The Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma

By Dan Allen, Senior Vice President, Donor Services

I am seeing a growing number of families make the decision to include a gift to charity in their estate plans.  Most of us naturally, and rightly, assume that our estates will go to our children.  However, if we have supported ministries during our lifetimes with cash gifts why wouldn’t we want to extend that beyond our lifetimes by making a tithe gift at our death?  

Local Congregations a Prime Beneficiary
Each year between 250 and 300 families will complete an estate plan that includes a future gift to their favorite Baptist ministries.  The donors document in their wills or revocable living trusts what ministries will receive the benefit of these funds.  Over the last several years the largest category has been the donor’s local Baptist church.  In 2009 alone, Oklahoma Baptists established gifts in their estate plans worth an estimated $18.6 million.  Last year 26 percent or $4.85 million of these funds were specifically left to benefit the will maker’s local Baptist church. 

Impact on Ministry
In future years, these churches will have the ability to expand their ministry through missions, evangelism and outreach as they receive estate gifts from former members.  Imagine if your church received a $50,000 estate gift today that was completely unexpected?  What mission opportunities or outreach efforts could be done that was previously impossible due to budget constraints?  This impact is being driven by modest estates.  The average family that will leave an estate gift this year to their local church has an estate less than $300,000.  That includes the value of life insurance and retirement plan accounts. 

Outright vs. Endowment
Many of the families leaving estate gifts to their church are using an endowment fund.  An estate gift is most likely the largest one time gift any of us will make and some families want to make sure that the gift has a long lasting impact on their church.  Gone are the days when endowments were used only by wealthy families to benefit large institutions.  Congregations large and small are receiving endowment gifts from modest sized estates.  These donors have the desire to insure that their gift provides income to further ministry for generations.  

If you have a desire to leave a gift to a Baptist ministry, including your local church, we can assist you and your attorney to update an existing estate plan or get your first plan put in place.  Visit “Begin Your Estate Plan Now” or simply call us at 1-800-949-9988.