Endowment Fund
The Northwest Endowment Fund was established in 2002 to enhance the mission of Northwest through targeted funding:
- Outreach into the community.
- Scholarships to members of Northwest attending Unitarian Universalist leadership training.
- Outreach supporting the wider Unitarian Universalist Association mission for new church development and our UU world mission.
- Capital improvements for our Northwest home in the woods.
Trees We Did Not Plant
We build on foundations we did not lay.
We warm ourselves by fires we did not light.
We sit in the shade of trees we did not plant.
We drink from wells we did not dig.
We profit from persons we did not know.
We are ever bound in community.
~ Rev. Peter Raible, UU Minister
This poem expresses gratitude for the legacy of those who have gone before us. The Northwest Endowment Fund seeks to help today's congregants establish new legacies to benefit Northwest tomorrow. Now is the time to make decisions that lay foundations for the future.
How You Can Secure the Future of Northwest
Estate Planning
Create a legacy for Northwest by creating a bequest in your will:
- If you have a will, you can add a codicil for Northwest. Only two signatures are required. Contact a committee member or visit or our website.
- If you don't have a will, attend a Northwest endowment workshop, contact a committee member.
- Or consider these options: life insurance gifts, property, charitable remainder gifts or revocable trusts.
Once you formalize your will, please inform an Endowment Committee Member or
register your bequest on our website.
Visit the
UUA Planned Gifts site for additional information on how to include a bequest in your will.
Commemoration of Life Events Celebrate family events with gifts to the Northwest Endowment Fund honoring:
- Birth of a child or grandchild.
- Graduation
- Wedding
- Anniversary
- Memorial for a loved one or someone special to our congregation
Contributions celebrating Life Events can be placed in the Sunday offering plate or mailed directly to the church office. Please include a memo indicating the contribution is for the Endowment Fund and note the special occasion.
Gifts of the Heart Some gifts just come from the heart.
- If your heart has been moved by a church, work or life event that you wish to commemorate, consider a memorial gift to the Endowment Fund
- If you have benefited from a "windfall" in appreciated stock or stock options, consider sharing your bounty with Endowment Fund
Contact the church office for procedures for donating stocks to Northwest.
Recognition of Gift
Contributions to the Endowment Fund will, with permission, be recognized in a variety of ways so that your generosity is recognized and appreciated.
- All gifts will be recognized with a letter of thanks from the Endowment Committee Chair
- For gifts over $250 and with the permission of the contributor, you will be recognized on the Northwest Endowment Fund Contributor plaque.
Investment Strategy
The investment strategy is based on the protection of our fund principal along with careful and ethical growth.
The Endowment Committee provides regular oversight of these investments and makes changes as needed.
In 2008, Northwest began a program to grow our fund more rapidly by encouraging gifts and legacy bequeaths. Our goal is to reach $100,000 so that fund distribution to support our mission can begin.
