Free Information

Lutheran Planned Giving of Arkansas-Oklahoma and Central States Synods is a service provided by the sponsoring ministries. We encourage Lutherans to plan gifts that leave a legacy of support for the mission of ELCA congregations and ELCA extended ministries. To that end, we offer information and services:

	To help you set up your Will or Estate Plan to include a charitable gift
	To help ELCA congregations set up, promote, and manage their own mission endowment funds
	To help you discover how your planned and legacy gifts can make a difference to people served by ELCA ministries in Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri, as well as by ELCA-related ministries around the nation and throughout the world

There is no cost or obligation to you or your congregation for any of these services. The Regional Gift Planner has nothing to sell, is on a salary, and earns no commissions or bonuses for his work. The same is true for all ELCA Foundation staff.

For further information about the following services, please visit the contact us page.

Free Wills Workbook

Drafting a will is perhaps the single most important task you can do for the future of your family and other heirs. Before you see an attorney to draft your will, you can use the Wills Workbook to organize information about your assets, your plans to distribute your estate, your final wishes for family and heirs, and your final witness to your Christian faith.

Free Workbook for Friends & Family

One of the best gifts you can provide to the family and friends who will survive you is a complete list of instructions for your funeral, your important documents (and their location), your insurance policies and your assets. You can provide this gift by using the free workbook, Notes for My Friends and Family.

Free Wills/Estates/Gift Planning Seminars

The Regional Gift Planner for Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri will come to your congregation to present an estate planning seminar and then meet privately with those who request a confidential visit.

Free Brochures and Bulletin Inserts

Your congregation can order ELCA Foundation brochures and bulletin inserts on a wide range of estate planning and planned giving topics. Check our list of Brochures & Bulletin Inserts. Individual copies can be ordered using the contact page, while multiple congregation orders are available from Augsburg Fortress Distribution Center 1-800-328- 4648.

Making Gifts for Ministries Happen

Your congregation can use the services of the Foundation both as a pass-through service for outright gifts and as your agent for life income gifts, like charitable gift annuities and charitable trusts. Your Regional Gift Planner can show you how the ELCA Foundation can process gifts from your members of appreciated securities for a fraction of the cost you might otherwise pay. The ELCA Foundation manages over $140 million in active life income gifts, with over 70% of the charitable remainder of those gifts designated to return to local ministries . . . like your congregation.

Consultation About Mission Endowment Funds

Your Regional Gift Planner will come to your congregation to consult with leaders about ways to set up a Mission Endowment Fund that can strengthen your congregation's mission locally, synodically, and globally. She will also discuss ways to avoid common pitfalls of endowment funds and strengthen your congregation's financial stewardship.

Mission Endowment Fund Management

Your congregation can invest their mission endowment fund with the ELCA Endowment Fund Pooled Trust and join hundreds of other congregations and institutions in allowing your mission endowment fund not only to gain income for your ministry and mission, but to support churchwide ministries as well. Your Regional Gift Planner can explain these services in person to you and your church leadership- and show you how you can promote your congregation's mission endowment fund and its mission