EverBless Foundation hosted its 2023 investment review on Thursday, February 15, 2024, in Richmond, VA. The annual event draws a variety of attendees, including church treasurers, financial managers, and other leaders who seek to learn more about how their portfolios have performed over the past year and what forecasts say about the investments for the current year and beyond.

Formerly known as the Virginia Baptist Foundation, EverBless adopted its new name in 2022, as they celebrated 100 years of their work. EverBless seeks to help Christians meet their goals of generous giving by distributing charitable funds. EverBless is a ministry partner of BGAV and is often the biggest sponsor of BGAV’s annual meeting. Like BGAV, they are expanding their work beyond churches in Virginia, so their new branding positions them well to reflect that growth.

Following Thursday’s investment review, Todd Fuller, president and chief executive officer, granted BGAV an interview to talk a bit more about who EverBless is, what they do, and what they offer BGAV churches and church members. 

Todd explained that most of EverBless’ clients are churches, yet they also manage investments for some other organizations. “We don’t manage money for individuals on a revocable basis,” he clarified. “We only manage money for charitable organizations or for a charitable purpose.”

“An individual could have a gift annuity or a charitable remainder trust—something with a life income plan—that they could benefit from for their life,” Todd explained, “and then at their death, the remainder of that investment would go to charity.”

EverBless currently manages money for more than 300 BGAV churches.The types of investments they manage vary depending on the church, including endowment funds, cemetery funds, scholarship funds, missions funds, building funds, and others. EverBless works with each church to formulate a plan, and they help those dollars grow based on each church’s needs. They also manage a cash portfolio for churches, which is currently yielding over five percent—a favorable rate—and that has been the largest growing investment they’ve seen churches participate in for the past 12-18 months.

Churches choose to invest through EverBless in many different situations. EverBless manages endowment funds, most often, for churches that are growing and thriving. For a church that’s nearing closure, EverBless offers resources to help the congregation evaluate its assets and decide how to handle them at the church’s “death.” Setting up a legacy endowment fund enables churches in that type of transition to liquidate their assets and sell their property, investing those assets in ways that will continue to give to the same kinds of ministries and causes in perpetuity that they supported when they were a vibrant, living church.

EverBless also has several ways in which they enable individuals to give in perpetuity to ministries they want to support in an ongoing way, such as charitable estate planning and how they can remember their church in their passing. In addition, they have a donor advised fund with a point of entry much lower than most in the industry.

Starting with only $5,000, “You can contribute funds for future charitable purposes,” Todd explained. “Maybe you’ve had a successful year in business or inherited some dollars and want to give them to charities but don’t want to make a drastic or quick decision—you want to think about it,”he said. “This allows you to invest it. You take your charitable deduction in the year of the gift, and it can grow tax-free—and in future years, you can disperse it to the charities you choose at that point in time.” A donor in this situation is the living advisor of these funds but can choose a successor advisor upon his/her death to direct those funds to charities.

Individuals can make these kinds of gifts in several ways, including gifts of stock—and set them up in a way that generates an annual tithe to their church, for example. Some donors choose to use the donor advised fund as a “one-stop shop” where they can do all their charitable giving in one place.

With their many opportunities for churches and individuals who want to give charitably both now and in the future, EverBless offers resources for everyone. Todd encourages anyone interested to email him or any staff member: “We can present to your church or meet with you as an individual and talk about the various options at EverBless.”

For staff contacts and more information about EverBless, visit everbless.org.

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