The church where I pastor launched a three-year capital campaign to fund renovations for our historic building. Some of our members expressed a desire to make their contributions with stock donations. Like most churches, we feel comfortable with cash and checks. But processing stock gifts is not something we’re accustomed to doing. 

We connected our members to the PCA Foundation. The Foundation was able to receive these donations and distribute them directly to our campaign with a process that was simple for our donors and a great blessing to our fundraising efforts.  

As a pastor, I’m grateful for the Foundation for three reasons:

1. They can work with a wide range of donors. Your church members can use the Foundation to give everything whether it’s cash, stocks, real estate, business interest, or cryptocurrency.  
   
   Our congregation is an eclectic mix of people, many of whom would not seem likely donors for any foundation.  But the PCA Foundation is intentionally designed to work with a wide range of donors, not just the wealthiest of our congregants. The Advise and Consult Fund is a donor-advised fund with no fees that can be opened with an initial gift as little as $1,000. 
   
   Even the Increase Fund, a donor-advised fund designed for donors who want their funds to be actively invested in the market for growth, has fees lower than other Christian foundations such as NCF and comparable to financial service foundations like Fidelity and Vanguard.
2. They help your church collect more donations! As a pastor, it can sometimes feel unwise to recommend members put their money somewhere other than the offering plate. But the Foundation is not a final destination. It’s just a tool donors use before their donation is sent to your church or another ministry your member might recommend. When church members use the Foundation, your church is likely to be a recipient. 
   
   As we recently found out with the stock gifts to our capital campaign, your members have non-cash assets they want to donate to their church or another ministry. Our donors were pleasantly surprised to find that there was no required service charge for stock donations and that the amount requested to offset the Foundation’s operating costs was a tiny percentage of the overall donation. 
3. They are accountable. The Foundation is part of the PCA and led by elders from across the country who are gifted in managing funds. Even though it is a ministry of the PCA, they can grant to ministries and organizations outside of the PCA as well. Because of their ecclesiastical connections, they have every reason to provide an excellent level of service to you and your congregation. 
   
   The PCA Foundation can direct gifts toward churches, but also to PCA ministries such as MTW and RUF, and even to Christian ministries who share our convictions. Our most generous parishioners joyfully support a wide range of ministries in their local community and in other locations where they have a personal connection. In almost all cases, their charitable giving can be facilitated through the Foundation.
   
   At the same time, the assurance that the PCA Foundation will not make grants to organizations whose messages or activities are antithetical to orthodox Christian teaching or the moral, mental, emotional, or physical well-being of mankind gives donors confidence that their resources will be stewarded faithfully. Knowing that the PCA Foundation is led by a President and Board of Directors elected by the PCA General Assembly gives donors confidence that those convictions will not change. 

You don’t need to wait for a capital campaign to make your congregants aware of the services provided by the PCA Foundation. Especially for those who trust the theological convictions of our denomination, the PCA Foundation offers services for a wide range of donors to support ministries inside and outside of the PCA with a competitive fee structure.

Hace Cargo is the assistant pastor at Ponce Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Georgia.