Council for Health and Human Service Ministries

More Money for Mission

Faithful Stewards

As we welcome summer, I invite you to spend a few minutes reflecting on faithful stewardship of the resources with which we have been entrusted. At CHHSM, we appreciate your commitment to the UCC and to health and human service ministry, and we work hard to be faithful stewards by returning your dues investment to you through business services that provide opportunities to create more money for ministry!

CHHSM Store continues to offer new and improved vendor contracts that can save your ministry significant funds on many programs and services. Especially as we all look for cost-savings to offset energy costs that are surging out of control, please consider these new offers that can save your organization money on items you are already buying:

NuStep Offers Safe, Affordable Full-Body Exercise Products (PDF, 1MB)

Cintas Special on Caps and Visors with Company Logos (PDF, 309K)

GE National Employee Appliance Program (PDF,120K)

Durable, Versatile Corelle Products (PDF,134K)

Spellman Brady Offers New Furniture Planning Tool (PDF,330K)

Here's another way to create more money for your ministry. On July 1, 2008, the schedule for gift annuity rates for both immediate gift annuities and deferred payment gift annuities will be significantly reduced. Don Hill and Lynne Hansen from the Financial Development Team of the UCC are willing to assist you in understanding the impact of this change, and you can also read the American Council on Gift Annuities explanation (PDF) to learn more about how these rates of return are determined and how you can develop prudent practices for your ministry to determine the rates you offer.

CHHSM can also help you expand your capacity for planned giving even further through the Planned Giving Partnership, which provides you with free access to the development professionals of the UCC's Financial Development Ministry Team. You can email Don Hill or Lynne Hansen or phone them at 1-800-846-6822 to learn more about their services and to sign up for Impact, their free quarterly newsletter.

Did you know that if your ministry is not currently operating with "church plan" tax status, you may be paying thousands of dollars (and hundreds of hours) for tax filings and audits that are not required by the IRS? Learn more in this presentation from the Pension Boards UCC (PPT), or email Pension Boards General Council Jim Herod at jherod@pbucc.org if you have specific tax or legal questions regarding your ministry's status.

The Pension Boards UCC also offers a wide variety of well-performing, low-cost Retirement Plans that can help you retain high-quality employees. Greg Cardwell-Copenhefer of Brooklawn Child & Family Services in Louisville reported approximately $10,000 in savings on investment management fees for their first year in the PB UCC 403 (b) plan. Find out how you can take advantage of those savings by calling or emailing Pension Boards Vice President Don Barnes at 212-729-2720 or dbarnes@pbucc.org.

CHHSM Health/ Rx continues to attract new prospective users. Would you like to know more? Please see these Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and email Mike Readinger for more details. Please note that we need four to six months lead time in order to implement CHHSM Health/Rx effectively at your organization.

Through the United Church Foundation, CHHSM can also offer your ministry a low-cost, fully diversified, socially responsible investment vehicle that provides market rate returns. When you place some or all of your endowment or reserve funds with the United Church Foundation, you become part of the collective stewardship of the United Church of Christ and help keep management fees low. In fact, the Foundation lowered its management fees on several funds for 2008. You can find out more at www.ucfoundation.org, and learn about the Foundation's fund offerings and the high-quality financial services they offer by calling 1-877-806-4989, emailing Don Hart or Nelson Murphy, and reading an article from the United Church Foundation newsletter titled "The Importance of Asset Allocation." (PDF)

With the recent mortgage market abuses and rising consumer prices, faithful stewardship of our resources forces us to concentrate simultaneously on both the credit markets and the investment markets. Borrowing has become more tenuous due to downgrades of credit insurers and several investment sectors (financials and energy) have been hard hit by the current economic recession. To help your ministry respond to these changing conditions, Cain Brothers offers an article titled "Give Me Shelter." (PDF) Learn more by calling or emailing Cain Brothers Managing Director Amy Hayman at ahayman@cainbrothers.com or at 312-604-0578.

Accessing CHHSM's business services is relatively simple and requires only a small time commitment. Our partners are committed to helping you realize your potential for cost savings and your call to faithful stewardship. We look forward to talking with you soon!

Michael Readinger

"More Money for Mission," keeps you informed, updated and excited about the work being done by the CHHSM Board's Business Services Committee and Vice President for Business Services Mike Readinger.

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