Endowment

The Calvary Lutheran Church Endowment Fund was established in 1985. Until 2017, the funds were held in a local bank and managed by a committee elected by the church membership. In 2017, the funds were moved to allow the ELCA Endowment Fund to manage the investments. With this move, the committee was able to change its focus to education and to develop and implement strategies to increase the donor base and donations overall.

In 2022, endowments were established with the Black Hills Area Community Foundation and the South Dakota Community Foundation in response to an interest in having more options of where to invest endowment dollars for Calvary. Endowment Committee Bylaws were updated and approved to implement these additions.

Every year up to 5% of the year-end value of the endowment fund is available for distribution. According to established guidelines, the 5% amount is divided as follows: 25% is allocated to ELCA agencies, 25% to community partners, with the remaining 50% going to Calvary needs. With additional donations and investment income, the endowment fund has grown to over $517,919.66 at the end of 2023. With that growth the distributions that started at less than $5,000 per year have grown to an average of $25,000 per year. Lutheran Social Services, Lutheran Outdoors and others have received support in the ELCA category. Habitat for Humanity, Lakota ministries, Woyatan and Church Response have all received distributions under the community partner category. The portion that supports Calvary needs funded over $90,000 to subsidize our youth on their summer mission trips. Staff development, Outlaw Ranch scholarships as well as a multitude of technology needs were funded within the category as well.

Your continued support of the endowment fund will help fund the ministries at Calvary and our community partners into the future.