (Olympia, WA), Pastor Buddy Gharring (Twin Falls, ID), and Cynthia MacLeod (Portland, OR) have joined our team with great enthusiasm, experience, interest, and deep faith. With regrets we accepted the resignations from our board this year of Alayne Hudspeth (Federal Way, WA) and Bill Haden (Portland, OR). These two wonderful people represent a combined 34 years of board service with us, and a legacy of wisdom, skill, and grace. We have been, and continue to be, blessed with wonderful people. 

As we’re publishing this review in 2021, our organization is changing its name from the Northwest United Methodist Foundation to Faith Foundation Northwest.

This allows us to embrace the emerging complexity around what it means to be Methodist... and even what it means to be church. With this updated brand identity, we look forward to continuing to serve all our current partners in ministry, and more! 

Respectfully,

Independent Auditor: Lindley & Associates LLC

*Audited 2019 financials are available upon request. Audited 2020 financials will be available after their publication in 2021. Our independent auditors are Lindley & Associates (2019) and Moss Adams (2020).

In partnership with Wespath, we manage endowment and reserve funds for churches, conferences, and agencies. 172 UMC institutions trust us with their long-term funds.

We make secured loans at competitive rates to churches and agencies. These loans fund property acquisition, construction, and capital improvement projects. In 2019, 32 churches had loans open with us.

We assist churches and agencies in establishing endowment committees, policies, procedures, and promotional plans. We sent 52 e-magazines and wrote 19 blog articles on this topic in 2019.

We accept, liquidate, and pass through gifts of stock. This is a free service for UMC congregations, agencies, and camps that don’t have their own brokerage accounts.

When you reach out, there are real people available to address your questions and requests. Our team is available by email, phone, or mail from 8am to 4pm, Monday through Friday.

We show up when invited to teach workshops, consult with committees, and provide written materials which help individuals imagine, express, and plan their legacies within the church and beyond.

Every portfolio we offer represents faith-based, sustainable investment strategies.

Through our investment partner, Wespath, we avoid companies that pose ethical risks as outlined in the United Methodist Church’s Social Principles, engage in shareholder advocacy, and invest for positive impact. 

We’re proud to offer this family of portfolios specifically designed for United Methodist Institutions to meet their long-term goals.

BOARD OFFICERS

• Robert Ives, President

• LaVerne Lewis, Vice President

• Larry Nelson, Secretary

• Barbara Dadd Shaffer,
             Treasurer

EX OFFICIO 

• Bishop Elaine Stanovsky

• Brant Henshaw, PNW Conference Treasurer

• Rev. Dan Wilson-Fey, OR-ID Conference Treasurer 

BOARD MEMBERS

• Nik Halladay

• Darrell Lowe

• Rev. Chuck Hindman

• Gaye Pierson

• Rev. John Watts

• Chris Bafus

• Rev. Ron Myers

• Rev. Lynn Rabenstein

• Mike Hartwig

• Tom Herrett

• Emily Wright

• Rev. Erica Spaet

• Rev. Peter Perry

• Pastor Buddy Gharring

• Cynthia MacLeod

“I didn’t know I could do that”

If you have ever attended one of our Planned Giving workshops, you may have walked away overwhelmed by the variety of planned giving possibilities that exist and the various ways they might be useful in your situation. We list them not to confuse you, but in hopes that upon hearing all of these options, you might have an “aha” moment, which is often followed by the exclamation: “I didn’t know I could do that!” This usually doesn’t happen until a potential donor understands how a specific type of gift could meet a deeply personal need or goal.

Almost twenty years ago the Foundation became friends with a couple whose lives are the epitome of Christian stewardship. They are incredibly faithful people who often go beyond any expectations of generosity, both in the gifts of their time and their money. (They are also very private people, so you will not find their names in this article.) They came to one of our workshops looking for a possible way to use some vacation property for a planned gift that would produce income and tax benefits to them during their lives and a gift to their church upon their deaths.

As the workshop went on they were not convinced that a gift arrangement was the best for their situation until they heard the words “period certain.” This refers to a type of annuity in which the payments are guaranteed for a fixed number of years, as opposed to the annuitant’s lifetime.

For them this was the “aha” moment. Our friends were in their 70s at the time and had some concerns about their health. They also had an adult daughter who, while trying her very best, still had problems making ends meet. The “aha” moment came when they realized that it was possible to gift the property, receive income for the remainder of their lives, receive tax benefits and, should they pass on sooner than they hoped, provide a steady income flow to their daughter for a significant “period certain.”

In the end, a simple reference to a payment option available through their gift made all the difference in the world. It provided a solution that not only achieved their benevolent intentions to their church, but also provided a financial safety net for their daughter.

We still offer planned giving workshops, either by teleconference or in person, at no cost. We’d love to help people in your congregation get to, “I didn’t know I could do that!”