Your Endowment Team is pleased to report that we have secured a new home for the long-term funds that help sustain our church’s future.

After a year of research into alternatives to the Unitarian Universalist Common Endowment fund (UUCEF), our $716,000 in endowment funds have been transferred to the Seattle Foundation, the largest nonprofit in the Pacific Northwest with over $1 billion in assets and a focus on economic and racial equity.

Acting on the Endowment Team’s recommendation, UUCS Board President Catherine Trestrail signed a contract in October to establish the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane Reserve Fund at the Seattle Foundation.

Last year, the Endowment Team recommended moving the funds out of the UUCEF in Boston and investing them closer to home, largely due to our congregation’s concerns about the future direction of the UUA, plus a contract clause that would have given all of our funds to the UUA in the event of our church’s dissolution.

There is no legal cap on annual withdrawals from the Seattle Foundation reserve fund. However, your Endowment Team intends to adhere to its practice of prior years and make only sustainably prudent annual withdrawals in the 4%–5% range in accordance with our bylaws. These withdrawals reduce the pressure on pledging while providing a steady revenue stream to church operations.

Our funds are currently invested in the Seattle Foundation’s low-cost Index Fund Portfolio. If you’d like to learn more about the fund’s performance and explore opportunities to contribute, please join us at church for our annual Endowment Luncheon following the second service on Jan. 22.

Karen Dorn Steele and Mary Giannini, Endowment Fund co-chairs