For the second year in a row, congregations were asked about their involvement in planned giving programs. Specifically, we asked if churches have programs for planned giving, endowment funds, or wills emphasis. A minority of congregations have such programs: 38% have planned giving programs, 26% have programs for endowment funds, and 21% have wills emphasis. Overall, 4,604 congregations (49%) were involved in at least one of the three areas. These figures show very little change from 1993 (38%, 25%, and 21%, respectively). (Note that the set of responding congregations is not exactly the same in both years.)
Next, respondents were asked if their congregations had used any of four specific services of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation in the last three years: the wills emphasis program, planned giving materials, investment management services, or assistance from a regional representative. The findings were similar to those for 1993 the majority of congregations have not used each of these financial services. Of those responding, 25% had used the Foundation's planned giving materials, 22% had received assistance from a regional representative, 21% had used the wills emphasis program, and 16% had used investment management services. Overall, 4,031 congregations (42%) had used at least one of these four services.
When asked if their congregations would like assistance from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation in developing a bequest or endowment program, 19% (1,835) indicated interest.
One-quarter of reporting congregations (2,709 congregations or 27%) indicated that they had received income from at least one bequest in 1994. In all, reporting congregations received income from a total of 6,909 bequests. The total amount of money received from these bequests in 1994 was $112,767,273, (an increase of approximately $25,900,000, or 30%, from 1993). The mean amount received by a congregation was $23,913; the median was $5,000.
The average (median) bequest was larger for congregations in the South--$5,663 for Southern congregations, compared to $4,500 in the West, $4,016 in the Northeast, and $4,007 in the Midwest. Small congregations with 250 or fewer members reported smaller bequests, on average (median: $2,518), than did medium or large congregations. The average bequest size in medium-sized congregations (251-600 members) was $5,667; among large congregations with over 600 members the average was $11,710.
Bequest size differed based on the location of the congregation. The average bequest was smallest among congregations located in rural areas (median: $1,814) and largest in congregations located in medium-sized cities ($7,095). There was little difference in the bequest size among congregations located in small towns ($5,000), large cities ($5,667), small cities ($5,000), and suburbs ($5,000).
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