Disposition of Bequests and Special Gifts

Policy of St. Luke's Episcopal Church Durham, NC

General.  This policy statement governs the disposition of bequests or special gifts.

BEQUESTS are gifts by will or other testamentary dispositions, in which the assets are transferred upon the death of the donor. 

SPECIAL GIFTS are gifts made at any time and other than those expressly given for the annual operating budget of the Church. These may be any type of gift in the form of cash, securities, personal property, real property, etc.  The bequest or special gift may identify the beneficiary in one of two general ways: 

1. "St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Durham, NC of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina" or some other wording such as, "The Vestry of St. Luke's Church" or "St. Luke's Episcopal Church" or "St. Luke's Memorial Fund"
2. "The Heritage Fund" or "Endowment Fund" or "Foundation" of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Durham, NC or similar wording.

Bequests or Special Gifts may fall into two general categories: 

1. "Designated" in which the donor has identified a specific purpose(s) to which the funds should be directed.  The Vestry has ultimate responsibility to determine that the use(s) to which those funds are applied is faithful to the donor's wishes. 
• Designated Current Gifts are made when the donor has identified a specific purpose(s) to which the funds should be directed and has expressed his or her intent that the funds be spent currently.  Upon approval and acceptance of such gift, they will be expended by the Vestry of St. Luke's.
• Designated Endowment Gifts are made when the donor wishes to designate a specific established ministry fund within The Heritage Fund to which the bequest or special gift should be directed. The established designated ministry funds are:
• Christian Education Fund
• Clergy and Staff Enrichment Fund 
• Mission and Outreach Fund
• Music and Worship Fund
• Capital Improvement Fund
• Rector's Discretionary Fund
• Seed Money for New Ministries and Special One-Time Projects Fund
• Individual Named Endowment Gifts are made by a donor who may designate their own named gift for a special ministry fund.  The suggested minimum for establishing such an Individual Named Endowment Gift is $25,000.  For more information, see the Donor Designated Funds Policy. The assets of any and all designated ministry funds will be merged with the other assets of the The Heritage Fund for investment management purposes, but the identity and designated purpose of each fund will be preserved.
2. "Undesignated" in which case the Vestry and Rector have greater freedom in determining their ultimate use.
   • Undesignated current gifts are made when the donor has identified no specific purpose to which the funds should be directed, but has expressed his or her clear intent that the funds be expended currently.  Undesignated current gifts will be expended according to the wishes of the Vestry of St. Luke’s.
   • Undesignated Endowment Gifts are made when the donor has identified no specific purpose to which the funds should be directed or has requested the funds go to The Heritage Fund, without specifying a designated fund within the Heritage Fund.  Such gifts will be accepted and added to the corpus of the Heritage Fund whose earnings are unrestricted and used according to the general Spending Rules Policy of the Heritage Fund.

Memorial Gifts will be treated as a current gift or Heritage Fund endowment gift, designated or undesignated, in compliance with the wishes of the deceased or the family of the deceased. If undesignated, Memorial Gifts will be placed in the Memorial Gifts Fund to be used by the Memorials Committee. If designated, the Memorials Committee will consider the wishes of the family before making recommendations to the vestry. If Memorial Gifts have not been allocated by the Memorials Committee by the end of the fifth calendar year following receipt of such funds, the funds will be deposited into the St. Luke's Heritage Fund.

A transfer to the St. Luke's Heritage Fund, once made, is intended to be held in perpetuity.  The expectation of this policy is that all undesignated bequests be transferred to the Heritage Fund at the earliest practical time; however, from time to time the urgent needs of the parish may arise to necessitate an exception to this policy. In such instances the following procedures will apply:

• The Rector of the Parish will assess the particular circumstances giving rise to a perceived need to make an exception to the policy.  Such circumstances should be judged by the Rector to be truly extraordinary and that no other financial resources of the Parish are available or are expected to be available in time to fulfill the urgent needs.  If the Rector concludes that an exception is appropriate, the Rector will bring a recommendation to the Heritage Fund Committee and Vestry at the earliest practicable time.
• Final authority for granting such an exception to policy will rest with the Vestry.

The procedure for handling bequests and special gifts begins with the Treasurer of the parish, who will see that any cash is immediately deposited and held in the bank pending a decision regarding the final disposition of the bequest. The Treasurer will prepare copies of relevant documents and distribute them to the relevant offices of the Parish, including the Rector, the Senior Warden, the Finance Committee, the Memorials Committee and the Chair of the Heritage Fund Committee.  The liquidation of securities will be handled according to the normal practices of the Treasurer of the Parish.  The method, timing, agent, etc. for the liquidation of other assets (such as real estate or personal property) will be decided by the Vestry. 

Appropriate acknowledgements of bequests and special gifts will be given by the Rector, the Vestry and/or by the Chair of the Heritage Fund Committee in a timely manner.

Adopted by action of the Vestry of St. Luke's Episcopal Church this 11th day of May, 2009.