"And now, may we have faith in life to do wise planting that the generations to come may reap even more abundantly than we. May we be bold to bringing to fruition the golden dreams of human kinship and justice. Thus we ask that fields of promise become fields of reality."
V. Emil Gudmundson

Created by the congregation in April 1993, the main purpose of the Special Funds Committee is to establish and manage the permanent Endowment Fund.

The function of this fund is to serve the financial interests of the church in two ways:

• by securing a reserve to help the church deal with financial emergencies, and
• by providing the church with a restricted source of supplemental income from investment interest and dividends

Special Funds Committee members will be glad to meet with you to answer your questions. The Committee should be consulted when gifts of real estate or other property are considered. For the names of the current Committee members, please call the church office.

Tribute Gifts

Contributions to the Endowment Fund can include gifts of any size in memory or someone who has passed away or to honor a milestone in someone's life. Such gifts should be directed to VUU Special Funds, and the name of the person will be recorded in the church's memorial registry.

Make a tribute gift to the church using the following donation form.

Kinds of Contributions to the Endowment Fund

The church's Endowment Fund is dependent upon the gifts of those members and friends who wish to ensure the financial security of the church's future. Since all gifts to the church have tax and other implications for the donor, you may wish to consult with your accountant or attorney about your gift before making a final decision. There are many kinds of gifts. Some can be given at any time, some by design are deferred to a future date.

Examples are as follows.

Cash - The simplest and most direct method. Cash gifts qualify for charitable tax deductions.
Securities - The gift of appreciated securities provides tax benefits.
Real Estate - If the real estate has appreciated, the donor gets tax benefits.
Life Insurance - It may be transferred by naming the congregation as owner or beneficiary.
Personal Will - Providing a gift through a will is one of the most common ways on contributing.
Annuity Trust - This trust provides for payment to a beneficiary in a fixed annual amount at a certain percentage of their fair market value.
Charitable Remainder Trust - Provides for payments to one or more persons during their lives and an eventual transfer to the church.
Charitable Lead Trust - The church receives the income from the property for a period of time, then the property passes to another or reverts to the owner.
Remainder Interest in a Personal Residence - This provides the donor with an income tax deduction. The donor can continue to occupy the property.

How to Leave a Bequest

While you are updating your final requests, please consider a bequest to the VUU Endowment Fund. You can update your will or living trust to set up a memorial for a loved one, or to help fund a specific objective for the church, using supplemental language similar to the following:

• I hereby bequest twenty percent of my estate to the Endowment Fund of the Valley Unitarian Universalist Church of Chandler, Arizona. OR,
  
• I hereby grant and bequeath the amount of ten thousand dollars to the Endowment Fund of the Valley Unitarian Universalist Church of Chandler, Arizona.

Please note that if one of these phrases is added to your will as a codicil, your signature usually requires two witnesses. Your will or living trust, and your final care documents should be held by your attorney, or in a safety deposit box known to your attorney or estate administrator.

An example of a codicil for your will is found in the following document.

After changing your will to provide a bequest to Valley UU, please complete a Bequest Notification Form and send it to the Special Funds Committee in care of the church. Your name will be engraved on the plaque for the Endowment Fund Recognition Society.

"I remind you that no great cultural institutions exist on a pay-as-you-go basis. Great institutions, whether colleges or symphony orchestras, art museums or churches, require inter-generational funding, the giving of more than any one generation can afford, the accumulated long term funding of one generation after another."

The Reverend Clarke Dewey Wells
Unitarian Minister and Author