Why does St. Paul's have a foundation?
The St. Paul's Foundation was founded in 1992 by the Vestry. The purpose of the Foundation is to build an endowment for the support, care, maintenance, and restoration of the buildings and grounds owned by St. Paul's Church. When, in the opinion of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation, there are sufficient funds in the endowment to adequately fund the above-stated purpose, the Board may then elect to make funds available to support and benefit St. Paul's Christian mission outside the parish.

Doesn't my annual pledge provide for the care of the church?
Your pledge is a vital act of stewardship that supports the ministry of St. Paul's in many ways, but the annual operating budget cannot meet all of the long-term needs of the church. The St. Paul's Foundation was formed to assure that, in the future, funds will be available for the care and maintenance of our buildings and grounds.

How does the St. Paul's Foundation work? The Foundation receives charitable gifts and bequests and makes long-term investments to provide for the future needs of our church's historic buildings and grounds. The Foundation is a tax-exempt organization, so contributions are tax deductible.

An additional important role of the Foundation, as a separately chartered organization, is to apply for grants that are unavailable to the church itself. Also, some employers have matching gift programs for employees making donations to a qualifying nonprofit, which generally could include the Foundation but would not include the church.

What has the Foundation done?
Helping to maintain St. Paul's buildings and grounds, the Foundation obtained grant monies to support critical phases of the renovation of St. Paul's historic sanctuary. Grants were obtained from other foundations to rid the church of the beetles destroying the undercroft, to install a new copper roof on the church (which parishioners matched dollar for dollar), as well as to install the outside doors on the church during the restoration.

Most recently, the Foundation obtained a grant (again, matched dollar for dollar by parishioners) to support renovation of the Rectory prior to the arrival of our new rector. Over the past few years, the Foundation has concentrated on establishing and growing the Covenant Circle, those parishioners who have made provisions for St. Paul's Church or St. Paul's Foundation in their will or estate plan.

How can I support St. Paul's Foundation?
The first step you can take is to consider your own need for having a will and doing estate planning. Bequesting funds or establishing a charitable trust to benefit the Foundation, or the church is as easy as making a gift to your college or other beloved charity. It is important to think about this, as well as act on it.

Long range planning through wills, charitable trusts, and estate planning is an important part of each person's stewardship of his or her financial gifts from God. The Foundation encourages each and every parishioner to have a will and to consider other estate planning vehicles.

The Covenant Circle of St. Paul's Church recognizes those parishioners who make it known to the church in writing that they have provided for St. Paul's Foundation or St. Paul's Church in their will, estate plan, or charitable trust. The Covenant Circle currently has over 50 members from our parish family. We appreciate the thoughtful gifts these parishioners have made to assure that the ministries of St. Paul's will continue well into the future. If you have already made provisions for a bequest to St. Paul's in your will or estate plan, please contact the parish office so that we may add you to this ever-growing list.

How will my gift or bequest to the St. Paul's Foundation be managed?
The goal of the Foundation is to insure long-term appreciation of assets (through preservation of principal and reinvestment of earnings) in order to provide a future reliable source of funding for the support, care, maintenance, and restoration of the church's buildings and grounds. Once that is done, funds may be made available for our Christian mission outside the parish.
The Foundation currently has over $300,000 in a diversified investment account with the Diocese of Virginia's “Trustees of the Fund.” The Trustees of the Fund professionally manages endowment funds on behalf of the Diocese and individual parishes to assure good stewardship of the church's assets.

What is the Advisory Committee?
The Advisory Committee consists of past Vestry members who have chosen to help and support the Foundation. Efforts to educate the parish about the importance of building the endowment fund are an on-going task that require not only the work of the Board of Trustees, but present and past Vestry persons as well.

What is the role of the Board of Trustees?
The Board of Trustees is responsible for managing the Foundation and building the endowment fund and the Covenant Circle. The Vestry appoints parishioners to the Board of Trustees for the Foundation for 5-year terms as well as a Vestry liaison who attends all the meetings and reports back to the Vestry. Currently serving are Janey Wallace as president, Charlie King as treasurer, Amy Curtis as secretary, Andrew Blair, Attison Barnes, and Suzanne Brock. Frank Hyre is the current Vestry liaison.

For more information
For more information, contact Katherine Murphy at 703-549-3312, ext 21, or speak to any member of the Foundation's Board of Trustees.