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Account Opening; Deposits; Withdrawals; Distributions

On-site Consultations

When your church or agency is considering a long-term investment of endowment funds, scholarship funds, or cemetery funds, we recommend an on-site consultation with a member of the Foundation—s staff. Such a consultation is provided without any cost or obligation to your church or agency. We have over 40 years of experience working directly with United Methodist churches and agencies, and can provide valuable suggestions regarding policies, traps to avoid, and best practices for encouraging additional gifts.
Request for Services

Memorandum of Agreement

Whenever funds are placed with the Foundation, a document known as a “Memorandum of Agreement” is established. In this agreement, the church identifies the following:

• What body in the church has authority over the investment (charge conference, church council, finance committee, permanent endowment committee, or trustees)
• What the purpose of the investment is (unusual capital needs, specific ministries, scholarships, camperships, music, etc)
• Whether or not the principal of the fund can be distributed, and if so under what circumstances and by whose authority
• Where the funds would go if the church ceases to exist or merges
• How often the income of the fund is to be distributed and for what purpose
• What changes can be made to the agreement and by whose authority

Though the Foundation will guide your church in answering these concerns, the ultimate responsibility for establishing them will rest with your church. However, once the Memorandum of Agreement is completed, the Foundation will require your church to follow the established guidelines.

Deposits and Withdrawals

Because we believe that our investment purpose is long-term, we value our common fund known as the Unified Balanced Account on a calendar-quarter basis. Although we accept deposits anytime during a quarter, the deposits from churches and agencies are only invested in the common fund on the first day of the new calendar-quarter. Funds that are deposited with the Foundation between calendar quarters do not earn any short-term interest prior to being invested in the Unified Balanced Account.

Deposits must be in the Foundation office no later than the last day of each calendar-quarter (March 31; June 30; September 30; December 31) in order for them to be invested in the common fund.

A request for a withdrawal must follow the guidelines that your church established in the Memorandum of Agreement with the Foundation, and must be received in the Foundation prior to the close of the calendar-quarter. However, in emergency or unusual circumstances, a principal withdrawal can be made upon completion of a promissory note that is redeemed by the Foundation and by account withdrawal at the close of the calendar-quarter. Again, such a withdrawal between quarters must comply with the guidelines in the Memorandum of Agreement and can only be for a percentage of the most recent quarterly valuation of the account.

Income distributions

Income can be distributed on a quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis, depending on the needs of your church or agency. This distribution schedule is usually specified at the time the account is established, but can be changed upon proper documentation to the Foundation.

The common Unified Balanced Account is managed similar to a mutual fund and units are assigned based on the quarterly value of the unit at the time a deposit is made. The rate of income distributions is set at the close of the calendar-year based on a Total Return Approach to investing. This distribution rate is expressed as an amount per unit and remains constant throughout the calendar-year.

Reinvestment options

When an income-distribution frequency other than quarterly is chosen, the income that has accrued to the account in the intervening quarters is automatically reinvested in the account.

It is also possible to have the income of an account reinvested for a period of years or until the value of the account reaches a pre-determined dollar value.

If there are any other questions or comments about account openings, deposits, withdrawals, or distributions that you would like to discuss, please send us an email.