FAQ’s

The Foundation is owned by The Tennessee-Western Kentucky Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. The Board of Directors, which governs the Foundation, is elected by the Annual Conference. An Annual Report of the Foundation is published each year and a detailed report is also included each year in the Conference Journal of the Annual Conferences.

The Foundation is supervised by its Board of Directors. The Board has thirty elected members and five advisory members. A list of the membership is available on this website and in its Annual Report. The Board meets quarterly and has active executive, investment, credit, personnel, audit, and nominating committees.

The operating budget is funded by income from the Foundation’s own endowment, from minimal management fees, and from the Foundation’s own investments in the United Methodist Development Fund of TN/KY, Inc.

The purpose of the Foundation is to assist United Methodists in making significant gifts and bequests to United Methodist churches, ministries, and institutions. Our counseling often includes connecting people with their passions and assisting with detailed estate and tax planning.
The Foundation retains legal counsel to assist persons and their attorneys as they consider various giving options. As we work with persons, we are often called upon to provide counsel as to potential beneficiaries within the church. Many gift plans require that a trustee be named, and the Foundation is ideally suited to serve in this capacity.
Many gifts require ongoing investment supervision, and The Foundation also serves in this role. The Foundation’s resources are balanced between managing the affairs of gift funds previously established and seeking new gifts.
As we seek new gifts, we work to identify interested persons, to promote an understanding of the various giving options, and to connect people’s passions for ministry with ways in which they can leave legacies.

The Foundation serves local churches in a variety of ways:

1. We counsel with churches interested in establishing a wills and legacies task force. The Foundation provides resources that local churches can use in developing their own promotion of this emphasis.
2. The Foundation’s President is a frequent speaker in local churches for Wednesday Night Live, Family Nights, Planning Retreats, Sunday Schools, United Methodist Women and Men meeting, and Estate Planning Seminars. He also preaches upon invitation.
3. The Foundation also offers its Development Officer as a speaker at local churches and groups in the church and as a leader of seminars.
4. Persons contemplating significant lifetime gifts or bequests frequently talk with their pastors, seeking advice and information. The Foundation’s president will often join the pastor and persons interested in these topics.
5. The Foundation can also serve as trustee of gifts which benefit local churches and/or extension ministries of the Tennessee-Western KY Conference.
6. The Foundation often enters into management agreements with local churches to manage and invest gifts previously made. This arrangement can improve the local church’s rate of return, thus increasing the benefit of the gift.

Absolutely not. In fact, most of the gift funds managed by the Foundation benefit some other United Methodist concern. Through the endowment for the Foundation and modest management fees, the Foundation does not have to worry about funding its own program. Its mission is to help United Methodists support whatever part of the church is of importance to them, not in raising funds for itself.

Certainly. The Foundation serves as trustee of numerous charitable funds in which the income is distributed to more than one institution or program.

It depends upon what the donor wants to accomplish. The designation of gifts may either be broad or specific. It is helpful to the church at times to have undesignated endowments that can be used for emergency needs. Donors have many options in this area, and the Foundation can help donors select the best approach to meet their intentions. The Foundation would suggest that donors provide for flexibility especially in gifts establishing endowments, and that unforeseen needs in the future be considered.

An executor is someone you designate in your last will and testament to serve as your representative in handling your affairs at your death. In some instances, other institutions or persons are better equipped to serve as your executor. If asked, the Foundation will review your estate and determine its ability to serve.

The Foundation strongly recommends that an attorney write your will. If you want to benefit the Church in some way through your will, the Foundation can counsel with you to bring into focus all of their concerns that should be considered so that an attorney can write a will that meets your needs and attention.

You have many additional choices relating to how the gift is made. There are three major types of gifts:

• Your first choice is to make an outright gift. An outright gift is made during your lifetime. The gift is irrevocable, and may be 100% income tax deductible, within limits that may be set by the Federal Government.
• Your second option is to use a life income agreement. Life income agreements allow you to make a gift during your lifetime and still retain the income from your gift for the remainder of your life. The Foundation offers several life income gift plans, and each can present many benefits. When properly drawn, they are partially tax deductible.
• Your third option is to make a bequest in your will. For many, a bequest is an ideal giving plan, because it allows a person to plan a gift to become effective at death. This gift is possibly more substantial than any gift made during the donor’s lifetime. Charitable bequests are generally deductible for estate tax purposes.
  If you are contemplating a significant gift, or if you’re just curious about how these giving plans work, the Foundation would be pleased to provide additional information.

Certainly. Many of the charitable funds we manage were created with gifts of real estate or securities. There can be significant tax advantages to the donor in making a gift of real property or securities rather than with cash. The Foundation is prepared to explain these advantages more fully at your request.

Contact our President:
Rev. Dr. David Weatherly
1908 Grand Avenue, Suite 210
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: (615)259-2008
Email: david.weatherly@umftwk.org