The Fund is administered by the Baptist Foundation of South Carolina (the Foundation), working with the Rocky Creek finance team. The Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees elected by the South Carolina Baptist Convention and has administered funds for Southern Baptist churches for over 70 years.  The funds are invested by the Foundation under the guidance of their professional investment advisors.

Gifts can be made to the Fund at any time. There are several ways to consider contributing:

• Cash, check, or electronic giving: Like budget and other giving, gifts can be given for the Fund and can be made in honor or memory of a loved one.
• Donations of appreciated assets: Donating appreciated assets, such as stocks, bonds, or real estate, directly to the Foundation provides a greater impact than selling the assets and donating the proceeds. You receive a potential charitable giving tax deduction for the fair market value of the asset (if you have owned the asset more than 12 months) and avoid paying capital gains tax resulting from an asset sale. The donation maximizes your generosity and the financial benefits for you and the Fund. Please contact the church office before donating real estate or other non-liquid assets.
• Estate Planning: You can name the Fund as a beneficiary of a portion of your estate (a fixed dollar amount or percentage) in your will or other planning documents and/or name the Fund as a full or partial beneficiary of a life insurance policy. The fund can also be named as a beneficiary of retirement funds, investment funds, or bank accounts.
• Planned Giving: Using a Donor Advised Fund allows a donor to create a tax deduction by donating appreciated assets (see above) to a charitable fund, which can be easily established with any brokerage firm. The gifts create an immediate tax deduction while you continue to invest the funds and send cash donations over time. These funds are a great planning device that allow a donor to give the same amount of cash donations over a period of years while maximizing tax benefits. As an additional benefit, the Foundation administers Donor Advised Funds and they can be used for gifts to Rocky Creek plus other charitable gifts (if they are not in conflict with Christian principles).
• Required Minimum Distributions: A qualified charitable distribution directly to the fund from your IRA allows you to consider that amount as a required distribution, benefit the fund, and eliminate the need to include the distribution in your taxable income.
• Life Income Gifts: These gifts include charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts that allow donors to transfer assets into a charitable fund that provides income for life (and beyond, for your children, in some cases) and then transfer the remainder to the Fund. Charitable remainder trusts are great for appreciated real estate, such as vacation homes that are no longer used, and other appreciated assets. The Foundation can provide additional information about life income gift instruments.

The finance team will determine the use of distributions from the fund on an annual basis. The defined areas of support include: missions (Matthew 28:18-19), benevolence (Acts 4:34-35), physical assets (II Kings 12:4-5), and children and student ministries (Deuteronomy 6:5-7). In all cases, the impact is funds supplementing the annual budget to support ongoing Kingdom work.

It is easy to include a statement in your will that you desire to leave a certain dollar amount or percentage of your assets to the church upon your death. At a future time, your executor or trustee will follow the instructions you leave.

One benefit of our relationship with the Foundation is their relationship with a firm that assists in preliminary work leading to the preparation of a will. They will invest time to document your desires at no cost if some portion of your estate is left to the church. The result for the donor is a lower cost of will preparation as your attorney will have the information necessary to quickly prepare estate documents. More information on this service can be obtained by calling the church office.

You can contact the church office with any questions regarding ways to give and documentation of your desires. We will also provide information on an ongoing basis from both the finance team and the Foundation.