2022 Annual Review

From Tom’s Desk 

Greetings to you from the board and staff of Faith Foundation.

Although 2022 brought us a bear market, we saw unprecedented growth in our stock gifts program, and received more deposits than withdrawals from our partners in ministry. We also strengthened our internal accounting systems. We remain financially strong even as our assets under management fluctuate with the market. As long term investors, we trust that the market will reward our patience. Over the course of our organization’s history, this has always been the case.

Rev. Peter Perry, Rev. Dan WilsonFey, and Tom Herrett completed their terms as Board members in 2022. They helped shepherd our organization through a volatile market, a rebrand, and a global pandemic.

We will always be grateful. In addition, Bob Ives plans to retire from his role as Board President at the end of June 2023. Bob served as legal counsel for our merger with the Oregon-Idaho UM Foundation in 2009, joined our board in 2010, and was elected as Board President in 2013. I’ve been blessed to have him as a close advisor and trusted friend for more than a decade. Our board’s current Vice President LaVerne Lewis will serve as interim President from July 2023 until elections are held at the fall board meeting.

Finally, after 32 years of service as Executive Director, I have announced my plans to retire at the end of June 2023. In this role, I have been blessed by the ability to work and learn alongside faithful and generous people. As I write this in early 2023, our Board has already made progress towards finding my successor and facilitating a graceful transition.

We anticipate no interruptions to the Foundation’s ministry. I cannot thank the Foundation’s board, staff, and partners enough for the opportunity to work alongside them in this faith-filled organization.

Respectfully,

Independent Auditor: Moss Adams

*Audited 2021 financials are available upon request. Audited 2022 financials will be available upon their publication in mid-2023.

Our faith guides our decisions and leads us to socially responsible and ethically sound funds that reflect the values of our team and the ministries we work with. In partnership with Wespath, we manage endowments, long-term investments, and reserve funds on behalf of churches, camps, conferences, and agencies.

We help churches fulfill their missions by offering low-hassle loans for capital improvements and new construction. Interest paid on church loans goes back into our faith community, supporting churches that have invested rainy day funds with us.

Interest rate WSJ Prime + 0.5%

This portfolio consists of short to intermediate term laddered CDs, government notes, and secured loans. The loans are made to churches and agencies within our connection, and the interest paid on these loans contributes to the portfolio’s returns. Foundation staff have managed these funds for 30 years. Note: the Stable Value Portfolio produced lower than usual returns in 2021 due to historically low interest rates. Returns are improving with the rise of interest rates in 2022.

Our flagship diversified portfolios are comprised of funds managed by Wespath, the investment subsidiary of the United Methodist Church. They avoid investments in alcohol, tobacco, pornography, gambling, weapons, and private prisons. They engage companies and policymakers through formal requests, proxy voting, and shareholder resolutions. And they invest in things that make the world a better place: affordable housing, low-carbon energy solutions, and firms owned by women and minorities. At the close of 2022, 54% of our assets under management were held in these diversified portfolios.

These social values choice portfolios were constructed in 2017. They share the same ethical screens as our diversified portfolios, and go a step further by also excluding Palestinian conflict companies and companies with fossil fuel reserves used for energy purposes. Wespath uses a combination of active and passive management in the funds that comprise these portfolios, which held 27% of our assets under management at the close of 2022.

BOARD OFFICERS

• Robert Ives, President

• LaVerne Lewis, Vice President

• Larry Nelson, Secretary

• Barbara Dadd Shaffer, Treasurer

EX OFFICIO 

• Bishop Cedric Bridgeforth

• Brant Henshaw, PNW Conference Treasurer

• Candace Clarke, UMOI Interim Treasurer

BOARD MEMBERS

• Nik Halladay

• Darrell Lowe

• Rev. Chuck Hindman

• Gaye Pierson

• Rev. John Watts

• Chris Bafus

• Rev. Ron Myers

• Rev. Lynn Rabenstein

• Mike Hartwig

• Emily Rigler

• Rev. Erika Spaet

• Pastor Buddy Gharring

• Cynthia MacLeod

A Gift that Gives Back

Ten years ago, an adventurous couple reached out to Faith Foundation with the desire to fund a capital campaign benefitting the United Methodist camp where they had met and wed. They were ready to retire from landlord duties of a duplex they owned, but they still relied on some of the rental income it produced. We set up a bargain sale.

The couple transferred ownership of the duplex to the Foundation. We sold the property, and gifted part of the proceeds to the camp immediately so that the couple got a nice tax break. Then we invested the other part of the proceeds to pay the couple $2000 per month for the next ten years to replace their rental income.

Bargain sales allow donors to create meaningful gifts with part, but not all, of an asset’s value. Terms vary according to the donors’ needs. Call us at 800-488-4179 if you’d like to talk through a gift like this.