BUDGET BITES: M.M. SHORT FUND

/ Union Avenue Christian Church/

A portion of Union Avenue’s budget is blessed with income that stems from Martha Morgan Short funds. It’s important to understand the history of these funds and how they are designated for several key portions of the church budget.

In the mid-1990s, Union Avenue was bequeathed a portion of an estate upon the death of Martha Morgan Short. Sadly, not a lot of information about Ms. Short is known, except that she attended Union Avenue for a short time in the 1920s. Upon her death, UACC was notified that it would receive a portion of her estate valued at approximately $2 million. Martha Morgan Short specified that she wanted UACC to use her bequest for what she called “the Department of Outreach and World Missions” but there were no other directives or stipulations on how to use these funds. While her estate was being settled, the UACC board discussed how the church would invest and use these quasi-endowment funds with fidelity. Fortunately, during this planning period, there were several longtime church members on the board who were seasoned financial planning/investment experts.

Upon receiving the Martha Morgan Short (MMS) funds, the board voted that the most responsible way of being good stewards of these funds would be to use 5 percent of the total value of the funds each year, based on a previous three-year rolling average. The church invested the funds upon receipt from the Martha Morgan Short estate and then waited several years before its first withdrawal. Currently, the Christian Church Foundation manages these funds.

During the last three decades, the UACC board has approved withdrawing 5 percent of the total value of the Martha Morgan Short funds each year, based on a three-year rolling average. Of that 5 percent total withdrawal, the board has authorized the funds to meet:

  • 25 percent of the Plant & Property Ministry budget, which currently supports several outreach programs such as Urban Mission Inn and other nonprofits that use our building regularly

  • 25 percent of the Personnel budget, which reflects the significant amount of time that UACC staff spend to support outreach ministries

  • The remainder of the annual withdrawal amount is allocated to the Outreach & Justice Ministry Team (formerly called the Outreach & Service department).

Currently, the 2023 provisional budget reflects MMS funds providing approximately $65,267 for the discretionary expenditures of the Outreach and Justice Ministry team; about $32,250 (of the total $141,000) for Plant & Property; and about $89,000 (of the total $355,264) for UACC personnel.