We help you give and we strengthen the causes you give to

Generosity is our cause

Submenu title

Back

Couple walking away from the camera

The joy of giving: One generous couple tell their story

Ruth Jackson Portrait Ruth Jackson
3 min

We are always encouraged and inspired when our donors relate stories from their giving journey; it's a great privilege to be able to support them along the way. So we are grateful to the couple who have shared their experience of using our Donor Advised Fund in the case study below.

God has been amazingly generous to us. Infinitely generous in giving us Jesus. But also kind in providing for our financial needs over the years (we are in our sixties now), and giving to us so that we can give.

Both of us learned to give in response to teaching we received as young Christians in our teens and beyond. And very gradually it has become – in the best sense – a sort of happy addiction! We used to give using an older non-Christian charity and only more recently became aware of Stewardship as a really helpful Christian vehicle to use. Friends had told us about Stewardship and some of our mission partners had mentioned that they can easily be supported using Stewardship.

2 Corinthians 8:1 describes the generosity of the Macedonian Christians as a ‘grace of God’ given to them. It’s quite a thought that our giving to others is actually a gift to us from God!

When our parents died, we discovered that if you are liable to pay Inheritance Tax, it is an amazingly tax-efficient time to give; you can make a Deed of Variation of the Will and, in our case, for every £6000 we gave, another £4000 of tax was added to the fund! So, we put some of our inheritance into a charitable fund. Recently we transferred it to a Donor Advised Fund with Stewardship. This saves us from having to do all the legal work of setting up a trust fund and gives us maximum flexibility. We can pay into the fund and we can allocate our giving from the fund whenever we want and to any of the charitable causes working with Stewardship (such as a church or mission agency). Three times now we have wanted to support a mission partner working with an overseas agency and, on each occasion, Stewardship has been able to set up the overseas agency as a recipient of our donations. This has been a great help. In fact, the Stewardship staff have been amazingly supportive and the link has felt very individual and personal.

We generally try to tie together partnership with money and partnership in prayer. So, for most of those we support, we get their prayer letters and keep in touch. This has made the whole thing feel very relational and real and gives us a lot of joy. One highlight is the relationship we’ve built with some full-time Christian workers who we support. Another recent  highlight has been supporting a wonderful gospel ministry among prisoners and released prisoners. It’s tough work with plenty of disappointments, but we are so thrilled to be a part of it in prayer and with some money. Our hearts are lifted to think of desperately needy people who the world despises and who governments don’t much care about, receiving something of the love and gospel of Jesus. It is a grace gift from God to us!

Wherever you are with giving, we would encourage you to get in touch with Stewardship. You may be surprised to discover just how much they can help.

Embark on your own giving journey

If you would like to find out more about how our Donor Advised Fund account can support you in your giving, then please get in touch. 

Email us

Profile image of Ruth Jackson
Written by

Ruth Jackson

Ruth is leading the PR and Communications for Stewardship. She joined Stewardship in April 2022.

She has over 25 years’ marketing communications experience across a range of sectors, including higher education, technology and the arts, both business- and customer-facing. 

Ruth worships at C3 Church in Cambridge, where she lives with her husband and two teenage daughters. When she’s not at her desk, you might find her rowing on the River Cam, in a ballet class or out for a walk.

She supports causes that are focused on alleviating global poverty and injustice, with a particular interest in supporting vulnerable children.

LinkedIn   Twitter

What is a Deed of Variation?

If you would like to find out more about a Deed of Variation, and other aspects of legacy giving, then read our briefing paper on making charitable gifts in your will.

Read our briefing paper

Start your journey with us

For some, it's a desire to bring about change to our local and global communities. For others, it's a response to God's generosity. Whatever your goal, our first step together is to arrange an initial consultation or visit to discuss your philanthropic needs.

Schedule a call Download our brochure