Stewardship
We Give of Our Time, Talent, and Treasure
Stewardship is how we care for the time, talent, and treasure that have been offered to our community. Our time and talent are shown in the volunteer hours members give to committees, by being a lay leader during the service, teaching Sunday school, leading our worship music and many other ways from cleanup after coffee hour to spearheading the back-to-school tools drive to name just a couple.
Pledging – committing to give Saint Mary’s a certain financial gift over a calendar year – is critical to our ability to budget and manage the finances of our church. Pledge income is reliable and predictable, making budgeting and management of the church’s finances easier. We prefer electronic pledges. If you prefer a paper pledge form, use our printable pledge form.
Rooted In Abundance
How we think about sharing our money is not born from a place of scarcity or fear, it’s from a place of abundance and generosity as a way of life, first modeled to us by God and held before us as the path to life.
We are a blessed and engaged community. We are proud and filled with gratitude to serve and be enriched by the many ministries of our church, not only to ourselves but also to the world around us. The reality is, it takes financial resources to maintain these ministries and satisfy our day-to-day operating expenses. Your support of our church and its ministries, in whatever way you are able, is deeply appreciated and impactful.
Donations to Saint Mary’s are tax deductible, so some time in January you will receive a statement that you can use when filing your tax return.
The Saint Mary’s pledge clerk and Finance Team are always available to answer any questions regarding your pledge.
All our finances are transparent – which means, anyone can see any of them, all the time, down to how much the rector makes or how much we spent on the electric bill. Our income comes only from member pledges, fundraising, building rentals and donations for the use of the space, plus some small income from investments. If you have any question about our finances, please feel free to contact our Treasurer, who is the elected leader in charge of our financial affairs. You can also visit the finance page here.
Online System – Vanco
Through Vanco, you can make a one-time gift or set up a recurring payment to Saint Mary’s via your credit card or direct debit from a checking account. There is a fee for this service, which you may choose to cover when you make your donation.
Automatic Bill Pay
This service is available through most banks, and it is generally very easy to set up a recurring payment to Saint Mary’s. You set the amount and date each month and your bank will mail a check to Saint Mary’s. There is usually not a fee for this service.
Check or Cash
Checks with pledge written in the memo line, or cash in a pledge envelope, can be placed in the offertory plate during Sunday services. You may also mail your check directly to Saint Mary’s, Attention: Counters.
Donating Stock
The following DTC transfer instructions are given to the broker or institution that holds your stock certificates:
UBS Financial Services
0221, Account # RP03824
FBO: St. Mary’s Episcopal Church/Your Name
It is very important that these instructions include your name, as UBS has no way of knowing who this stock is from for purposes of communicating that information to our Accounting Clerk.
To ensure that the St. Mary’s Accounting Clerk is aware of your donation, simply drop them a note letting them know you have transferred stock for purposes of fulfilling your pledge.
If you could make a difference in the lives that follow you at St. Mary’s would you? Former St. Marians have done that by giving gifts to St. Mary’s from their estates. Each of these gifts came from individuals whom only a few of us knew. These planned gifts or charitable bequests have provided St. Mary’s with financial resources which have made a difference and will continue to for generations to come.
Planned giving is typically done in conjunction with estate planning and is a viable option for donors of all income levels. From a donor’s perspective, planned giving is attractive for many reasons. It may enable you to make larger gifts than you otherwise could out of your current assets. Depending on how a planned gift is set up, it may also provide you with income for life, earn higher investment yield, or reduce your capital gains or estate taxes.
Planned giving is a term commonly used to describe a wide variety of giving vehicles that enable you to give to a charity during your lifetime or after your death. It also allows you to meet your current income needs and provide for your heirs.
Planned gifts often appeal to people who want to benefit a charitable organization but are not certain how much of their assets they will need for themselves during their lifetimes.
The most common types of planned giving vehicles are:
- Beneficiary Designations
- Charitable Bequests
- Charitable Gift Annuities
- Charitable Lead Trusts
- Charitable Remainder Trusts
Each of these planned giving options can be tailored to meet your specific goals and objectives and would involve consultation with your legal or financial advisor.
What’s important to know is that your gifts regardless of size can be directed during your lifetime. It can be as simple as naming Saint Mary’s as your primary or secondary beneficiary on your IRA or 401(k) plan and can be a predetermined percentage.
As you consider your legacy, and the role that St. Mary’s has played in your life, would you make a bequest that could make a difference in the lives that follow you?
If you are interested in making a planned giving bequest to St. Mary’s, please contact our treasurer for more information.
Beneficiary Designation
By designating a charity as the beneficiary of your life insurance or retirement assets, you can enjoy some flexibility in your charitable giving as well as certain tax advantages. The designated charity will receive the specified assets upon your death, and you have the option of changing the eventual recipient throughout your life. You can also name the charity as the secondary or contingency beneficiary in the event your primary or named beneficiary passes before you.
Charitable Bequests
The term charitable bequest is used to describe anything you give or leave to charity from your estate through a will or a revocable inter vivos (living) trust. An estate is any property, money, or personal belongings you may have at the time of your death. Most people leave an estate when they die, even though they may not have a great deal of wealth. Even an individual with a small estate can arrange to leave a charitable bequest.
You can arrange to bequeath a gift from your estate in several different ways. You can set aside a specific dollar amount, leave a percentage of your estate, or leave any assets left over after your family has been provided for. Some people use a bequest to give a charity something they own, such as a car, home, art, or jewelry. Others leave a paid life insurance policy or other financial investments, such as stocks, bonds, or certificates of deposit (CDs). These gifts may provide tax savings.
Charitable Gift Annuities
A charitable gift annuity provides you with lifetime income. To establish a gift annuity, you contribute funds or assets to a nonprofit organization, and that nonprofit in turn makes fixed annuity payments to you from its general assets for the rest of your life.
You receive an immediate income tax deduction for a portion of the gift, and a portion of each annuity payment is treated as a tax-free return of the investment.
Charitable Remainder Trusts
A charitable remainder trust allows you and/or other designated beneficiaries to receive income from a trust for your lifetime(s), or for a period of not more than 20 years. At the end of that time, the balance of the trust is transferred to a charity that you have selected. You can take a charitable deduction for a portion of the gift you make to the trust in the year the trust is formed. (In some cases, additional funds may be added in later years.)
Charitable Lead Trusts
A charitable lead trust allows you to designate a charity to receive a regular, fixed amount from a trust for a specified amount of time, or the lifetime of the designated person. At the end of that time, the remainder of the trust passes to your designated heirs or other non-charitable beneficiaries.