Year after year, the Adams Rescue Mission had raised 100% of its operating budget through its famous thrift store, recycling program, fundraising events and a robust annual appeal. With a powerful commitment to people in need, the Rescue Mission provides a strong web of services from housing to job training. And if any of those revenue sources fell short, the Rescue Mission faced a mad scramble to make up the difference so that their services would not also fall short.

The Rescue Mission began looking at ways to augment their fundraising and make the resource stream more dependable. They concluded that building an endowment was a key building block to future stability. They saw the success of other nonprofits partnering with the Community Foundation for this purpose, ensuring their endowments would be invested wisely, remain permanent and attract donors who value endowment as a giving option.

The Rescue Mission opened a designated endowment at the Community Foundation in 2019 and began talking to donors about contributing. When the Adams County Community Foundation announced it would begin accepting “forever gifts” at its Giving Spree, the Rescue Mission saw the opportunity.

Since 2010, the Adams County Community Foundation Giving Spree had collected gifts from hundreds of donors and passed those gifts directly on to the nonprofits named by the donors. We introduced “forever gifts” in 2020, an innovation not just for our Giving Spree here in Adams County, but a kind of giving day option not seen anywhere in the country before, but emulated elsewhere now.

When a donor checks “forever” on their Giving Spree donation form, the gift is added to an endowment for the nonprofit designated by the donor. The Community Foundation invests that endowment on behalf of the nonprofit, and once the endowment reaches $10,000, the Community Foundation sends a grant annually to the nonprofit. It’s a one-time gift by a donor that continues giving to the nonprofit forever.

Over the past few years, 90 new individual endowments, designated for specific Adams County nonprofits, have been created through “forever” gifts directed by Giving Spree donors. Once created, these designated endowments can accept gifts at any time.

Many nonprofits have focused on building these endowments through a targeted campaign. SCCAP, The Land Conservancy and the Thunderbolt Foundation have all experienced significant growth by asking their donors to support their work with a forever gift.

Some, like the United Way of Adams County, Forever Love and Gettysburg Garden Club are new to endowment building but are already seeing success in asking donors to sustain their operations with a gift to their endowment.

Others, like the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra, Gettysburg Community Theatre and the Adams County Library System have consistently offered the endowment option to donors and slowly but surely have built their endowments.

The Adams Rescue Mission Endowment started small, and there was doubt it would amount to a hill of beans, but the Rescue Mission persisted. Over time, with contributions from Giving Spree forever gifts and conversations with donors and prospects, the fund has grown. Today, the Adams Rescue Mission Endowment is generating an annual grant back to the Rescue Mission to support its work. The endowment will continue to grow and so will that annual grant, supporting the Rescue Mission’s work for decades to come.

Former Adams Rescue Mission Promotion and Development Director Heidi Acker championed the endowment and is proud of its growth. She is excited about the promise it brings to the Rescue Mission and looks forward to seeing the endowment alleviate the struggle to meet the ever-growing needs of people in the community.

A one-time gift that keeps giving forever. That’s powerful.

Which Giving Spree nonprofits will you endow with a “forever gift”? I’d like to know. Email me at rserpe@adamscountycf.org or call 717-337-0060. Ralph Serpe is president & CEO of the Adams County Community Foundation and serves on the board of Community Foundation National Standards.