Foundation

The Mid-Atlantic United Methodist Foundation was established by merger in 2010 for the purpose of fostering and supporting benevolent ministries in the name of Jesus Christ, and to serve as an extension of the religious, charitable and educational endeavors of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of The United Methodist Church, the Peninsula Delaware Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, and the Baltimore-Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church. We are incorporated under the Nonprofit Corporation Law of Pennsylvania exclusively for charitable purposes and are intended to be a public charity under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as a 501(c) non-profit corporation.

Our Board of Directors is a composite of both Clergy and Laity members of the United Methodist Church. We have a Board of Directors that is comprised of representatives of the Eastern Pennsylvania, Peninsula Delaware, and Baltimore Washington Annual Conferences. All board members are appointed to serve a four-year term with an option to serve an additional four-year term. Annual Conference Treasurers are considered permanent members of the board. Permanent committees of the board include the Executive, Investment, Personnel, Marketing, Stewardship and Audit committees. The Members of our corporation are each Annual Conference’s Council on Finance and Administration. 

Daily business operations of the Foundation are administered by the Executive Director of the Foundation.  The Executive Director is supported four staff including the Associate Director, Frank Robert; our Operations Manager, Tracy Brown; Rev. Andy Lunt as the Dean of the Financial Leadership Academy; and a Program Director. While independent of the Conferences, the corporate office of the Foundation is hosted within the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference office in Valley Forge, PA with an additional office within the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference office.

Stewardship and Planned Giving
The Foundation conducts leadership programs in planned giving and church stewardship as part of its important mission and ministry.  January 2015, launched the Financial Leadership Academy (FLA) for Pastors, specifically designed to enhance clergy skills in this area. We offer advice and counsel to members, families, local churches, agencies, and boards on how to promote legacy or transformational gifts for the future of The United Methodist Church. We specialize in developing Church Endowments.

Investment and Asset Management
Our investment advisory and asset management operation is available to churches, groups, and agencies seeking a way to have invested and endowed assets managed in accordance to the guidelines outlined in the United Methodist Book of Discipline. The Mid-Atlantic Foundation does not contemplate self-economic gain or profit from our work and ministry. Profits from managing client assets are directly reinvested for the betterment of The United Methodist Church and the Churches for whom we manage assets.

Our Investment Management product is deployed using a number of contracted investment management professionals, creating portfolios for equity and fixed income investments diversified across a broad spectrum of asset classes and categories. All our investments are screened at the time of purchase against the General Board of Pension’s list of restricted securities thereby assuring every effort to comply with The United Methodist Church’s social principals outlined in the Book of Discipline.

Our Investment Managers

Recordkeeping Services – Fulton Bank, Lancaster, PA
Core Index Fund – Capstone Asset Management Company, Houston, TX
Value Manager – Boston Partners, Boston, MA
Growth Manager – ClearBridge Investments New York, NY
SMID Small & Mid Cap Manager – SouthernSun Asset Management, Memphis, TN 
International ADR Manager Developed – Capstone Asset Management Company, Houston, TX
International ADR Manager Emerging – Renaissance Investment Management, Greater Cincinnati, OH
Short Fixed Income – Vanguard, Frasier, PA
Fixed Income Core – Federated Securities, Pittsburgh, PA
Fixed Income Aggregate – GW&K, Boston, MA

Investment Managers performance is reviewed monthly and measured against various established benchmarks. The Foundation Investment Committee conducts a quarterly conference call with each manager and reports the findings to the Board of Directors. An annual presentation is made on a rotating basis by each investment manager during one of our quarterly board meetings. Additionally, all Foundation business is subject to an annual audit by an independent audit firm in association with the board’s Audit Committee.

The Foundation’s Investment Committee is responsible for reviewing and recommending the specific investment allocation and assets assigned to each of our investment managers. The Foundation Board has established guidelines governing the management of our investments including written Investment Policies and Investment Procedures. The foundation makes these guidelines available at no charge to any church looking to establish written policies for the management of invested and endowed assets at the church level. The Board of Directors is responsible for monitoring investment manager’s performance against the selected benchmark target. 

On July 1, 2012, the Foundation’s investment management product was named “Genesis Funds” to better identify and further develop the unique Methodist Church social screening process the MAUMF uses. Additionally, the MAUMF launched a SRI (socially responsible investing) screened S&P 500 Index Fund, the first of its kind as a core product to the foundations investment management options.

We are expanding our use of technology, video, and the web in the delivery of our unique investment and stewardship services. The goal is to strengthen the ability of the Foundation to provide additional ministry and mission resources to the Annual Conferences we serve, strengthen the financial health of The United Methodist Church, and make disciples of Jesus Christ.

The Foundation will work carefully in consultation with the stakeholders in your congregation to ensure their expertise and gifts are used to benefit the church. However, because of the sometimes sensitive and volatile nature of finances and investments, it is not recommended to have a single person in the pews overseeing these important decisions. We recommend that members provide oversight and work with the Mid Atlantic United Methodist Foundation. In addition, by investing with the Foundation, it allows your church to be connectional, assisting others in the denomination by helping them invest in a vital future as well.

As partners in ministry, the Foundation also offers a number of free services to our local churches, including a number of materials on a variety of stewardship topics that can be instrumental in helping a church set up an endowment or to begin a program of intentional “Planned or Legacy” giving.  The Foundation also provides at “no cost” (to the church) gift stock program where a donor can provide the full market value of a stock to his church. Members of client churches may receive discounts to many of the Foundations programs.

Some highlights for the year 2016 included:

• Successfully graduated 62 pastors from the two-year Financial Leadership Academy (FLA) program committed to financial educational training for pastors. Enrolled a second group of 52 pastors into this very worthwhile program.
• The distribution of $ Millions in ministry funds to our client churches.
• Matching grants of more than $30,000 were made to ministry and relief efforts.
• Is the fastest growing United Methodist Foundation in the US for the past 5 years.
• Added Boston Partners (Boston, Mass.) for Investment Management in the Large Cap Value Equity sector
• Investment process continues to place us in the top 10% of United Methodist Church SRI investment managers.
• Average increase in giving indication was 13.5% during Foundation led Stewardship Sundays.

100% of assets invested through the Mid-Atlantic United Methodist Foundation are committed to be managed according to the Social Principles of the United Methodist Church as established in the Book of Discipline. Foundation staff helped numerous churches set up their investment, gift, and disbursement policies, while providing much Stewardship information and materials.  Many Endowments have been started with the Foundation’s help.