UUA Resources for Your Congregation's Financial Management & Fund Development
Please visit the UUA Home Page: www.uua.org.
Click on “Services” under the Main Menu to find the information
you need, or search the site on key words.
Annual Canvass
For phone consultation, ideas, strategies and referrals to on-site canvass
consultants, contact Wayne Clark or Amanda Schuber in the UUA Office
of Congregational Fundraising Services. For copies of the canvass manual,
Fundraising with a Vision (replacing the “Green Book”),
and its companion video, “Giving Voice to Our Vision,” contact
the UUA Bookstore. Copies of the videos, “Funding the Dream” and
“Sharing Our Commitment,” are also available. The bookstore is
on-line at www.uua.org/bookstore.
Bequests to Your Congregation
For information on how your congregation can begin to promote charitable
bequests by creating a “Bequest Recognition Society,” contact
Wayne Clark or Amanda Schuber and ask for the Endowment Church Kit.
The Endowment Church Kit includes information on how to begin this planned
giving effort and brochures on gift arrangements like bequests, charitable
gift annuities, the UUA Pooled Income fund, life insurance, retirement plan
benefits, and how to give securities. Many of these brochures are available
to purchase in bulk through the UUA Charitable Gift and Estate Planning office.
Contact Dan King with questions. Sample bequest language is available
on line at the UUA web site, key word: “bequest.”
Building and Capital Campaigns
For information on preparing for a capital campaign, organizing the fundraising,
setting up a “space needs” committee or a referral to a UUA Capital
Campaign Fundraising Consultant, contact Wayne Clark or Amanda Schuber.
You’ll also find information on the web, at www.uua.org/cde/fundraising/index.html.
Building Loans
For information on how to prepare a loan application to a lending institution
or how to obtain a loan directly from the UUA for a new building, addition,
or other major capital expenses, contact Wayne Clark or Amanda Schuber.
Applications and more information are also available on the web, at www.uua.org/cde/fundraising/index.html.
Canvass Training and On-site Consultation
To request on-site assistance in conducting your annual canvass, contact
your District Staff or Wayne Clark or Amanda Schuber. For more
information, see www.uua.org/cde/fundraising/index.html.
Charitable Gift Annuities
Charitable gift annuities are made available to you and your congregation
by the UUA Charitable Gift and Estate Planning office. Gift annuities allow
people to make a gift today and receive guaranteed, fixed payments for the
rest of their lives. The gifts are held in trust and invested until the donors
die. Then what remains of the original gift is paid to the UU organizations
chosen by the donors – your congregation, the UUA, or both. To request
information about how your congregation can benefit from gifts that pay income
for life, contact Dan King.
Charitable Trusts
Charitable trusts offer individuals an opportunity to make a gift $100,000
or more, continue to enjoy income from the gifted asset, and provide for a
significant gift to the future of your congregation and the UUA. To request
information about how charitable trusts can be arranged to benefit your congregation
and the UUA, contact Marcy Bailey-Adams or Dan King.
Church Staff Compensation, Insurance, and Pension Plans
For information on UUA guidelines for compensation and pension packages
for church staff; and for information about health insurance, disability insurance,
and retirement and pension plans available or recommended by the UUA, contact
Ralph Mero in the Office of Church Staff Finance.
Creating an Endowment Fund
For a booklet on the purposes and administration of congregational endowment
funds, please contact Wayne Clark or Amanda Schuber. Ask for the “Church
Kit on Endowments.” The booklet includes sample endowment enabling documents,
a checklist of questions you need to consider, information about legal requirements
and investment options, as well as brochures other congregations have used
to promote gifts to their endowment funds. It’s also available on the
UUA web site at www.uua.org/cde/fundraising/EndowmentFundGuide.pdf.
For suggestions on how to plan, market and fund an endowment at your church,
contact your District Staff or join a UU e-mail list. See www.uua.org/lists
for more information.
Endowment Management and Investment Services
Let the UUA invest your congregation’s endowment funds for you! Pool
your funds with those of other congregations in the Association’s Investment
Pool C, and enjoy the benefits of diversification, total return strategies
and socially responsible investment screens set by the UUA Board of Trustees
and its Investment Committee. To request an application form and information
about this service, including a copy of the UUA Investment Guidelines, Socially
Responsible Investment Policy, and information on the general performance
of the UUA’s invested funds, contact Nancy Gladyszak, Endowment
Funds Manager, Financial Services. For a booklet guide to socially responsible
investing, contact the UUA Bookstore and ask for a copy of “Investing
for Justice: Socially Responsible Investments for UU Congregations,”
written by David E. Provost and William J. Gardiner and published by the UUA.
Contact the UUA Bookstore to order.
Fundraising Strategies for Endowments
For information about how to conduct a campaign to raise money for an endowment
fund in your congregation, contact Wayne Clark or Amanda Schuber or
Marcy Bailey-Adams.
General Fundraising Training
For information about training a team of canvass volunteers, conducting
a capital campaign, and establishing a planned giving program or an endowment
fund, contact your District Staff, Wayne Clark or Amanda Schuber.
Gift Acknowledgment Guidelines and Special Gifts
For information about how to arrange a gift of stock, mutual funds, life
insurance, or real estate, contact Wayne Clark or Amanda Schuber. For
the latest information on IRS requirements for gift receipts, contact Wayne
Clark or Amanda Schuber or Ralph Mero.
Gifts to Your Endowment
For information about how to promote current and deferred gifts to your
church endowment or how to establish a permanent planned giving program in
your congregation, contact Wayne Clark or Amanda Schuber. Request the
Planned Giving and Endowment Church Kit, which includes written material about
creating a bequest recognition society. For information that will help you
promote gifts that pay income for life and ultimately add to your endowment
funds, contact Marcy Bailey-Adams. Request the Planned Giving Church
Kit, which includes informational brochures, annual investment reports, and
a whole lot more about giving opportunities available at the UUA for the benefit
of your congregation. For a list of brochures that describe and promote specific
kinds of gifts (bequests, life insurance benefits, real estate gifts, pension
plan benefits, stock gifts, and more), contact Dan King or send an
email to giftplans@uua.org. The Charitable
Gift and Estate Planning office offers free service to you and your members
who wish to arrange a contribution through the charitable gift annuity program
or our UUA Pooled Income Fund. Contact Dan King for information about
this service.
Investment Advice for Endowment Funds
The UUA does not offer specific investment advice, such as which investments
or investment managers to choose. As a general rule, endowment funds for non-profit
organizations are to be invested for total return according to the Prudent
Investor Rules. Where possible a balanced portfolio is suggested with 40-60%
stocks and 40-60% in fixed income investments. Investing in a highly rated,
soundly managed mutual fund may provide you with the most diversification
opportunities. Consider using the investment expertise and low administration
fees offered through the UUA. Contact Nancy Gladyszak, for information
about how your congregation can have its endowment funds managed and invested
along with others held at the UUA.
Literature on Congregational Finances and Fundraising
The UUA Bookstore carries books on church accounting, long-range
planning, planned giving, investing, and much more. Check the on-line Bookstore
Catalog at www.uua.org/bookstore.
Mortgages and other Financing
For information on arranging loans on congregational property, loan guarantees,
bond programs and tips on working with bankers, contact Wayne Clark or
Amanda Schuber.
Planned Giving
Use the UUA Pooled Income Fund and the Charitable Gift Annuity
Fund to build a stronger future for your congregation. The UUA Office
of Charitable Gift and Estate Planning has the resources and expertise to
help your supporters discover the gift arrangement that fits their needs and
desires. Contact Dan King for information about this free service.
To request information about how to start a planned giving program at your
church or fellowship, contact Dan King. Ask for the “Planned
Gift Church Kit.” See also “Elements of a Successful Planned Giving
Program in Your Congregation” at www.uua.org/giving/giftplans/elements.html.
Pooled Income Gift Fund
To request information about the UUA Pooled Income Gift Fund and how members
of your congregation can enjoy the benefits of this planned gift arrangement
and provide for the congregation’s financial future, contact Jay
Libby.
Tax Exempt/Non Profit Status
For federal tax purposes, all religious organizations are considered to
be tax exempt under 501(c)(3) regulations. For a letter citing relevant portions
of the law confirming that Unitarian Universalist societies, fellowships and
congregations are recognized as tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations, contact
Nancy Lawrence in the Office of the Executive Vice President. Nancy
Lawrence can also provide you with a copy of the UUA's tax-exempt status letter.
For state and city tax purposes, churches need to register as non-profit
organizations with their home state and keep on file a certificate that verifies
that they have done so. This will enable you to avoid paying sales tax, for
instance. Contact Ralph Mero for more information.
UUA BOSTON-BASED STAFF CONTACTS
(by last name)
To contact someone at the Unitarian Universalist Association in Boston:
Please mail requests to
Unitarian Universalist Association
25 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02108
Main Telephone: (617) 742-2100
UUA Bookstore: (800) 215-9076
Send faxes to:
Congregational Fundraising Services: (617) 367-4798
UUA Administration & Finance: (617) 367-3237
Annual Program Fund & Gift and Estate Planning: (617) 725-4979
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