Frequently Asked Questions

The Resurrection Foundation is a non-profit, charitable foundation that secures funding for the future mission and ministries of the Church of the Resurrection.

The Foundation was established by the Church in 2002 and is managed by a separate Board of Directors elected annually by the Church membership. The Foundation Board of Directors has a strong investment strategy and carefully oversees each ministry fund managed by the Foundation.

The vision of the Foundation, and the Church, is exactly the same: to be used by God to change lives, strengthen churches, and transform the world. ALL gifts to the Foundation support Church of the Resurrection and help the Church live fully into this shared vision with great impact.

A gift to the Foundation does not replace or conflict with annual giving to the Church.  Your annual gifts to the Church support the current operational needs of the Church and fund the annual budget. Your gift to the Foundation, often referred to as a planned gift, provides future financial resources for the Church’s mission and ministries.

A planned gift is any charitable gift made during life or at death that is part of your overall estate plan.  Planned gifts can include a percentage or a specific cash amount of your Will, Trust, life insurance or retirement account.  Planned gifts can also include appreciated assets, like stock or real estate, as well as income-generating current gifts, such as charitable gift annuities or charitable remainder trusts. 

Since all planned gifts to the Foundation support Church of the Resurrection, there is no need to leave a separate planned gift to the Church. Planned gifts made to the Church are transferred to the Foundation so they can be strategically invested and carefully managed to sustain the mission and ministries of the Church for future generations.

A Donor Declaration is a statement of your intention to make a planned gift to Church of the Resurrection in the future. Completing a Donor Declaration with the Foundation allows you to explicitly state how you would like your planned gift to be utilized by Church of the Resurrection.

No, a Donor Declaration is not binding during your lifetime.  You may need to revise or modify your planned gift. If so, please notify the Foundation so we can update your records.

To include the Church on a planned gift, please utilize the following beneficiary information:

Legal Name: The Church of the Resurrection Foundation

Federal Tax ID: 05-0525052

Address: Church of the Resurrection Foundation

                   13720 Roe Avenue

                   Leawood, Kansas 66224

Yes.  A comprehensive estate plan will: 

1. Allow you to leave your assets to the persons or organizations you want to support at your death;
2. Accomplish transfers of assets at your death in the most efficient way;
3. Provide for your care and the management of your assets if you become incapacitated; and finally
4. Reduce estate and income taxes to the extent possible.

If you have children, you do not want to leave your assets to them outright while they are minors or even college-aged young adults. You can establish a trust that will be funded following your death (or following the death of you and your spouse).  This will prevent an expensive, court-monitored conservatorship for your children’s inheritance.  A trust also permits you to be specific about the timing of asset distribution (e.g., you can designate principal distribution following college graduation, rather than at 18 or 21, which is the law in most circumstances).

Your family will have no legal authority to assist you without implementing basic estate planning.  Without a revocable living trust, or a financial durable power of attorney at a minimum, your assets will be subject to an expensive probate court proceeding called a “conservatorship”.

The 2021 estate tax exemption is $11.7 million per person, or $23.4 million per married couple.  This means that estates of individuals and couples that are less than those exemption amounts will not be liable for any federal estate tax.  Kansas and Missouri do not have an estate tax.

Making a planned gift does not have to be complicated and does not even need to involve an attorney.  It can be as simple as changing the beneficiary designation on a retirement account or life insurance policy, or by adding a “payable on death” designation to a checking, savings, CD or brokerage account.  It is, however, a very good idea to consult with your attorney to make sure your overall estate planning needs are met, including financial and health care powers of attorney.

With careful planning, there are several ways to leverage your assets to provide for your family and make a charitable planned gift. One possibility is leaving a tithe of 10% of your estate (or perhaps an asset that approximates a tithe) to the Church, through the Resurrection Foundation, while leaving the remaining 90% of your estate to your family.

Leaving a planned gift to the Church, especially a tithe of your estate, is a testimony of your faith and models remarkable generosity for your children and grandchildren.