Welcome to the “Make a Gift” page, where you can explore ways to support the churches and ministries of this Annual Conference through the work of the California-Nevada United Methodist Foundation. For example, you might join the Friends of the Foundation by choosing to strengthen present or future ministries through our Cornerstone Society, the J. Allen Walker Fund, the Conference Stewardship Endowment Fund, or our Legacy Partners. Or you may respond to other giving opportunities through the Foundation’s work, which we can assist you in doing, as well.

The funds listed below allow you to use the Foundation’s guidance and management to give to existing ministries, or to create your own ministry fund. We also detail here how you can make a contribution, including through the gift of stock or by credit card. In every case, the Foundation invests your donation according to a distribution policy specifically designed to support annual distributions for ministry. The Foundation holds to socially responsible investing in all situations, as defined in our United Methodist Book of Discipline. Please contact us if we can help you in any way.

Our new Cornerstone Society is a community of donors who help sustain the present work of the Foundation through an unrestricted gift. In addition to investment management for churches and charitable donors, this work includes development of local church and Conference endowments; annual financial stewardship leadership among our churches; and individual, skilled guidance in planned giving. Members of the Cornerstone Society also include churches that make gifts in response to our field work and on-site consultations.

Members of the Cornerstone Society help resource and strengthen United Methodists and congregations throughout Annual Conference. Their gifts help deepen the practice of stewardship, planned giving and endowments across our congregations, a well as growing local church funds for greater ministries

When J. Allen Walker took the helm of the fledgling California-Nevada United Methodist Foundation back in 1966, he initiated a decade of leadership that shaped the new agency into a vital resource for local churches. His legacy continues to empower congregations today, through the Foundation’s services of receiving and administering local church funds to deepen and extend their ministries.

J. Allen Walker gave a decade of service, leading the Foundation as Executive Vice President. In response to his self-giving “dollar a year” decade of service, in 1975 the Board of Directors set up the J. Allen Walker Fund in his honor, as a permanent endowment fund so the Foundation can resource churches through investment management, planned giving, stewardship development and promotion of local church endowment funds. Since the years of Mr. Walker’s leadership, individual donors have continued to contribute to the fund for the sake of our churches’ present and future ministries.

The purpose of the California-Nevada Annual Conference Stewardship Endowment Fund is to facilitate direct stewardship resourcing of local churches, districts, clusters and ministries throughout the California-Nevada Annual Conference. The Endowment makes it possible for future generations to learn from resource persons trained in stewardship, or from printed or electronic materials for local church use. Through funding from this endowment, local churches and ministries will be able to grow more generous, faithful and joyous givers who practice firstfruits living with all that God has entrusted to them.

Legacy Partners those people who are strongly committed to the Foundation and wish to leave an enduring gift to its work. Donors qualify to become Legacy Partners when any percentage of a planned gift is designated to the Foundation.

One popular channel for becoming a Legacy Partner is the charitable gift annuity. Other ways may include a will or living trust in which the donor makes a charitable bequest to benefit the Foundation, whether it be for the Foundation's general purposes or by creating a named endowment fund to benefit a specific ministry of the Foundation in perpetuity.

Our planned giving staff is ready to assist you in exploring the types of available planned giving opportunities and the tax and other benefits it may provide you and your family. For a free no-obligation illustration or to make an appointment, just contact us.

• Annual Conference Program

• Conference-Wide Scholarships

• Endowment Development Service

• Design your own personal endowment

• Make a gift of stock to your local church