the 2023 legacy campaign: building our future

On April 23, The Foundation of San Marino Community Church will launch our 2023 Legacy Campaign. This is a time for the church family to support initiatives that ensure Community Church will be a place of community and belonging for generations to come. 


While the Foundation exists to protect the long-term investments of the congregation, we also recognize that we need the flexibility to be responsive to urgent needs and beneficial opportunities that arise to help our congregation. As such, this year’s campaign will focus on replenishing our Strategic Priorities Fund. Historically, this fund has underwritten important projects such as the installation of the lighting and cameras that made it possible for us to begin virtual services in the height of the pandemic. This fund allows the Foundation to make wise, strategic, sustaining choices in support of current and future needs. 


Please enjoy this video detailing the history and work of The Foundation of San Marino Community Church. 


To learn more about the Foundation funds, click here: Foundation_Funds.pdf


MAKE A DONATION

a special evening for donors!

In celebration of the 2023 Legacy Campaign, all who make a donation in any amount will receive an exclusive invitation to a piano and organ concert featuring Dr. Peter Green and Lisa Edwards on Sunday, June 11 at 3:00 P.M. in the Sanctuary. The concert will be followed by a time for community and refreshments in the Courtyard.

The Foundation of san marino Community Church

The purpose of funds donated to The Foundation differs from regular gifts to the Stewardship Campaign or Estimates of Giving. The best way to explain these differences is in terms of a checking account verses long-term savings. 


Estimates of Giving (via the Stewardship Campaign) are used to fund the operating budget for that year only, and include support for all of the church’s ministries and programs, and regular maintenance for the property. While the church’s budget covers daily operating expenses, it cannot absorb all necessary long-term capital improvements and special projects, and has only limited capacity for weathering difficult economic times. Estimates of Giving act like a checking account that allows us to meet those expenses that we can reasonably project year-to-year. 


Gifts to The Foundation are invested in perpetuity like a savings account, with disbursements made annually to support aspects of the church’s ministries that go above and beyond the annual operating budget. In this way, it acts as a savings account for the church, providing financial stability for those expenses not foreseen in the budget.


In addition to disbursements made to the church, the Foundation Board has a Community Grants Committee that receives annual applications for community grants. Each year, the Community Grants committee selects a number of local organizations (in the San Gabriel Valley or larger Los Angeles community) to receive grants for capital improvements that make possible their continued ministry. For the 2021-2022 Grant season, the Foundation will distribute an estimated $60,000 in grants to these local non-profit organizations.


If you have questions about The San Marino Community Church Foundation, contact Director for Communications & Development Victoria Smith.