Foundation Focus A Publication of the United Methodist Foundation of West Virginia, Inc. Serving United Methodists in West Virginia & Garrett County, Maryland Winter 2012 Dreams Become Reality Matching Donors Needs with the Needs in Ministry Edwin Humphreys died last year, but this year and in future years he will help someone achieve an education. Mr. Humphreys had a special place in his heart for young people, particularly those who might not qualify for academic scholarships such as the Promise scholarship for students who maintain a particular grade point average. Mr. Humphreys well understood that family situations and other outside influences could affect an individual s performance in school, and he wanted to reach out to those youth so affected. Mr. Humphreys knew that some Edwin Humphreys post high school education college, technical school, or trade school might make the difference between a youth falling through the cracks and going on to achieve a career and to becoming a productive member of society. Ed Humphreys was a devout Christian who desired to answer Jesus call to help the least of these, our brothers and sisters. Jeff I hope to support students with Taylor and his predecessor at promise who have not yet had the Foundation, Rev. David the opportunity to live up to R. Peters, worked with Ed Humphreys for several years their full potential. before he finalized his gift -- Edwin Humphreys arrangement in the way that satisfied him. To help Mr. Humphreys catch the vision, Continued on page 3 Issue Sixty-eight Inside this Issue Page Dreams Become 1 Reality Making a Difference 2 Board of Trustees 3 Is your Charitable 4 Deduction at Risk? Giving at Year End 5 Investment Returns 5 Mission Projects 6 Resource Giving from your 6 Smart Phone Visit us on the Web www.umfwv.org Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/umfwv Or call us toll free 1-800-788-3746 ext. 45
Foundation Focus - Winter 2012 Page 2 Making a Difference in the Lives that Follow Have you considered the possibilities of doing ministry through your estate plan? Does it surprise you that while appoximately 80% of people give to their favorite charity while they are living, only about 8% continue that support through a bequest in their wills? The United Methodist Foundation is a partner in Leave a Legacy of Central Appalachia. Leave a Legacy s mission is to encourage people to provide for their families through appropriate estate planning and to make gifts to charity through their wills. In support of these efforts, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared Oct. 14-20 as Wills Week in the State of West Virginia. Wills Week Proclamation at the Governor s office with Leave and Legacy of Central Appalachia partners is what remains after you have provided for all of your other family and loved ones.. A gift from your estate through your will can be contingent on another event, such as your spouse pre-deceasing you. Contact the Foundation to learn more about how your bequest can transform lives. We can provide a sample Christian Preamble and bequest language. For those who have yet to determine the specific ministry they would like to support, we can help you match your desires with the needs of ministry. We are here to help. 2 Governor Earl Ray Tomlin and Jeff Taylor Your Last Will and Testament is a statement of your values. Your will can include a testimony to your faith; by including bequests to ministry you can not only illustrate your faith through your actions, but you can also make a transformational impact on the ministry that is close to your heart. Bequests are flexible and offer the advantage of being revocable. Gifts through your will can be for a specific dollar amount or for a percentage of your estate. They can be a residual bequest so that the amount of the gift Estate Planning Event in Flatwoods sponsored by the United Methodist Foundation and GWP Foundation
Foundation Focus - Winter 2012 Page 3 Continued from page 1 Dreams Become Reality Foundation Officers and Board members Rev. Peters arranged a meeting between Mr. Humphreys and the mission project directors of the West Virginia Annual Conference. Once Mr. Humphreys was able to hear how the mission projects might be able to identify the prospects for such a scholarship, his dreams began to take shape. With the help of the Foundation and his own attorney, Mr. Humphreys created a plan that will provide scholarships for young persons who might have no other opportunity for post-secondary education. In order to insure that those less fortunate would always be the scholarship recipients, Ed s legacy gift gives the mission project directors of the West Edwin Humphreys Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church the responsibility for selecting the scholarship recipients, presumably from those served by the mission projects. Although Ed died in 2011, his legacy of generosity will continue forever. The accumulated earthly treasures of Ed s lifetime will benefit countless others. The rest of the story. Edwin Humphreys not only highlights the benefits of working with the Foundation to plan for future ministry, but also it underscores the importance of keeping the original will in a safe place, and notifying trusted friends and loved ones where it is. After Mr. Humphreys death, the original will could not be found in fact, it was never found. Only a proper will with original signatures can be admitted to probate for the purposes of settling an estate. In this case, the executor of Mr. Humphreys estate had to file a friendly lawsuit to get the Court s approval to allow a copy of the will to be admitted. Because all of the evidence testimony from his personal attorney, from the executor of the estate, and from Jeff Taylor showed to the judge s satisfaction that Mr. Humphreys never changed his intention to leave his estate to the Foundation for the purpose of the scholarship fund, the Court ruled that the copy would suffice. Had the judge been confronted with evidence to the contrary, however, the result may have been different. We can all learn from this: put your original will and other important papers in a fire-proof safe or bank deposit box, and let your trusted advisors know where it is. 2
Foundation Focus - Winter 2012 Page 4 Church Causes Donors to Lose IRS Deduction Are your donors at risk? acknowledgment of their contributions. A proper acknowledgment (for gifts to charity over $250.00) must be issued contemporaneously and must contain amount of the gift, the date of the gift, and a statement that no goods or services were provided in exchange for the contributions. The statement the Durdens had received from their church did not include the statement that no goods or services were provided in exchange. The following information is extremely important for churches and donors. It is important for churches because they can mistakenly cause a committed donor s deduction to be disallowed. It is important for donors because the IRS places on them the burden of making sure they receive a proper acknowledgment for gifts over $250. In 2007, David and Veronda Durden gave their church over $20,000 throughout the year. The church sent acknowledgments for the amount of their gifts, and the Durdens kept their canceled checks. When they prepared their 2007 income tax returns, the Durdens claimed the gifts as a charitable contribution deduction. Sounds reasonable, right? The IRS denied their charitable deduction for the gifts to their church! Why would the IRS do that? Because the Durdens did not receive from the church a proper In an attempt to cure the defect in the acknowledgment, at the Durdens request, the church issued new acknowledgments including the language. The IRS still denied the deductions because they were not contemporaneous, that is, they were not issued on or before the filing due date, or the date that the filing is made. The Durdens eventually filed suit in Tax Court arguing, among other things, that they substantially complied with the statutory acknowledgment requirements. They had received timely statements acknowledging the gifts from their church, along with canceled checks, and produced these as evidence. The court agreed with the IRS and refused to allow the Durdens deduction. The bottom line: if you want to claim your gifts to church as a charitable deduction, make sure you get an acknowledgment for your gifts to your church no later than January 31 of the year following the year the gifts were made, and that for any gift over $250.00, the acknowledgment has a statement that no goods or services were received in exchange for this gift. Is your church in compliance? 2 Where to go for more information For a link to download IRS Publication 526, Charitiable Deductions, go to http://www.umfwv.org/are-your-donors-risk For more information about this issue, please contact the Foundation.
Foundation Focus - Fall 2012 Page 5 Giving at Year End At year-end we often express thanks to God by giving to others. Careful consideration of the form and timing of your charitable gifts can help magnify the impact of your gift on ministry. You may learn that you can make a gift you didn t think was possible. In order to help you with your year-end gift planning, we have included a Year-End Giving brochure in this newsletter. It contains information about different ways to make a planned gift and considerations about tax benefits that you can explore with your financial advisor. Make gifts by December 31 of this year, and you can experience the joy of giving now, and also receive potential tax benefits. We have a limited supply of brochures that we can send free of charge to churches for distribution to congregations. To request your copies, contact the Foundation by telephone (800-788-3746 ext. 45) or email (info@umfwv.org). If you have questions about planned giving at year end, or at any time of the year, please contact us. We will help as you consider the possibilities. 2 Investment Performance The performance of our four Investment Funds, net of all fees, for the first nine months of 2012, is listed in the table to the right. For the first nine months of 2012, all four of our Investment Funds exceeded their benchmarks. Remember, as your investment objectives change, you will need to review your investment choices. Fund A is invested 100% in fixed income investments (bonds). Funds B1, B2, and B3 are balanced funds, with varying exposure in equities (stocks). Fund B1 has a smaller stock allocation Investment Performance January 1 - September 30, 2012 Income Capital Change Total Return Comparative Benchmark Fund A 0.54% 5.67% 6.22% 3.40% Fund B1 0.34% 6.06% 6.40% 4.89% Fund B2 0.21% 8.11% 8.32% 7.19% Fund B3 0.04% 9.53% 9.57% 8.35% Net of all fees than Fund B2, and Fund B3 has a larger stock allocation. You can change the Foundation Investment Fund utilized by your Church or Agency by contacting the Foundation. The investment policy of the United Methodist Foundation takes into account both fiduciary responsibility and our Christian principles. The primary objective of our investment policy is preservation of principal with reasonable returns, and without unreasonable risk. In addition, all funds managed by the Foundation are invested in a socially responsible manner. Call us if you have questions and to discuss the investment choices offered by the Foundation in greater detail. 2
Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Chas. WV 25301 Permit #2780 Return Service Requested United Methodist Foundation of West Virginia, Inc. P.O. Box 3811 Charleston, WV 25338-3811 Phone: 304-342-2113 1-800-788-3746 ext. 45 Fax: 304-342-2632 Email: info@umfwv.org Website: www.umfwv.org Staff Jeff Taylor, President Kim Matthews, Associate Director Sally Sloan, Accounts Administrator Becky Wolfe, Administrative Assistant The Mission Projects An Audiovisual Resource financed by the United Methodist Foundation The Executive Directors of the mission projects of the West Virginia Annual Conference worked together to create an audiovisual resource that provides information about each project and its ministry in the community it serves. The Foundation helped to bring this resource to completion by providing funding to produce the DVD. We encourage you to learn more about the ministry of the Mission Projects in our Annual Conference. Call your local Mission Project to schedule a visit and to learn how you can provide hands-on help. Visit the Missions page online at www.wvumc.org/missions to view the DVD and to read about each ministry. Contact the Foundation to learn how you can provide financial resources to further mission outreach. Gifts to mission projects in honor of a loved one are a great way to provide an alternative Christmas gift. Consider the possibilities of a planned gift to provide perpetual resources for a mission project or any other United Methodist ministry. 2 Giving from your Smart Phone Give anywhere, anytime by simply scanning this image with your smart phone. It s quick, easy and secure!