Gift of A Lifetime

By: Richard Carnes

Each year the Kentucky Baptist Foundation is fortunate to receive estate gifts that were planned in earlier years by thoughtful, forward-looking donors. These donors, through provisions in their wills and other long-term plans, made gifts that might otherwise not have been possible.

Other individuals would like to support the ministries of their church and Baptist causes but think they don’t have anything to give or believe such a gift would compromise their family member’s future security. This is a common feeling but there is encouraging news on ways you can make a gift from assets you accumulated during a lifetime.

Giving through your will can be a convenient way to support the Christian ministries important to you. After first providing for your loved ones, you may decide to make a charitable gift of a specific amount, a percentage of your estate, or all or part of what remains after family and/or friends have been remembered.

While a will is usually the first method that comes to mind when considering a legacy gift, there are other ways to accomplish a donor’s charitable goals. These plans are generally easy to put in place and can be adjusted if your circumstances change. Some of these strategies may include gifting through trusts, gifts of life insurance, gifts of real estate assets or gifts of retirement plan remainders.

Giving through a trust is an often used strategy. Many individuals make use of trusts created during life to provide for management and future distribution of assets, then, at the termination of the trust, direct that a portion of the remaining assets be used for charitable purposes.

The Kentucky Baptist Foundation staff is honored to assist numerous Kentucky Baptists that have sought God’s direction on how they should consider planning their financial matters in order to provide for their families, their church and other Baptist ministry causes.

If you have questions about these giving strategies or want to request a private estate stewardship consultation, please contact the Foundation’s trust counsel, Laurie Valentine or me at our toll-free number (866) 489-3533.

Richard Carnes is the president of the Kentucky Baptist Foundation, PO Box 436389, Louisville, KY 40253; toll-free (866) 489-3533; KYBaptistFoundation.org.

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.

An Under Tapped Tool for Churches

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

Earlier this month the results of a survey conducted by LifeWay Research among pastors of Southern Baptist churches throughout the USA were published. The purpose of the survey was to gauge the awareness and preparedness of churches to the issues surrounding estate stewardship.

Let me share a few of the findings for your awareness and for any needed action you and/or your church might need to take in light of the findings. Only 16 percent of churches received any kind of estate gift in the year preceding the survey; that meant 84 percent did not. Churches that reported receiving at least one estate gift received an average of $22,507. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy the average estate gift to all charities was $70,000.

72 percent of pastors believed every Christian should include the church and other ministries in their estate plans, but 86 percent of them confessed they had not provided their congregations with seminars or even basic information on estate planning during the last year. The survey results also revealed the majority of pastors were more comfortable and more inclined to preach on the importance of giving from one’s income than one’s estate.

The KBF has the conviction that for Kentucky Baptist churches to be successful in reaching Kentucky and the world for Christ, Kentucky Baptist churches must be equipped to cultivate and secure estate gifts from their members. And, the KBF was established in 1945 “by the churches, for the churches to help the churches reach Kentucky and the world for Christ.”

If your church has not yet called upon the KBF to assist it in putting in place a plan of education and awareness, casting a vision about the vital importance and use of estate gifts and facilitating the receipt and administration of such gifts, please do not hesitate any longer and take advantage of this under tapped tool. Laurie Valentine and I are awaiting your call and the opportunity to assist. 

For more information, please call us at (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1-(866) 489-3533

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.