Endowment fund overview

The purpose of the endowment fund is to further the growth and mission of our church by providing long-term funding of important ministries. Every year, about 4.5% of the endowment fund will be spent on selected ministries. We expect that this percentage will preserve the principal of the endowment in inflation-adjusted dollars over time so that the Endowment Fund can continue to bear fruit for many many years to come.

When you give to the Endowment Fund, you can specify which ministry you want to support, or you can make an unrestricted gift, the fruits of which will be used where most needed each year. There are several different types of endowment gifts that you can make to support our church and school's ministries.

• Mission & Evangelism Support community, district, synodical, or world missions. Examples: sponsor a missionary, overseas mission project, community outreach, district church planting.
• Help for People in Need Assist people within our church and our community who have unmet physical, emotional or spiritual needs. Examples: food, temporary housing, counseling.
• Tuition Aid for Students at our School Grant school families financial aid so that their children can attend First Lutheran School of Venice.
• Equipment and Enrichment Programs for our School Examples: Purchase classroom equipment, support school enrichment programs like extra-curricular art and music classes, improve school facilities at First Lutheran School of Venice.
• School Staff Support Support the salaries of the school staff, allowing the church to provide adequate salaries while keeping tuition affordable to the families in our community.
• Scholarships (a) for students going into full-time church work as pastors, teachers, or directors of Christian education (b) for members of our church attending a Christian high school or a Lutheran college.
• Christian Education Support education programs at our church and in our community. Examples: vacation Bible study, Sunday school, confirmation, adult classes.
• Youth Program Examples: youth retreats, national youth gatherings subsidies, counselor training.
• Church Music and Worship (a) Church Music Examples: choir music, organ and piano maintenance, special music programs. (b) Special Worship programs Examples: Renaissance, Lenten, Easter, Advent, Christmas services, worship aides.
• Technology Maintain and upgrade electronic or other technical equipment. Examples: sound system and projection screen system in the sanctuary; maintenance and upgrades of office machines and computers (both hardware and software) for effective office support of our ministries.
• Building Fund (a) Improve and repair church facilities Examples: painting, remodeling, new furnaces, landscaping (b) Property acquisition and new construction.
• Housing Fund Support church and school staff with loans to help them with the expenses of buying a home. The church could also use the money from this fund to acquire partial or full equity in a home for use of staff members (`parsonage').

The Endowment Committee works out proposals to the Voters' Assembly on which programs to support and also promotes and administers the fund. It recently also took a lead on working out recommendations regarding housing support for staff members. The following church members currently serve on the Endowment Committee: Richard Bruning (Chairman), Brenda Zamzow (Secretary), Lucy Wegner, Ed Freston, Pastor Ken Frese, Ulf Hermjakob (President) and Dave Rusch (Principal). Please don't hesitate to ask these fellow church members if you have any questions or ideas regarding the Endowment Fund.

Official Documents

• The Endowment Fund By-Laws describe the purpose of the fund, the composition and duties of the Endowment Fund Committee, types of gift accepted as well as endowment distribution procedures.
  
  Download the main section of the by-laws (7 pages, without appendices) in pdf or postscript format.
  
  
• The Endowment Fund Categories are an appendix to the Endowment Fund By-Laws and describe the different categories to which restricted donations can be made.
  
  Download Endowment Fund Categories (1 page) in pdf or postscript format.
  
• The Endowment Distribution Policy is another appendix to the Endowment Fund By-Laws and describes how much of the endowment fund is distributed to designated endowment projects every year.
  
  Download full Endowment Distribution Policy (10 pages including appendices) in pdf or postscript format. Download endowment distribution program as listed in Appendix C of the policy.
  
  
• Our church's Investment Policy is applicable to both the Endowment Fund as well the Church's general funds.
  
  Download full Investment Policy (2 pages) in pdf or postscript format.