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LOPC Foundation
Most of us are called to play a number of stewardship roles during our lifetimes. One aspect of stewardship that is particularly important to all of us is the planning for the distribution of our estates. One’s estate is a sacred trust. It has accumulated over the years through work, prudent management and God’s providence.
As a part of our total life stewardship, each of us needs to make the time and obtain the necessary expertise to do a thorough job of planning for the distribution of his or her estate.
The LOPC Foundation has been established to encourage each of us to focus on this aspect of stewardship. The Foundation Trustees understand that many organizations seek our consideration for legacy gifts. Regardless of whom we choose as recipients, the decision-making process is generally the same, and is often quite an arduous undertaking. The Foundation’s desire is to help us find the information we personally require and prayerfully support us in the process.
The Foundation makes grants from several Endowed Funds based upon applications presented by Session committees and by the Board of Deacons. Members and friends of LOPC donate to the Foundation, and those funds are invested for future use.
Foundation Trustees
The Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees, made up of seven Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian members, the majority of whom have served as Presbyterian Elders. The Trustees are elected by the Congregation to serve staggered terms of five years.
Trustees currently serving the Foundation are:
- Amanda Druckemiller
- Jim Fulford
- Carl Mehlhop
- Ted Ockels
- Phyllis Bell Stover
- Tom Trowbridge
- David Zimmerman
The Trustees normally meet monthly throughout the year.
Decision-making by the Trustees focuses primarily on the creation and supervision of endowment funds in response to donor wishes, on investing the assets in the funds and on making distributions to support the long-range mission of LOPC.
Endowed Funds
An Endowed Fund is money that is invested to produce annual Income for a specific purpose. It is managed so that the principal is never spent, just the income. In most endowments, including those of LOPC Foundation, some of the annual income is reinvested to enable the principal to keep pace with inflation, thus making possible larger distributions as the years pass.
Responding to the long range needs of LOPC as well as to specific donor wishes, the Trustees have established the Endowment Funds. Because major facilities maintenance is usually the most neglected item in a church budget, special focus on the part of donors has created this as our largest endowment, presently approximately 37% of the total funds. Other endowments have been created to provide support for the work of LOPC in a variety of areas
As of December 31, 2007, the balances in the Endowed Funds were as follows:
| Major Facilities and Capital Equipment Fund |
$1,085,000
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| Mission Fund |
164,000
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| Groff Contemporary Chair of Theology Fund |
95,000
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| Deacon’s Fund |
168,000
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| Scholarship Fund |
208,000
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| Musical Arts Fund |
103,000
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| Kurth Memorial Garden Fund |
57,000
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| Pastor Sabbatical Fund |
48,000
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| Newcomer Memorial Fund |
12,000
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Senior Center Fund
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107,000
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| Senior Ministries Fund |
119,000
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| Dornsife Youth Endowment Fund |
122,000
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| Memorial Fund |
643,000
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| Operating Fund |
164,000
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| Total |
$3,095,000
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Foundation Grants
The Foundation Board of Trustees invites the Session to screen, debate and prioritize needs presented by its committees and by the Board of Deacons. The Trustees evaluate the requests received from Session and decide how much funding can be made available.
The Foundation typically provides funding for projects that Session would like to undertake in the course of the calendar year, but which are not funded by the operating budget.
During the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007, the Foundation approved grants totaling $90,000 in response to requests from Session. Over the past 11 years, $700,000 has been disbursed within the LOPC church family.
Grant Application Form
- Download the grant application form, fill out all of the necessary information and bring it or mail it to LOPC, attn: LOPC Foundation.
Foundation Investments
One of the primary duties of the Foundation Board of Trustees is to supervise the investment of the Foundation’s Assets. The Board is guided by an Investment Policy Statement which was restated and adopted by the Trustees in 2005.
The Policy Statement provides a framework for decision making. Its purpose is to assist in supervising, monitoring and evaluating the Foundation’s investment portfolio under changing economic conditions.
The primary objectives of the foundation are (1) to encourage the gathering of endowment funds from church members through outright and planned gifts and (2) to provide resources to support and expand the long range mission of LOPC beyond the capabilities of the church’s operating budget.
The financial objective of the Foundation’s portfolio is to support the Foundation’s primary objectives by preserving and growing the purchasing power of the Endowment Funds. The overall investment objective for the portfolio is to attain an average annual total real return, adjusted for inflation and net of investment management fees of 5% over the long term.
The Foundation’s Disbursement Policy is also designed to ensure that the real value of the Endowment is maintained over time. Foundation Trustees make funds available for grants on an annual basis in an amount equal to 4% of the trailing 3 year average of the Adjusted Asset Value of the Endowments as of the preceding September 30.
As of December 31, 2006, the Investment Managers appointed by the Foundation Trustees were:
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Manager
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Assets
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Percentage
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YCM Investment Management
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$2,158,000
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71%
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Dodge & Cox Value Fund
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587,000
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19%
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PC USA Growth Fund
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296,000
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10%
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Total
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$3,041,000
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100%
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The overall portfolio is invested primarily in index and mutual funds in a diversified portfolio, 65% in equities and 35% in fixed income securities. The Investment return for the portfolio during the year ended December 31, 2006, was 12.2%.
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