August 9, 2021
How the FLC Foundation Works
Recently it was brought to the attention of the FLC Foundation Board that there are FLC members who don’t understand the difference between giving to First Lutheran Church and giving to the First Lutheran Church Foundation. An analogy might be similar to the difference between putting money into a checking account versus putting funds in a long-term savings account.
Memorial monies given to First Lutheran Church go into the general fund and are entered on a line entitled memorials. The Vision Council has oversight of this fund and can use its discretion to disperse these funds for expenses that are not met by weekly giving. This fund was recently used to help defray the cost of purchased video-streaming equipment.
Monies given to the First Lutheran Church Foundation are not spent but rather designated to an endowment fund that grows over time by investing in the market. The interest earned on these investments are available for grants and can be accessed by submitting a grant proposal to the FLC Foundation. These requests can be submitted by the Vision Council, Ministry Board, or the various Ministry Teams and must be used for church-related projects. Grants paid out in 2020 were for the new electronic sign, the computer equipment for the church offices, support for the pastoral intern, and the radio ministry.
Monies given to the FLC Foundation grow for perpetuity and will be there for church needs well into the future.
For additional information about the FLC Foundation, frequently asked questions and answers can be found on the Foundation’s webpage at
www.flcduluth.org/giving/flc-foundation or talk with Foundation President, Jim Zastrow.
Brenda Sproat