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Resurrection Foundation

What is the Resurrection Foundation?

The Resurrection Foundation (TIN 05-0525052) was established in 2002 to identify and develop opportunities for planned giving. Our purpose is to endow and support the lasting impact of the church’s ministry and mission by encouraging members to remember Resurrection in their planned giving.

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Stories of Impact

Giving to the church through the ministry of the Resurrection Foundation helps God change lives, strengthen churches and transform the world. To learn what motivates the incredible generosity of these donors, watch their stories.

John's Legacy

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Keisha's Legacy

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Hennig Family Scholarship Impact

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Global Honduras Education Impact

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More Stories of Impact

Amie Littrell Hennig Family Seminary Fellowship Fund
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Supporting Treatment for Children with Special Needs
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Tom Schmidt's Legacy
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Builder's Class Seminary Scholarship Fund
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Ray Smith
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Jean Thuma and her ABC Class Seminary Scholarship
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How to Give

When the Resurrection Foundation receives assets as a beneficiary under a will or trust after the donor’s death, the gift is known as a “Planned Gift.” Planned Gifts can be made from a variety of asset classes such as cash, securities, qualified retirement plan/IRA assets, the death benefit from life insurance, or real estate. All gifts are welcome.  

We encourage you to complete and return a Donor Declaration form that will guide the use of your Planned Gift to the Church through the Resurrection Foundation. (If you would like to print a PDF of the Donor Declaration, please click here).

Details About Gift Types

Discover how to give the best gift to meet your needs and life situation

Including a charitable bequest as a part of your will is a great way for you to provide long-term support for the Resurrection Foundation while also effectively managing your estate. Making a charitable bequest is easy. If you want to leave a bequest to the Resurrection Foundation, you must specifically do so in a will or trust. Your will or personal trusts are legal records of your wishes regarding how your assets should be handled at your death. Instructions regarding the dispensation of your assets are called bequests.

Charitable Bequests are not subject to estate or inheritance taxes, therefore reducing the tax burden of an estate. Charitable bequests also provide flexibility because they may be changed at any time. Your estate will be entitled to a charitable deduction for the full, fair market value of your gift. The Resurrection Foundation can assist you and your attorney with standard legal language necessary to establish your charitable bequest.

  • General Bequest: With this type of bequest, you simply leave a specified dollar amount (e.g., $25,000) to the Resurrection Foundation.
  • Specific Bequest: A bequest of this type involves the designation of specific property (e.g., a home, a farm, or shares of stock) that you want the Resurrection Foundation to receive.
  • Residuary Bequest: Through a residuary bequest, the Resurrection Foundation will receive the remainder of your estate after all liabilities and other bequests have been paid. It may augment a general or specific bequest to the Resurrection Foundation if the size of the estate allows, or may ensure that other beneficiaries receive their bequests prior to distribution to the Resurrection Foundation.
  • Percentage Bequest: You may direct that the Resurrection Foundation receive a percentage of your estate or residuary estate. In this case, if the size of your estate changes, the bequest will change proportionately.
  • Contingent Bequest: It is important to anticipate a situation in which a beneficiary might die before you or choose to disclaim the property. To prepare for such an occurrence, consider naming the Resurrection Foundation as the contingent beneficiary.

Perhaps a charitable gift sounds attractive but you are not ready to give up ownership of your life insurance. By naming the Resurrection Foundation as beneficiary only, you retain ownership of the policy; have access to the cash value and the right to change the beneficiary. If you would prefer that a member of your family remain the primary beneficiary, you can make the Resurrection Foundation the contingent or successor beneficiary to receive the proceeds if your primary beneficiary dies before you.

Because you retain ownership of the policy, there is no charitable deduction for the value of the policy upon designation of the Resurrection Foundation as beneficiary or for subsequent premium payments. However, any proceeds payable to the Resurrection Foundation at your death will not be subject to federal estate tax.

A retirement plan is one of the best types of assets to transfer to the Resurrection Foundation following death because of the income tax consequence. Most inherited assets are free from income tax. However, an heir will pay income tax on disbursements from a decedent’s retirement plan such as a profit sharing plan, Section 401(k) plan or IRA. If you are going to make a charitable bequest, it is usually better to transfer assets subject to income tax to a tax-exempt charity – such as the Resurrection Foundation – and to transfer assets not subject to income tax to heirs.

For a taxable estate, the combination of estate and income taxes will frequently exceed 75 percent of the total amount – even more if the generation skipping transfer taxes are triggered. At a cost to your heirs of only 25 percent of the fair market value of these types of assets, you could apply 100 percent of the assets to the Resurrection Foundation to accomplish your specific charitable objectives. Estate taxes change, so be sure to consult an accountant.

Of course, married couples can postpone the decision by transferring the assets to the surviving spouse and claiming the marital estate tax deduction. However, since that deduction is not available to unmarried individuals and the second-to-die of married couples, a charitable bequest of pension plan assets might be the best option.

You may have purchased life insurance when you needed protection for your family, business or estate. In later years, you have found you no longer need that insurance. If you want to achieve immediate tax benefits, you should consider irrevocably assigning an insurance policy to the Resurrection Foundation.

Giving life insurance as a gift to charity allows even those with modest means to leave a substantial contribution to the cause most meaningful to them. A gift of life insurance is a deferred gift, which means the proceeds from a commitment made now will be realized in the future. Donors often struggle between their desires to achieve philanthropic goals and their need to preserve their estates for their families. A gift of life insurance can eliminate this conflict.

In addition to gifting an existing life insurance policy, a new life insurance policy can be purchased from your life insurance professional naming the Resurrection Foundation as owner and beneficiary. The initial premium payment plus subsequent insurance premium payments made by the donors are deductible as charitable contributions. A gift of insurance will not reduce your current stream of income.

If you desire to contribute to Resurrection Foundation anytime during life, please contact Executive Director Debi Nixon to discuss your charitable intent. Donors who give during life get to see the benefits of their gifts and realize the tax benefits of giving.

A gift of stock is one of the easiest methods to make a gift. If the stock has appreciated, the donor not only avoids the capital gains tax on the appreciation but also receives a charitable deduction for the full fair market value of the stock at the time of contribution.

While the Resurrection Foundation does not offer management services for Donor Advised Funds, we are able to assist in identifying options for those who wish to establish a Donor Advised Fund.

Current Foundation Funds

All gifts are welcome at the Resurrection Foundation. To learn more about the vision funds at the Resurrection Foundation, please click on the fund title(s) below. To learn more about supporting additional funds available at the Resurrection Foundation, please review page two of the donor declaration. If you would like to create a new donor-restricted fund, please email foundation@cor.org.

Church leaders can utilize your gift for any ministry or mission.

Church leaders can utilize your planned gifts for ministries at Resurrection.

Church leaders can utilize your planned gift for ministries that equip churches and train church leaders

Church leaders can utilize your planned gift for local and global missions

To see other funds that are available, click here to view the donor declaration.

Resurrection Foundation FAQs

To learn more about the Resurrection Foundation, we invite you to watch this brief video. We’ve also provided quick answers to some commonly asked questions below. We’d love to connect with you!

The Resurrection Foundation is a non-profit, charitable foundation that secures funding for the future mission and ministries of the Church of the Resurrection.

The Foundation was established by the Church in 2002 and is managed by a separate Board of Directors elected annually by the Church membership. The Foundation Board of Directors has a strong investment strategy and carefully oversees each ministry fund managed by the Foundation.

Legal Name: The Church of the Resurrection Foundation 

Federal Tax ID Number: 05-0525052

The vision of the Foundation, and the Church, is exactly the same: to be used by God to change lives, strengthen churches, and transform the world. ALL gifts to the Foundation support Church of the Resurrection and help the Church live fully into this shared vision with great impact.

A gift to the Foundation does not replace or conflict with annual giving to the Church.  Your annual gifts to the Church support the current operational needs of the Church and fund the annual budget. Your gift to the Foundation, often referred to as a planned gift, provides future financial resources for the Church’s mission and ministries.

A planned gift is any charitable gift made during life or at death that is part of your overall estate plan.  Planned gifts can include a percentage or a specific cash amount of your Will, Trust, life insurance or retirement account.  Planned gifts can also include appreciated assets, like stock or real estate, as well as income-generating current gifts, such as charitable gift annuities or charitable remainder trusts. 

Since all planned gifts to the Foundation support Church of the Resurrection, there is no need to leave a separate planned gift to the Church. Planned gifts made to the Church are transferred to the Foundation so they can be strategically invested and carefully managed to sustain the mission and ministries of the Church for future generations.

A Donor Declaration is a statement of your intention to make a planned gift to Church of the Resurrection in the future. Completing a Donor Declaration with the Foundation allows you to explicitly state how you would like your planned gift to be utilized by Church of the Resurrection.

No, a Donor Declaration is not binding during your lifetime.  You may need to revise or modify your planned gift. If so, please notify the Foundation so we can update your records.

To include the Church on a planned gift, please utilize the following beneficiary information:

Legal Name: The Church of the Resurrection Foundation

Federal Tax ID: 05-0525052

Address:    Church of the Resurrection Foundation

                   13720 Roe Avenue

                   Leawood, Kansas 66224

 

Estate Planning FAQs

Yes.  A comprehensive estate plan will: 

  1. Allow you to leave your assets to the persons or organizations you want to support at your death;
  2. Accomplish transfers of assets at your death in the most efficient way;
  3. Provide for your care and the management of your assets if you become incapacitated; and finally
  4. Reduce estate and income taxes to the extent possible.

If you have children, you do not want to leave your assets to them outright while they are minors or even college-aged young adults. You can establish a trust that will be funded following your death (or following the death of you and your spouse).  This will prevent an expensive, court-monitored conservatorship for your children’s inheritance.  A trust also permits you to be specific about the timing of asset distribution (e.g., you can designate principal distribution following college graduation, rather than at 18 or 21, which is the law in most circumstances).

Your family will have no legal authority to assist you without implementing basic estate planning.  Without a revocable living trust, or a financial durable power of attorney at a minimum, your assets will be subject to an expensive probate court proceeding called a “conservatorship”.

The 2021 estate tax exemption is $11.7 million per person, or $23.4 million per married couple.  This means that estates of individuals and couples that are less than those exemption amounts will not be liable for any federal estate tax.  Kansas and Missouri do not have an estate tax.

Making a planned gift does not have to be complicated and does not even need to involve an attorney.  It can be as simple as changing the beneficiary designation on a retirement account or life insurance policy, or by adding a “payable on death” designation to a checking, savings, CD or brokerage account.  It is, however, a very good idea to consult with your attorney to make sure your overall estate planning needs are met, including financial and health care powers of attorney.

With careful planning, there are several ways to leverage your assets to provide for your family and make a charitable planned gift. One possibility is leaving a tithe of 10% of your estate (or perhaps an asset that approximates a tithe) to the Church, through the Resurrection Foundation, while leaving the remaining 90% of your estate to your family.

Leaving a planned gift to the Church, especially a tithe of your estate, is a testimony of your faith and models remarkable generosity for your children and grandchildren.

 

Donor Relations Team

Board Members

Bruce Brower

Bruce Brower

Director, Board of Directors
Heather-Counts-2019

Heather Counts

Director, Board of Directors
Stephanie-Hubers-web2

Stephanie Hubers

Director, Board of Directors
Janson-Headshot-March-2020

Michele Janson

Director, Board of Directors
Evan-Johnson-Crop

Evan Johnson

Director, Board of Directors
Kirkland_Bob2

Bob Kirkland

Director, Board of Directors
oltjen_Rob-web

Rob Oltjen

Director, Board of Directors
WBP-UMKC

Bill Prugh

Director, Board of Directors
dave-rock

David Rock

Director, Board of Directors
Glenetta-Schierding-final

Glenetta Schierding

Secretary, Board of Directors
John Sharber - square

John Sharber

Director, Board of Directors
Doug-Spencer_Headshot

Doug Spencer

Director, Board of Directors
William-Taylor-web

Bill Taylor

Chair, Board of Directors
6FE_HDT_Westerhaus_Vicki (002)

Vicki Westerhaus

Director, Board of Directors

Advisors

2021-04-14_COR-AnneBlessing

Anne Blessing

Advisor, Past Chair
marth-carpenter-smith

Martha Carpenter Smith

Advisor, Leawood
steve-harmon_3

Stephen Harmon

Advisor, Leawood

Scholarships & Grants

Below is information about seminary education scholarships and grants available from Resurrection Foundation as well as other resources commonly obtained by students pursuing ministry as a career.

The Foundation has one common electronic application for all seminary scholarships. Your application will be matched with available Foundation funds. Please be prepared to complete the application in one sitting. You can review the form to collect information you will need to fill out the application by clicking on Apply for a Resurrection Scholarship button below.

Qualifications for Scholarships (unless otherwise noted in the scholarship details found below):

  • Active member of Resurrection for at least 1 year.
  • Enrolled at an accredited/approved United Methodist college or seminary.

 

Some scholarships may require being a declared/certified candidate for ministry. See below for full scholarship qualifications. 

Important Dates:

  • Scholarship Application due date (unless otherwise noted): February 28, 2024
  • Scholarship Award notification: June 1, 2024

For tuition grants, please submit an application using the Tuition Grant Request button above. The tuition grant application deadline is 4 weeks prior to the beginning of the term requested. Tuition grant requests remain open all year and are paid after the add/drop date of the term.

Funds awarded may be used only for tuition, fees, and/or textbooks. Funds will be disbursed to the institution with proof of enrollment and an invoice/statement for the cost of your program.

Contact foundation@cor.org for more information.

Amount

Varies

Requirements
  • Approved Inquiring Candidate in first year of seminary or Declared and Certified Candidate for Ordained Ministry.
  • A copy of your class schedule and an invoice of your registration costs is required with this submission (after add/drop date of your school). Please email a copy of class schedule to foundation@cor.org.

Tuition Grant Application