What is the Endowment Fund?

Founded in 1977 by TUUC founding member, Ed Talbott, the Endowment Fund is managed with the primary purpose of providing for long range needs of the Church. The Endowment provides income to the church by contributing a percentage of its total balance to the annual operating expenses of the Church. Donations from members and friends are vital to ensure the future security and prosperity of TUUC.

The Endowment Fund is invested in socially responsible investment funds, as well as indexed mutual funds and cash accounts with low expense ratios. Only the income and appreciation of the Fund is used for annual expenses, which protects the principal and ensures that the Fund can make contributions to the Church indefinitely into the future.

Status of the Endowment Fund

The two charts below show how the fund has performed since 2010. Thanks to generous contributions from church members and friends, the Endowment has grown to more than $1 million as of September, 2025. These charts will be updated annually at the end of the church fiscal year on June 30.

Charts for total balance and contributions from the Endowment will be shown below.

Why would you make a Legacy Gift to the Towson Unitarian Universalist Church?

Legacy Gifts are made for a variety of personal reasons. Some of the most common reasons for a Legacy Gift include:

  • TUUC has been an important part of your life.  You want it to live on beyond your lifetime.

  • The church has helped you greatly in life and you would like to pay that forward.

  •  The church represents a person that was important to you. This gift will help remember a loved one.

Providing for the future operation of TUUC can be as simple as adding TUUC as one of the beneficiaries of your life insurance policy, your IRA, 401k, or other retirement plan, or investment account.

A Legacy Gift can be created at any point in your life.  It can assure you that your intentions will continue into the future, by supporting this Unitarian Church and its actions.  We have the opportunity to leave a Legacy for the future, no matter the size.  As a church member or friend, our values, intentions could last way beyond our lifetimes, to continue the positive activities of the Church.  You can also provide a gift in the memory of one who is loved and who loved us.  In these ways, TUUC members could affect the future and be forever remembered. 

Contributions (whether made immediately or after your lifetime) by transfer of assets, will, trust, other forms of written designation, such as naming TUUC as a beneficiary of life insurance, retirement plans, investment plans, life-income arrangements and endowment gifts, all represent forms of legacy giving.

For many people, legacy giving will consist of monetary donations, but some will give real estate or choose to set up a charitable annuity or trust rather than make a direct donation. While the specifics of each gift and how it is distributed will vary depending on your estate, these gifts can have the potential to supply TUUC with meaningful funds for years to come and honor the legacy of your and/or your family.

Legacy Gifts add an additional revenue source for the church, which helps to secure our future fiscal stability. They build an endowment to provide an ongoing source of income, in perpetuity.

The Legacy Builders Giving section of the TUUC website will also be posting Legacy Giving Videos of members.

2025-2026 Endowment Committee Members

    Jason Braspennickx (Chair)-

    Claudia Sumler

    Lorraine Sorbello

    Larry Magder

    Samantha Saalfield