Since 1978, Trinity's endowment has been enhancing and supplementing our activities to help us reach new audiences, maintain our buildings, start new programs, and provide music for worship and other special events. Because of numerous faithful givers, our endowment will support Trinity for years to come. 
Learn more about Trinity's Endowments in the 2020 Trinity United Methodist Endowment Report.

Explore the Endowment Funds

Building Endowment
The Building Endowment is used for major repairs, capital improvements, equipment, furnishings, or any extraordinary maintenance on Church buildings and/or other properties or structures owned by the Church. It is not intended to provide for general operating expenses (i.e. utilities).

​The Building Endowment continues to be the primary source of funds for the Trustees to maintain our infrastructure because the operating budget doesn't fill all of the needs. Trinity is bigger than just the church building. In addition to it we have the church office, parking lot, bus maintenance, the parsonage, plus a lawn and garden to maintain. Without the Building Endowment we would not be able to maintain these items.
Program endowment
The Program Endowment funds efforts to reach additional persons for Christ and will be used to further spiritual development of individuals and corporate Christian life. Ministries may include, but are not limited to: Evangelism, Youth, Education, Discipleship and Fellowship. It may not be used for any activity covered by the Building Fund.

In 2021, the Program Endowment will be supplementing the new Young Adult Outreach position. The endowment by-laws allow us to use funds to subsidize the cost of a new program, ministry or staff position for up to three years. Investing Program Endowment funds in this position will reach new audiences for Trinity.
Undesignated endowment
These funds are not designated for a particular purpose or restricted in any way by the donor. Income from this account will be used to fund the ministries or missions selected by the Endowment Committee and approved by the TUMC Governing Board.

​The Undesignated Endowment gives us the flexibility to support the most pressing needs of Trinity. 
The H.L. Everett Music Fund
Income from the Everett Music Fund is to be used for the enhancement of the music program of the church. This includes, but is not limited to, the training of and compensation of an organist of the church.

​Each year, the entirety of the Music Endowment distribution goes toward the compensation of our music staff, but it only covers a small portion.
The Mary I. Smith Education Scholarship FUnd
This is a donor designated fund which supports members of Trinity who are pursuing a degree in education. Members can apply for a scholarship to be applied to their tuition and fees. This fund also provides continuing education support to Trinity staff and members of Trinity pursuing education in ministry.

Giving to the Endowment

Leaving your legacy through a contribution to the Endowment is easy. Anyone can contribute any amount to any of the endowment funds - whether it's $5, $50,000, or one share of Apple.

By Check
Checks can be made to Trinity United Methodist Church and mailed to the church office or dropped in the giving plate. Be sure to indicate in the memo which endowment fund you are supporting (building, program, music, scholarship, undesignated). Otherwise, it will go to the Undesignated Endowment by default.

Planned Giving
The most popular contribution method to the endowments is including one of the funds in your estate planning through a bequest in your will, as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy, or other methods. If you would like more information about including Trinity's endowments in your planned giving, contact Trinity's Endowment Chair. 

Stock
If you would like to contribute to the endowments by donating stock, we can accommodate that through the Indiana United Methodist Foundation, which manages our endowments. 

Endowment Management

Our endowments are managed by the United Methodist Foundation of Indiana, which charges a modest fee for their service. UMFI invests in funds that are screened to fit within the Social Principles of the Methodist Church. That means our funds aren't invested in companies that manufacture guns, ammunition, tobacco, and alcohol, among other things. The fund regularly performs at or above comparable funds. and has seen an average return of 10% over the last five years.