Family Vision Endowments
Introduction
The Family Vision Endowment™ program developed by Eternal Vision gives you the ability to support all of the ministries God lays on your heart. Accomplish all of your ministry estate giving through one document and retain the flexibility to make changes throughout your lifetime without modifying your existing Will or Trust! Eternal Vision will help you establish Bible-based criteria to associate with your beneficiary designations so you can have the peace of mind of knowing you are supporting the causes in which you believe--forever!
Key Benefits:
- Ability to support in a major way ALL of the ministries God lays on your heart
- Simplicity of accomplishing all your planned ministry giving through one document
- Flexibility to make changes throughout your lifetime, without changing your Will or Trust
- Peace of mind knowing Eternal Vision will preserve the integrity of your gift
- Expert assistance from Eternal Vision’s planned giving professionals to help you:
- Maximize the eternal rewards promised for exercising good stewardship
- Maximize the available tax and financial benefits under current law
How is it established?
Working with Eternal Vision’s planned-giving professionals, you create a list of the ministries you are interested in supporting through end-of-life giving. As you prayerfully consider the type and level of support God is leading you to give, our staff will draft the legal endowment documents to establish a unique Family Vision Endowment for your family that defines the Bible-based criteria by which beneficiary ministries will be reviewed. Once the documents are finished, a simple adjustment to your existing Will, Trust, and/or beneficiary designations to name your Family Vision Endowment is all you will ever need to do to direct funding to your endowment. If you later change your mind about a named beneficiary or just want to adjust the level of support you originally designated, a simple phone call to Eternal Vision is all you need to do to make the change effective with no additional expense!
How is it funded?
As the donor, you may give now from current assets, or you may leave a portion of your estate at death through your Will or Trust, or by means of beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, annuities, life insurance or other assets. With endowment designations, the contribution is never spent down; therefore, the original gift amount should be large enough to provide an income stream that will be annually beneficial to the ministry. Additionally, your Family Vision Endowment can be used to designate direct one-time gifts to any ministry. If you have existing legal documents, it may not even be necessary to change them. A modification to your IRA, annuity or insurance beneficiary designations may be all that is needed. The process is simple, free, and quick and we are happy to provide assistance with these steps.
How does it work?
At your death (or the death of the second spouse) the initial funding, comprised of cash, stocks, bonds, mutual funds or property, is received by Eternal Vision, liquidated, and distributed according to the wishes you specified in your Family Vision Endowment documents. Funds designated for endowment beneficiaries are reinvested prudently to facilitate a perpetual income for ministry support. To preserve the intentions of your ongoing support, Eternal Vision takes measures that are reasonably necessary to ascertain the ministry philosophy, doctrinal position, and practice of your endowment beneficiaries. This ongoing process of confirmation is designed to insure that your intentions are honored by those benefitting from your generosity.
Illustration:
John and Marge Smith have a moderate estate. Both of their adult children have done well for themselves financially. The Smiths are going to leave family heirlooms and appropriate financial remembrances to their children and grandchildren as loving gifts, but since all they have is truly the Lord’s, they have determined that the greater percentage of their estate will go to His work. They created the Smith Family Vision Endowment which will assist several ministries God used to bless their family through the years. They designated their local church, and a Christian radio station to receive substantial lump-sum cash distributions, and established endowments for improvements to teacher compensation at their church’s Christian school, a scholarship for education majors at a respected Christian college, and field support for a missionary family they have prayed for faithfully for many years.
Mr. Smith established three funding sources for the Smith Family Vision Endowment. By immediately donating some highly appreciated stock directly to his Family Vision Endowment, Mr. Smith was able to avoid the capital gains tax he would have paid this year had he sold the stock himself, and he received a charitable donation tax deduction far greater even than what he originally paid for the stock. Next, Mr. Smith advised his attorney to amend his and Mrs. Smith’s Wills to designate “Eternal Vision, Inc., for the Smith Family Vision Endowment” as the residual beneficiary. Because EV is tax-exempt, his estate will benefit from the charitable contribution if estate taxes become an issue for his heirs. Finally, the Smiths took out a “second to die” life insurance policy naming “Eternal Vision, Inc., for the Smith Family Vision Endowment” as the beneficiary. When the Smiths are promoted to heaven, Eternal Vision’s staff will carry out the explicit dictates of their Family Vision Endowment. What a blessing that will be for the Smith family and for the ministries designated as beneficiaries!