Deciding what to commit
What will you commit?
In the next four weeks, we are going to be asking you to tell us what you plan to commit to the For the Next Generation campaign over the next five years. Whether you are a weekly “in-the-pews” member, a faithful livestream participant, or someone who comes a couple times a year, we need your financial investment to make our project a success. But how much is an appropriate “gift” to this project?
Obviously, your financial resources will ultimately determine the depth of your personal participation, but we still thought it would be good to give you some guidance as to what our needs are and how you might step in and help.
Our NEed
The total goal of this campaign is $6.5 million. As of October 1, we have received $2.78 million in early commitments.
We have also applied for foundation grants, but we will not know if we are recipients for a few months.
If we set aside the possibility of grant funding, then we are looking to receive five-year commitments from you totaling $3.75 million, or $750,000 per year.
“We are looking to receive five-year commitments from you totaling $3.75 million, or $750,000 per year. ”
Remember: we are committed to not moving forward with either phase of our construction project until we have the necessary funds committed to that phase. We need a generous outpouring of support from our congregation and wider community to make this project successful.
Gift Chart
The idea of raising $3.75 million seems daunting, we know. It’s a lot. But there are ways for us to help make that number more accessible for most people. This gift chart below, for example, shows you the kinds of five-year gifts we need for this project and, spoiler alert, we need gifts of all sizes and shapes. We need gifts of $100,000 or more, and we need gifts of $500. If we broke down five-year total amounts into per-year giving, it would look like this:
Where do you fit?
As you reflect on the project and consider how you might get involved financially, here are two general formulas you can use to help you calculate what your five-year-commitment to the project might look like.
Option 1: a gift based on annual income
Here’s an easy place to start. Grab a pencil and a calculator. Write down your total annual household income. Now, take 10% of that figure. This number represents your potential giving ability to a special project over a five-year pledge period.
Example: My total household income (self + spouse) is $100,000. Ten percent of that figure is a $10,000 gift, which works out to $2,000 per year over five years.
Option 2: A gift based on net worth
If you don’t know your personal net work, you can start by multiplying your annual income by ten to get a rough calculation of your personal net worth. (This calculation glosses over any investments, home equity, or other assets). If you are retired, there are a number of “net worth calculators” on the web, or you could speak to your financial advisor.
A five-year gift in this situation is suggested to be 4-5% of your estimated net worth.
Example: Say your total household income (self + spouse) is $100,000. Multiplying that by ten gives you a net worth of $1 million. Taking 4-5% of that figure would be $40,000-$50,000 over five years, or $8,000-$10,000 per year.
MAking a Major gift
We are in need of several major gifts (five year gifts over $100k) to make this project possible. If you are in a position to make such a gift, please reach out to us so we can talk more about the best way to make that possible for you. Please give the church office a call (810.234.8673) and ask to speak with Joseph or Cristy.
ConclusioN
As you prayerfully consider how much you might give to this project, please know that regardless of your giving potential, we need your joyful and eager support for this project. Remember, we are not just building for ourselves as an exercise in vanity, but we are building for a future generation who will carry on the mission of Christ in downtown Flint. Many, many blessings to you, friend!
