Give the Blessing of Life
It’s time to learn and see how you can blend a few words, words that are closely related to each other.
Legacy Giving – verb. To convey one’s values through creation of a future gift to charity. A foresighted action to strengthen a favorite cause.
Stewardship – noun. The job of supervising or taking care of something, such as an organization or property.
Effective legacy giving, combined with Godly stewardship, enhances the impact of a donor’s resources to maximize kingdom impact.
• It makes effective use of money and assets,
• It satisfies the charitable passions that God has placed in a donor’s heart,
• It is an effective demonstration and testimony of the faith and values that every believer should have.
In short, you worked hard for the resources you have accumulated; you should want those resources to be well and effectively used, not wasted or spent frivolously. And you should want others to see and respect the faith that brought you to your relationship with God.
Give hope
In combination, legacy giving and stewardship make a powerful team! Together, they can change the world for the better and, far more importantly, change lives and hearts for eternity.
Each person’s individual part may be small, but collectively, the potential impact is almost beyond our imagination. Your dollars alone may not have an enormous, world-changing impact. But the legacy giving and stewardship of millions of Christians can shake the world if directed in a Godly manner. Many articles have been written over the past few years about the trillions of dollars in accumulated wealth that will be changing hands over the next 20 to 30 years as the Boomer generation fades away. See Coming Soon to a Millennial Near You. Where those trillions of dollars go and how they are used hold the key to the futures of many struggling people around the world. Those trillions of dollars also hold the key to the ability to spread the gospel to the many people groups and peoples who have never heard of Jesus.
I recently heard a good question, “Will giving money to individuals be the best stewardship of the resources God has given to me?” Asked differently, the question becomes even more direct and immediate, “Is giving all of my money as cash to my descendants what God really wants?” Asked differently and even better, “Is giving all of my money as cash to my descendants going to advance the kingdom of God?” I also like to ask, “If I am building my legacy by what I do today, will waiting until I die to give build the legacy I hope to have?” And let me add one more tough question, “What will that legacy be if you leave nothing to God?”
Peoples’ reasons and motivations for their giving choices are very individual and private and should be respected. But the best reasons and motivations come from God and serve Him. Let us help you consider what may be some new ideas for giving to your family and to God.
Consider the giving possibilities:
1. Give an education. You can fund a grandchild’s education through a 529 Plan, often referred to in Florida as a Florida Prepaid Plan. In the current social and political environment, a natural question is “what about the government paying for education?” But consider the truth that the government can’t make everything free. Add to that the blessing of your grandchild graduating with no college debt. There are different plans, Savings and Prepaid, with different benefits. Click here for a 60 second video with a few basics on the options.
Also consider the alternatives. You can save after tax dollars or put money in an IRA or 401(k) or other pre-tax investment account, or put funds into a trust with directed distribution of funds for education the grandchild. These are alternatives to a 529 plan; but know that there are others. For some of the pros and cons of a 529 Plan as well as options, click here.
The Idlewild Foundation has been offering scholarships for active Idlewild members who have a financial need for over 10 years now. We have given out more than 1.4 million in over 450 scholarships. It was the hope and heart of our primary donors to allow believers with a financial need the opportunity for the education they never had! Consider donating to The Idlewild Foundation Scholarship Fund so that this legacy of hope can continue.
2. Give a down payment. Give a grandchild a head start to home ownership. I was a beneficiary of a small sum from a great uncle that gave us our down payment on our first (and only) home. It was a blessing then and is always a warm memory, even now that more than 44 years have passed. If the grandkids already have a home, perhaps you can help them with their mortgage with a partial paydown of principle.
3. Give a testimony and more. Give an eternal hope to those you love. You can do this in multiple ways:
a. Be in relationship now. Invest more than your money in the future of your grandchildren; invest your time today. The best testimony of who you are and the best legacy you can build is an investment of your life right now. Be intentional and make the time.
b. Provide a written testimony with your will. You will pass on, but your testimony of God’s faithfulness to you can live on for generations to come. Be like Moses when he commanded the Israelites, “… be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” Deuteronomy 4:9.
c. Create a giving fund, then fund it and help teach generosity to your children or grandchildren. One of the greatest gifts you can pass along to later generations is found in Acts 20:35, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Learn more, including how to create a Giving Fund by clicking here. Make it a family project to make good and generous gifts to the ministries you love.
d. Remember God who gave it all to you in the first place. Give a real-life testimony with a real-life kingdom gift. Impact your community and your world and the eternities of those who receive a blessing – the gospel – through God and your generosity. What has God placed on your heart? Consider:
i. Local missions.
ii. National missions.
iii. International missions. To learn more about missions opportunities, come to Idlewild’s Global Missions Conference, held ever year in the fall.
iv. A particular ministry or ministry area, local schools, a prison ministry like Passion for Prison, The Idlewild Foundation, or, of course, Idlewild Baptist Church. Give to God and His church and allow His kingdom to advance in the U.S., a country fast becoming an unchurched nation.
e. Build a church. Giving through International Cooperating Ministries (ICM) allows a donor to select a country, region or even a town to help a small church in a third world country go from 100 or more members praising God in home churches to having their own church building. ICM has built more than 10,000 Christian churches and has a methodology and depth of knowledge and skill that makes their church plants phenomenal evangelistic outreaches. For more information, click here.
f. Consider not waiting to give. You may want to consider giving some to your grandchildren before you die. If you do that, you get to see the blessing that God gave to you as you pass it along to them. Remember that gifts to individuals above the gift tax limit are subject to the gift tax. Two examples:
i. If you did not set up a 529 Plan, you can help with the cost of a college education more directly by helping with those costs as they occur.
ii. If you would like to see a church built in a foreign country, give to ICM now, not later.
Know that it is not always in the best interests of your children or grandchildren to leave them large sums of money all at once in your will or as a beneficiary to an account. What percentage of 18-20-year olds can handle significant sums of cash that suddenly appear in their bank account? You also should know that despite “common knowledge,” giving equal sums to all children or grandchildren is neither legally nor biblically required. These are difficult topics to discuss in a short posting. For more information or discussion, please call us at (813) 264-8713.
FAQs
What You Need to Know About Gift Planning
As more people seriously consider the future, many have questions about making a kingdom impact. We have put together a short list of frequently asked questions and answers to them that may prove to help as you consider your estate plan and consider giving back to God and His kingdom.
Q. I am not able to make a gift now. Is there something I can do when I am able to give in the future?
A. Yes, of course. There are a variety of different ways to include a gift to The Idlewild Foundation, Fund 1:27 or Idlewild Baptist Church in your estate plan which do not require you to part with assets at this time. Contact The Idlewild Foundation to explore your giving options. Call 813-264-8713. Or click here. Know also that there are legal ways to both give and keep your wealth.
Q. How do I designate The Idlewild Foundation or Idlewild Baptist Church as a beneficiary of my retirement plan assets?
A. Simply contact your plan administrator for a change-of-beneficiary form. Under the current state of the law, do not give an IRA to a foundation such as The Idlewild Foundation, but one can be left to Idlewild Baptist Church. Name us as beneficiary, then sign, date and return the form to your provider. We recommend you keep a copy of that form and verify the form was received and the changes implemented. You may be able to log onto the plan’s website and update your designations online. Print copies for a beneficiary file that you keep with your will.
Q. Can someone at The Idlewild Foundation tell me more about what I can do and how I can be a part of God’s future kingdom work?
A. Just give us a call at 813-264-8713. We are happy to walk with you through considering the options and the benefits.
Q. What have I missed?
A. Great question! Ask yourself the following and maybe you will know the answer.
• What inspires you to make your regular contributions to your church, charity or not-for-profit?
• Have you considered ways to leave a lasting impact on God’s kingdom when you’re no longer living?
• Have you updated your estate plan to meet your personal and charitable goals? See More About Estate Planning.
• What kind of tax savings conversations are you having with a financial adviser or accountant through gifting or transferring appreciated assets?
Q. Where does giving to The Idlewild Foundation go?
A. We are a very unusual organization in that none of our management staff receives any salary or income. In fact, the management staff and Trustees all give to the Foundation. In effect, it costs us money to serve the Foundation! That alone tells you how much we believe in what we are doing for the Lord. We also pay no rent and have extraordinarily low “overhead” because Idlewild Baptist Church allows us to use an office, Idlewild’s phone system and its computer network. We do have a part-time administrative assistant and a part-time CPA who does our books, and a CPA who does our tax return (IRS Form 990), but otherwise we operate as a volunteer organization with very few expenses. As a result, our money goes directly into ministry. In fact, 100% of donations from individuals goes directly to ministry; donations from Idlewild Baptist Church cover all overhead and more.
If you have an interest, we will show you our IRS Form 990 so you can see this is true. Our major “expenses are:
• Our scholarship program (by which we typically give out more than $100,000 per year to active Idlewild members with a financial need),
• Our grants to Christian ministries who apply and whose requests meet our Grant Committee’s approval (the amounts given vary substantially dependent upon the nature and quantity of requests), and
• Our support of Idlewild’s foster care ministry through our Fund 1:27 We invest $127,000 per year into helping “the least of these” who are without a home through no fault of their own. For more on this, go to idlewildfostercare.org.
We are a 501(c)(3) approved non-profit and to the extent the law allows, donations to The Idlewild Foundation are tax deductible.
Create Your Legacy at The Idlewild Foundation and Idlewild Baptist Church!
There are many ways you can make an impact for God through a future gift. Contact The Idlewild Foundation at (813) 264-8713 or email us at jcampbell@idlewild.org. We may take a few days to get beck with you since all of our management is volunteer and part-time, but know that we will get back with you.
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.