Many Ways to Practice Stewardship
We believe that the decision to give to the church is more than a financial decision — it is first and foremost a spiritual decision. That’s one reason why we offering a variety of ways for you to practice generosity on a regular basis.
Online Giving
There are several ways to give online, such as automatic withdrawal from checking or savings accounts, debit cards and credit cards. Giving from your checking or savings account is the preferred method as it avoids credit card processing fees. As a general rule, we discourage the use of credit cards to avoid accumulating debt in order to give to the church. To sign up for online giving, click here to get started.
Text to Give
Want to give from your phone? Simply send a text to 720-573-0573 with the amount you wish to give and follow the prompts.
Cash or Check
Simply place cash or checks (made payable to Mountainview Christian Church) in one of our offering bags that are passed during the weekend service. If you desire to mail it in, you may send it to Mountainview Christian Church, 40 E. Highlands Ranch Parkway, Highlands Ranch, CO 80126. Be sure to indicate on the check if the funds are for the general fund or the EnVision campaign.
Stock
Mountainview has a brokerage account at Wells Fargo and accepts stock gifts. Giving stock you have owned more than one year, and which has gone up in value, may provide a double tax benefit.
The increase in value is called appreciation and can result in capital gain income tax when the stock is sold. The amount taxable is typically the sale price less than your basis, which usually is what you paid for it. In other words, if you paid $1,000 for 100 shares of stock, and later sold it for $3,000, you would pay tax on the $2,000 increase in value. However, making a charitable gift of the stock can avoid the long-term capital gain income tax.
Additionally, the amount you can deduct on your income tax return is the entire fair market value of the stock at the time of the gift, up to 30% of your adjusted gross income of the year. The five-year carry forward of any unused deduction also applies. In the above example, the tax deduction would be $3,000, the value of the stock, rather than $1,000, the amount paid. This is in addition to avoiding the capital gain income tax.
If you are interested in donating stock, please contact Debbie James (debbie@mtnvw.org) for more information. You should also consult your tax advisor to be sure it makes sense for you.
Estate Planning
As a matter of stewardship, we encourage you to have a will or revocable living trust. Planning your estate allows your desires to be carried out when this life ends. It is one of those things that must be done to have your “house in order”. Planning is not just for the terminally ill or the elderly because life and health are unpredictable.
Consider a generous gift that will recognize the importance of Christian stewardship and provide funds for the Kingdom of God. Your will or trust can be a final statement and testimony of faith. A legacy of generosity truly recognizes “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights” (James 1:17).
The most common ways are through life insurance policies and retirement accounts such as IRA’s or 401(k)’s. Your tax advisor will be able to help you properly set things up.
