People with a heart for an enduring gift may want to consider creating and giving an endowment. An endowment is literally a gift that keeps on giving, a gift of a fund that pays the accrued interest but retains the principle to generate interest again the next year, and the next year, and for as long as the endowment exists.

This can be done by creating an endowment or permanent fund through The Idlewild Foundation. The fund will annually distribute the amount earned by the principal during the year. The Idlewild Foundation uses a financial adviser pledged to invest wisely but conservatively. Our goal is always for any donations to The Idlewild Foundation that are not given as grants during the year to grow responsibly and for all endowment funds to have secure principal balances so the purpose of the endowment, ongoing donations to Idlewild, can be fulfilled. In the case of endowment funds, the amount given to Idlewild Baptist Church (or the charity that is the beneficiary of the endowment) every year equals the investment income of the endowment as long as the principal amount remains strong.

In bad economic years, unfortunately, it is possible that no payment may occur, otherwise the principle would be depleted. However, over the years it is not unreasonable to assume that an average of close to 4% income will result and, therefore, there would be an average 4% payment from the endowment fund to Idlewild yearly.

Thus, if the initial endowment donation is $10,000, the annual average at 4% would be $400.00. Yes, it takes a while for the endowment to pay to Idlewild Baptist Church even the full amount of the initial donation, but bear in mind that the income and the donations continue indefinitely, long past the time when total payments to Idlewild exceed $10,000.

And as you donate more to the endowment fund, or others join you, the fund – and thus income – grows!

There is another way to look at an endowment fund. If your goal is for a lasting donation of a greater amount, perhaps you want to consider donating an amount to an endowment that will, over time, generate the desired amount. If your goal is $5,000 per year to be given to Idlewild, then, assuming average 4% growth, a donation of $125,000 would be required. To learn more about how an endowment in your name can help Idlewild Baptist Church, give us a call at (813) 264-8713. To learn more about how to give the gift that keeps on giving to God, give us a call; we can tell you about a fund already in place that does exactly that!

About the Author

John Campbell has retired from a 40-year legal practice as a trial attorney in Tampa. He has served in multiple volunteer roles at Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz, Florida, where he met Jesus.  He began serving as the Executive Director of the Idlewild Foundation in 2016.  He has been married to the love of his life, Mona Puckett Campbell, since 1972.