Mississippi Baptist Foundation

About Us

“You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” 2 Corinthians 9:11-13

Our Ministry Goals

The Mississippi Baptist Foundation serves as the trust agency of the Mississippi Baptist Convention, offering a means whereby Mississippi Baptists can provide perpetual support for Mississippi Baptist and Southern Baptist causes until our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ returns. As the trust agency, the Foundation promotes Christian estate stewardship; receives, invests, and manages endowment gifts; and distributes earnings from these endowments to many Baptist ministries. In essence, the Foundation serves as a money-management partner for Mississippi Baptist churches, institutions, and agencies. The Foundation ministers under the direction of a Board of Trustees elected by the Mississippi Baptist Convention and receives primary funding through a Cooperative Program allocation. As a Mississippi Baptist agency, the Foundation desires to advance the goal of “Helping to Bring Mississippi and the World to Jesus.” Our goals are:

To maximize God-given resources intended for the perpetual support of Baptist ministries through good stewardship of the assets entrusted to the Mississippi Baptist Foundation.
To be a resource for Mississippi Baptists for estate stewardship information and assistance.
To encourage every adult Mississippi Baptist to have a Last Will and Testament and to favor Baptist causes with at least a tithe of their estate.
To provide money-management services for Mississippi Baptist churches, institutions, and agencies.
To offer unsurpassed Christian service in an effort to benefit Kingdom ministries through enhanced donor relations.

The Year in Review

Through the faithful stewardship of Mississippi Baptists, the Foundation received $2,902,090 in assets for management for the 12 months ending June 30, 2007. Mississippi churches and mission causes, our Mississippi Baptist colleges and the Baptist Children’s Village, North American and International missions, and the six Southern Baptist Seminaries receive encouragement and financial support from these generous gifts. Income distributed to various Baptist causes totaled $3,079,180.00 during the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2007, while the $91,770,889.00 in total assets managed by the Foundation represents an 8.61% increase over the previous year. Foundation staff was privileged to share information concerning Will Preparation, Estate Planning, Charitable Gifts, and Investment Opportunities through various seminars, rallies, associational meetings, and pastors’ conferences during the past year. Many Mississippi Baptists responded to the invitation to promote Kingdom ministries by favoring Baptist causes in their will or through a charitable trust.

Services Offered

The Foundation promotes estate stewardship by offering three general seminars. The format of each seminar is appropriate for Discipleship Training sessions, group luncheons, and other gatherings. Please call us to schedule one of the following seminars:

Will Seminar features a discussion of the Last Will and Testament with emphasis on the importance of establishing a valid will in Mississippi, the probate process, estate taxes, property ownership, and gifts to advance Kingdom ministries.
Investment Seminar provides an overview of the concept of risk vs. return, the importance of asset allocation, and the various classes of assets compatible with investment objectives.
Financial Gifts Seminar helps participants learn of the tax advantages of charitable gifts and the methods for establishing these gifts. Discussion centers on outright gifts, gifts or appreciated property, insurance gifts, and life income gifts such as the charitable remainder trust, gift annuity, and the pooled income fund.

The Foundation assists individuals who desire to make a gift, generally an endowment or a life income gift, to any Mississippi Baptist or Southern Baptist cause or mission. Not only does the Foundation provide information to prospective donors and their advisors, but the Foundation often also serves as Trustee of the gift. Life income gifts include the Gift Annuity, Charitable Remainder Trust, Pooled Income Fund, and Charitable Lead Trust.

Gift Annuity is a contract representing an irrevocable exchange of a gift of cash or securities for a guaranteed, fixed income each year for the life of the donor. Upon the donor’s death, the remaining funds are distributed to a Baptist cause in accordance with the donor’s wishes. While gift annuity rates are set by the individual charitable organization, these rates generally conform to rates published by the American Council of Gift Annuities.
Charitable Remainder Trust is an irrevocable trust in which a donor places cash, securities, or other property while retaining a specified income for life or other defined period of years. Upon completion of the trust’s duration, the remaining assets are distributed to Baptist causes or mission opportunities as determined by the donor in the trust agreement. Charitable Remainder Trusts take the form of an Annuity Trust or a Unitrust.
Pooled Income Fund accepts gifts from many donors, “pools” these funds together for investment purposes, and distributes the fund’s earned income quarterly on a proportional basis to all participants. When the last named income beneficiary of a gift dies, the portion of the fund’s principal associated with the gift is distributed to the specified Baptist cause.

Investment Options

The Foundation provides money management services for Mississippi Baptist churches, institutions, agencies, and for other Foundation accounts. Available Foundation investment services include the following:

MBF Equity Fund, a growth stock fund, is designed for capital appreciation with little emphasis on income. Invested in stock offerings of U.S. and international corporations, the fund is managed by four outside professional money managers.
MBF Fixed Income Fund, a bond fund, is designed to produce income with little attention given to capital appreciation. This fund is invested in U.S. government securities and corporate bonds by two outside professional money managers.
MBF Short Term Cash Fund, a money market-type fund, is designed to out-perform both the current yields associated with 6 and 12 month certificates of deposits and the 91-day Treasury bill rate. With this approach, the Short-Term Cash Fund matches a competitive rate of return with full liquidity. The fund is managed by the Southern Baptist Foundation.
MBF General Endowment Fund is designed to address the long term investment objectives of perpetual endowment accounts and seeks to provide income while guarding against the effects of inflation and is invested in stocks and bonds according to a preset allocation. The current investment allocation is 30% in the MBF Equity Fund and 70% in the MBF Fixed Income Fund.

Please call the Mississippi Baptist Foundation with questions or for assistance regarding any of the services offered through the Foundation.

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