Foundation

Vancouver Trinity Lutheran Foundation

The Foundation is a separately chartered arm of Trinity Lutheran Church charged with assisting the congregation to fulfill its mission of sharing God’s love with all people.

The Foundation is empowered by our congregation to provide stewardship awareness among Trinity members and friends with regard to accumulated, inherited or appreciated resources, to solicit and receive support in the form of gifts toward the work of the Church and the Foundation, and to faithfully manage the resources placed in its care.

It is a separate non-profit corporation formed under Section 501c(3) of the 1986 Internal Revenue Service Code.

Click on a heading below to read more.

Categories of Funds Managed by the Foundation

Memorial Fund: Memorial gifts, including interest earned thereon, may be used for purposes requested by the Church Council and approved by the Foundation. A sub-account accumulates funds which can be used to assist persons wishing to study or train for church-related vocations.

Unrestricted Perpetual Fund: Gifts given without designation or restriction.Only the interest earned may be used.

Restricted Perpetual Fund: Gifts given for specific purposes and/or for programs administered by the Foundation (such as the Scholarship Program.) Only the interest earned may be used.
Two sub-accounts currently exist:

General scholarships to members
Providing animals to raise the income of needy families globally through the ELCA’s World Hunger Appeal/God’s Global Barnyard Program

The Process to Allocate Available Funds

How do I/we give to the Foundation?

Categories of gifts acceptable to Trinity Lutheran Church and it’s Foundation are cash, securities, real estate or personal property; and such gifts may be directed to “Memorial” or “Perpetual Funds.”

All cash gifts are received and deposited by the Church, and then transferred as appropriate to the Foundation.

Non-cash gifts are converted to cash by the Foundation and the proceeds are invested until needed.

Receipt of all gifts will be acknowledged by the Church to the donors or their estates.

Be advised that the Foundation has the “right of refusal” with regard to any gift. Furthermore, any gift – once accepted – becomes the property of the Foundation to be used solely at its discretion in conformance with its mission and approved guidelines.
The Foundation cannot act as a “pass through agent” for purposes not in conformance with its articles of incorporation and bylaws, the document of understanding with its parent Trinity Lutheran Church and the approved guidelines for carrying out its responsibilities.

How do I request use of the funds?

Generally, requests for funds shall be submitted initially to Trinity’s Church Council for review and determination of conformance to Trinity’s mission and ministry goals before forwarding to the Foundation.

All requests for scholarships – both for general education and for church-related vocation support – shall be submitted directly to the Foundation on application forms provided for that purpose.

Other questions? Talk to one of your Foundation Board Members listed below.