Giving of Tithes and Offerings is a way of offering gratitude to God for the many blessings of this life. Mt Carmel's finances are overseen by the Finance Team, who ensure faithful stewardship and financial transparency.
Giving By Check or Cash You can place a check or cash in the offering plate each Sunday. Many find that setting up regularly mailed-check- payments through their personal banking institution is convenient.
Giving electronically through Vanco - Vanco is a trusted third party electronic fund transfer (EFT) platform that allows you to have offering deducted from your bank account. To set up Vanco for a single or recurrent donation, click here.
The General Fund is where most offerings go. An annual budget each year accounts for worship and ministry costs like staff payroll, facilities maintenance, mission and outreach, and apportionments to the BWC Annual Conference. The Building Fund supports capital expenditures on our excellent facility.
Tax-Advantaged Ways of Giving
There are several current methods to contribute to Mt. Carmel that most of our congregation uses today – Vanco, check or cash. I want to make you aware of several other methods that might provide tax advantages depending on your personal situation.
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Direct gifting of stock – Mt. Carmel has recently established a brokerage account with our bank that allows for the gifting of appreciated stock to the church. This has the advantage of avoiding the payment of capital gains taxes while still allowing for a possible deduction on your income taxes.
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Donating through a Donor Advised Fund – this method requires that you establish a Donor Advised Fund through a brokerage such as Vanguard, Fidelity or another. Once established, you fund the Donor Advised Fund which can be done through a variety of means. Once funded, you can make grants to Mt. Carmel – either one time or on a recurring basis. This has the advantage of enabling a sizable charitable contribution deduction on your income taxes in the year that the Donor Advised Fund is funded while allowing you to take the standard deduction in subsequent years. It also allows you to avoid capital gains taxes if your use appreciated stock to fund the Donor Advised Fund.
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Making a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) – For those who are 70.5 years or older, you may make a QCD to Mt. Carmel from your IRA (not your 401K or 403b). A QCD can satisfy your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) requirement from your IRA. The benefit of a QCD is that it is not counted as income thus lowering your adjustable gross income on your taxes. By lowering your adjustable gross income you may also keep your Medicare premiums in a lower bracket.
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Naming Mt. Carmel in your will – while not a topic most of us like to think about, on your passing you may make one final contribution to Mt. Carmel by designating part of your estate to go to Mt. Carmel. This has the possible benefit of lowering any inheritance taxes that your heirs may face.
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Designate Mt. Carmel as a beneficiary on your life insurance policy – if you have life insurance, you may designate Mt. Carmel as a beneficiary on that policy.
As with any decision that involves taxes or estate planning, please consult your tax advisor or lawyer before proceeding. If you have further questions, feel free to contact me (brucebeveridge04@gmail.com) or Pastor Bonnie.
Bruce Beveridge
Finance Team Lead