Gifts and Donations

Gifts from parishioners are the primary means by which the church receives the financial resources to carry out our mission.

Your commitment helps the community of Holy Cross to keep our commitments to celebrate the sacraments, to educate, and to rise to the occasion of meeting increased needs locally and in the world around us, being a Light in the darkness and making God's kingdom present in our world.

Donations can take a variety of forms depending on their purpose and the church's needs.  The major forms of giving to the church are:

 

Financial Pledging

 2022 Stewardship Campaign

WE'VE COME THIS FAR BY FAITH

October 27, 2021

Dear Parishioners:

Since the Spring of 2020, we have traveled through the unprecedented experience of a global pandemic. Our lives have been altered in dramatic and unexpected ways. Within weeks, our Sunday worship services became an online digital experience. We then added outdoor services only to be challenged by the Delta variant that still prevents some of the parish family from attending in person services or social gatherings. During this time, our staff and many parishioners have taken all possible means to ensure that vital ministries and the work of our church continued. Nevertheless, we still find ourselves in the slow process of “regathering”.

This year’s Annual Giving theme, We’ve Come This Far by Faith, asks us to reflect on our journey together since our formation in 2003, moving into our own church building in 2010, through to facing the consequences of the pandemic, and to cast our gaze forward to God’s preferred future for our community of faith. It also reminds us that our financial support, in the form of a pledge to assist in paying our bills, is an essential component of our ability to carry out the work of the church. Over the past year we have journeyed on in faith and now turn our focus to the future, secure in the assurance of God’s abiding and steadfast love.

As and when we become able to fully regather our parish family, we will delight in the opportunity to worship God together with singing and engaging in the important work of rebuilding our communities. There is much to celebrate and there is much to do. More than ever, we must express our love and gratitude by continuing to pledge to the parish that is our spiritual home.

Most members of Holy Cross make an annual financial pledge. Some members tithe, committing ten percent of their income to the work and missions of our church. Others give proportionally by committing a certain percentage. Still others give as they are able. What is most important, is to prayerfully consider how we can each contribute.

Included with this mailing is a pledge card for 2022(see copy below). We have indeed come this far by faith – and with the faithful, financial support of our community. Please join others in supporting our congregation by making your faithful, financial pledge by November 7, 2021.

If you have any questions or would like to further discuss making a financial pledge to Holy Cross, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Faithfully,

John Bennett and Adam Alphin

Vestry Co-Leads, Stewardship 2022

… for we walk by faith, not by sight … 2 Corinthians 5:7

One-time Giving

On occasion, someone may choose to make a one-time gift to the church. Such gifts are tax deductible, and we will be happy to provide you with a tax receipt.  If a gift is not designated for a particular purpose, it will go into the church's general fund.

Memorial Giving

When a church member dies, the church often receives donations in the memory of that member.  The disposition of these accumulated gifts is a sensitive matter that is determined by the church and members of the bereaved family.

The church keeps current a list of possible projects for the family's consideration.  These options are intended to make possible a comforting and appropriate use of the received gifts consistent with the life of the deceased member and the wishes of the survivors.

Planned Giving

This type of giving can take a variety of forms.  The simplest and best known is a bequest to the church in the donor's will.  Other forms include Life Insurance, Charitable Gift Annuities and Undisbursed Retirement Assets.

As part of sound financial planning, all parishioners are encouraged to have a will.  Holy Cross s hopes that its members will consider contributing to the ongoing Christian mission of the church in their passing, just as they have during their lives.

Holy Cross Episcopal Church can be named as beneficiary on insurance policies or as a recipient of undisbursed retirement assets.  The church can also be a partner in a Charitable Gift Annuity wherein the donor receives regular income during his or her life from the principal, with any remaining principal left to the church upon the donor's death.

These and other planned giving arrangements can have substantial tax benefits for the donor and the donor's estate.  Those who wish to include Holy Cross in their will, or to contribute through other types of planned giving, are urged to contact the Senior Warden, either directly or through their attorney, to ensure that their wishes are clear and that the details of an eventual legal transfer of estate assets are properly arranged.

eGiving

Benefits for you

  1. Give from anywhere using a computer, tablet, or smartphone.
  2. No need to find a check or stop by the ATM.
  3. Use your Checking / Savings Account or your Debit / Credit Card.
  4. Schedule gifts to occur automatically.
  5. Give to one or more funds at any time.

Benefits for Holy Cross

  1. Decreases the need for manual record keeping by vestry members and volunteer staff
  2. Improves accuracy in recording donations received (untouched by human hands!)
  3. Reduces potential for error and fraud
  4. Enables those that do not use a check book to contribute
  5. Accommodates spontaneous giving

eGiving through a Holy Cross “Realm” account:

Realm, our new online church community, offers new and easy ways to give financially to support our ministries. Whether you want to set up a recurring gift or make a one-time gift, or split your donation between different funds, Realm makes it safe and secure to give online. We invite you to browse through the following guidelines to learn how to use giving in Realm. We hope you take advantage of this convenience.

 If you indicated a wish to give online on the slip you returned in response to the 2018 Stewardship letter, an invitation has been sent to you via email with the subject “eGiving for 2018”.

If you have not received an email and would like to participate in online giving please send an email to finance@hcew.org or ask a member of the finance team.

To set up your Holy Cross Realm account:

  1. Click the link in the email invite you received to create a Realm password
  2. You will then receive a verification email from Realm.
  3. Click the link in that email to verify your
  4. Enter your birthday (date and month) or your phone number on the webpage that opens from that

You can now sign into your Holy Cross Realm Account using

                        hcew.org/give

Enter your email address, the one at which you received the invitation, and the password you created.

Then, click the Giving button on the left under Community.

Your Giving page will now appear showing your contributions this year.

To set up a gift, click   +Give button.   You will now be on the ‘Give Now’ page and under ‘GIVING DETAILS’:

  • Enter an amount

In the box to the right of the amount click the down arrow next to ‘General Giving Fund’ to select which fund you wish to support

Select:

a) ‘General Giving Fund’ for your annual pledge to the operation of Holy Cross

b) ‘Priest Fund’ to make a payment against your pledge or to make a one-time gift to the Priest Fund

c) ‘Non Pledge General Income’ to make a non-pledged gift to the church.

  • Select a Frequency (as in a one-time donation or a recurring donation).
  • Enter your payment information. You can schedule gifts to automatically draft from an account of your choice (checking account, savings account, credit card, debit card) by clicking the down arrow to the right of the box labelled account type.
  • After entering all required payment information, click Give at the bottom to finish scheduling the donation.

 You will then receive an email confirmation of your eGift.  Wording for Email confirmation to be added

If you wish to be able to text a gift to Holy Cross or use a downloaded ‘app’, please send a request for set up information to finance@hcew.org