Capital Stewardship Campaigns rely on church members and adherents making gifts over and above their current level of giving. The best path to increased giving is the spiritual path, where you set your heart on things above. Financial priorities then take shape from spiritual priorities. One way of defining this is “Lifestyle Stewardship,” a term used to describe a level of giving that affects one’s living. The challenge of Lifestyle Stewardship is to find ways, boldly and prayerfully, to let your giving touch your living!
King David declared, “I will not offer to God that which cost me nothing.” (2 Samuel 24:24) David understood the gift that would touch the heart of God must first touch the heart and life of the giver! This is the spirit of Lifestyle Stewardship: if it is for my God, my gift must have meaning and value to me.
Often, Lifestyle Giving means giving up something in one area so that you can give more of yourself in another. The three keys to effectiveness in Lifestyle Stewardship are:
• Reassess Lifestyle
• Rearrange Priorities
• Reallocate Resources
1. Increase Giving With Increased Fixed Income
Many retired individuals depend on fixed income investments for their income. In periods of fluctuating interest rates, obtaining a reliable safe income is a challenge. One alternative is a Charitable Gift Annuity from which a gift can be made to the stewardship campaign of your church.
Charitable Gift Annuities offer generous guaranteed lifetime payments at a level much higher than Certificates of Deposit and other secure investments. In addition, a portion of each payment is tax-free and Charitable Gift Annuities offer charitable income tax deductions as well. At death, the remaining balance in the Charitable Gift Annuity is distributed to the ministries of your choice.
2. Appreciated Stock
When you donate stock you own, either public or private, you can avoid the capital gains tax. Example: Stock that cost you $1,000 is now valued at $5,000. By donating this stock to your church, you avoid paying any capital gains tax on the $4,000 that would have been a gain if you sold the stock outright. In addition, if you have held the stock for more than one year, you will receive a charitable tax deduction for the full value of the stock donated which is $5,000.
3. Appreciated Property
• You can donate vacant land, which you have inherited or purchased, or a vacation house to the church. If you have owned the property for more than one year, by donating it to the church, you would receive a tax deduction for the full fair market value of the property.
• You can donate a rental house to the church. Example: You may have a rental house that you have owned and rented for the last 20 years, thus depreciating it to a very low tax basis. If you were to sell it, you may pay substantial capital gains tax. By donating it to the church you will both avoid the capital gains tax and receive a tax deduction for the fair market value of the house you donated.
4. Charitable Remainder Trust
You can establish a charitable remainder trust with stock or real estate. This special type of trust allows you to receive lifetime income and make a significant gift to your church and its stewardship campaign. There are significant tax advantages to this type of trust and careful planning is needed. Assistance in planning and creating this type of trust is available through the Assemblies of God Financial Services Group at no cost to you or your church.
5. Personal Property
You can donate tangible property such as jewelry, coin collections, art, or almost anything of value.
6. Increase Giving With Increased Income
Some people receive periodic increases in salary or bonuses from their employers. The temptation for many of us is to increase our lifestyle to fit the higher income. In many instances, families have decided that they will commit the full amount of salary increases or bonuses.
7. Commit Unexpected Cash
Often, people ask God to show them a way they can give beyond what they can presently see or afford. Sometimes the answers come unexpectedly. A couple in Alabama had been praying for weeks about their commitment to the church stewardship campaign. Much to their surprise, they received an inheritance of several thousand dollars. They gave the entire amount to their church as part of their three-year commitment, along with a commitment from their regular income.
8. Give From Your Excess
A young man decided that two collector’s baseball cards worth over $20,000 he had been holding a number of years would be the most appropriate means of touching sacrifice for his family. Some families save money over a period of years for a special project. A couple in Louisiana had saved $80,000 to build a lake cabin. When their church entered a stewardship campaign, they decided the needs of the church were greater than their need for a second home.
9. Redirect Present Expenditures
Often, families have significant short-term expenditures for special needs. One example is the large expenditure a family incurs for a child to attend college. A family in Georgia realized that their daughters would be graduating from college during the three years of the stewardship campaign and, as a result, they were able to increase their commitment to the second and third years of the campaign by thousands of dollars by giving what they had been spending on their daughters’ tuition. Another example would be the cash flow that is freed up when a loan is paid.
10. Practice Priority Budgeting
Many families will choose to rearrange their priorities and give up something in order to give more to a stewardship campaign. Priority budgeting may mean postponing a planned expenditure such as a new car, vacation, home remodeling, or other major purchase. Many Christians giving to stewardship campaigns find a way to give through sacrificial commitments made in faith and coupled with priority budgeting.
11. Sacrifice Your Extra Time
Some family members have extra time they would be willing to use in a part-time job to be able to give more to the church. This is particularly true for families whose children are grown, away from home, and for semi-retired or retired couples. A man in New Mexico was in the process of retiring when his church entered a campaign. He and his wife secured new jobs and gave their first three years of their retirement income to the stewardship campaign.
In reviewing these suggested ways to give, please be reminded that as a general rule, a gift of appreciated property (long-term capital gain property) is deductible up to 30% of your adjusted gross income, and a gift of cash is deductible up to 50% of your adjusted gross income, with a five-year carryover for any “excess.” In all cases, please consult your tax advisor regarding the tax, financial and practical implications.
If you need or desire assistance with a planned gift to the stewardship campaign, professional counsel is available to you via AG Financial. There is no charge to you or your church for this service.
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