Gifts You Can Count On, Forever

G.S. is one of thousands of children who have been given a second chance in life due to the care and support received from Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services (LUMCFS). Spreading across the state in three campuses in Ruston, Sulphur, and now Loranger, La., LUMCFS is a faith-based organization whose mission is to guide children and families home to experience God's love by following the teachings of Christ.

No longer the "orphanage" of the early 1900s, LUMCFS has evolved in its 121 years, changing to meet the needs of the children and families they serve. Today, services include intensive residential care, counseling, recreational and equine therapy and pastoral care. They also offer many community-based services such as the Outdoor Wilderness Learning Center. From the time the staff first meets a child, their goal is to get them back home into a caring and loving environment.

"We are not just meeting the bare minimum needs of the children and families that we serve," says Sarah Head, director of development at LUMCFS, "we're providing excellent and comprehensive care."

Head also says the level of care LUMCFS provides would not be possible without charitable support. One of LUMCFS's annual streams of revenue comes from planned gifts established at the United Methodist Foundation of Louisiana. Since the first planned gift in 1980, LUMCFS has received more than $1.3 million from planned gifts at the Foundation. In 2022, LUMCFS received more than $85,000.

"The main difference between a cash gift and a planned gift is that the planned gift is income we can count on," added Head. "We know it's been set up, and we know that it's coming. So, in our budget, we can count on that revenue when we're thinking about what services we can provide for children."

A planned gift, also known as a legacy gift, is a contribution arranged during life but allocated at a future date, usually when the donor passes away. There are many types of planned gifts, such as:

Bequests: A gift made through a will or trust. It can be a specific amount of money or a percentage of the donor's estate.

Endowments: A permanent fund that generates income for ministry forever.

Beneficiary Designation: Donors can add their favorite ministry as a beneficiary on insurance policies or retirement plans.

Charitable Gift Annuities: A contract between a donor and the Foundation where the donor receives fixed payments for life in exchange for a donation. When the donor passes, payments are made to the ministry in perpetuity.

Charitable Remainder Trusts: A trust that provides income to the donor for a period of time, after which the income from the gift provides income to the ministry, forever.

Planned gifts allow donors to control what happens to their assets after they're gone, and in most cases, it provides the opportunity to give a larger gift than the donor ever thought possible.

The initial gift is prudently invested to maximize returns while protecting the principal. This ensures a steady and increasing stream of ongoing support, sometimes to the donor first, but ultimately to the ministry, while continuing to grow the fund.

In 2022, LUMCFS opened the doors to its newest facility, built on 126 acres in Loranger, La. LUMCFS's impressive fundraising campaign that began in 2018, raised $9.1 million. The Foundation is proud to have contributed $100,000 to the campaign.

The next phase will expand the Loranger Home to become a hub for all LUMCFS's services. New buildings will house the Methodist Foster Care program, which will be used for recruiting, training and fellowship events for foster care families, and the Life Skills Training Center, which provides space to give the children the skills and mentorship they need to transition into independent living. The future is bright for LUMCFS!

The Foundation also manages 24 endowments for LUMCFS, valued at over $25 million. The endowments funded by the many generous donors in the past help future generations of children and families in need receive the care they need and deserve.

There is a lot of uncertainty in this world, but a planned gift provides income that the children and families can count on, forever.