wfn.org | Financial Gifts to Church Through ELCA Foundation Set Record Pace

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 21, 2001

FINANCIAL GIFTS TO CHURCH THROUGH ELCA FOUNDATION SET RECORD PACE
01-126-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Financial gifts to ministries of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) -- provided through the ELCA
Foundation -- reached a record $35.3 million for the 2000 fiscal year.
     Total gifts for 2000 increased $6.5 million over gifts in the 1999
fiscal year, said the Rev. Donald M. Hallberg, executive director, ELCA
Foundation.
     "We are grateful for the many wonderful saints of this church who
have made this possible," he said.  The strong U.S. economy in 2000,
coupled with more seniors transferring wealth to benefit church
ministries, were among the reasons for the significant increase,
Hallberg said.
     The record pace is continuing, he said.  For the first quarter of
2001, gifts to the foundation were $1.6 million ahead of the same period
in 2000.
     The ELCA Foundation conducts a program of significant gifts and
planned giving on behalf of the church, its 11,000 congregations, 65
synods, churchwide units, agencies and institutions.  It offers
educational materials and seminars on planned giving.  Hallberg has
served as executive director since 1997.  He was re-elected by the
foundation's board of trustees in 2000.
     A charitable gift annuity is one of the most popular ways of
making gifts to ELCA ministries through the ELCA Foundation, Hallberg
said.  Through such gifts, contributors can remember the church's
ministries and retain income from the gift, he said.
     The ELCA Foundation is "donor-driven," Hallberg said.  At least 70
cents of every dollar given is shared with local ministries of the
church, he said.  The remaining 30 cents supports churchwide ministries,
Hallberg added.
     "Most people do not give for tax benefits," Hallberg said. "They
give to support the church's mission.  The most significant gift of
their lives may be through a gift annuity."
     "After people make financial gifts like this, the joy of what they
have done leads many to give additional gifts," he added.
     Since the ELCA's formation in 1988, $276 million has been given to
the ELCA Foundation in gifts, bequests and new life income agreements,
said Dennis G. Prikkel, associate director for support services, ELCA
Foundation.  During the same period, $149 million was distributed to
nearly 1,700 ELCA churchwide ministries, congregations, institutions and
social ministry organizations, he said.
     The ELCA Foundation has 23 field representatives who conduct
planned giving educational seminars in congregations and are available
meet with individuals, Prikkel said.
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Additional information about the ELCA Foundation is available at
http://www.elca.org/fo
on the ELCA's Web site.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html