The Poised for Greatness campaign to pay down our current church mortgage is well underway. The congregation is encouraged to participate in any way they can.
The Kick Off
The campaign was presented to the congregation by Cyndi S. on Sunday, March 1, 2009. If you missed this moving presentation, you can read it here (Adobe Acrobat format) or listen to it here (mp3 format).
Ways You Can Help
The campaign is designed so that everyone can play a part. Whether you are young or old, are financially comfortable or have limited means, there are ways you can contribute thoughout the year.
CHANGE JAR
Bring your loose change each week. Deposit it in the container in front of the altar. The Children's Ministry is taking a lead role in this program.
CALENDAR AND COLORED ENVELOPES
A calendar and color coded envelopes is standing on an easel near the front entrance of the church. All days, weeks, and months are available. A single day, week, or month can have multiple contibutors. The calendar is a visual aid to show those dates for which donations have been made. Examples include a loved one's birthday, favorite holiday, your vacation week, or anniversary month.
Envelopes are color coded by contribution level. Fill out the envelope and drop it in the offering plate. Please mark the calendar after the donation has been made:
$29 - One day's worth of extra principal - white envelope - On the calendar, place a mark on one day.
$203 - One week's worth of extra principal - yellow envelope - Mark through a week with a yellow highlighter.
$882 - One month's worth of extra principal - red envelope - Mark through a month's name with a pink highlighter. At this level, credit card charge is available for those who want to earn card rewards.
Groups are encouraged to work together to raise the larger amounts.
Monthly Donations
You may wish to commit to contributing $10 per month. Or any other amount you choose.
Memorials and Honorariums
Donations can be made in memory of or in honor of family or friends.
Our Progress So Far (through June 30, 2010)
The Poised for Greatness (PFG) campaign to pay off the church mortgage continues to make amazing progress. Everyone should feel great pride in what has been accomplished so far and inspired by what remains possible.
Through June 2010, $12,692 has been raised by the PFG campaign. This includes $2,255 year to date. The church also made $1,112 in extra principal payments in early 2009.
The majority of donations were from individuals who selected to donate a day, a week, or a month of extra principal. Easter, Pet, and Christmas Memorials were the next largest amount. Donations to the Change Jar and through other fundraisers made significant contributions as well.
Extra principal payments totaling $13,803 have been deposited to date. Over the life of our loan, this has saved us $14,924 in interest. It has shortened our loan by 20 months or $28,868. The effect can be seen on the Mortgage Amortization By Month line graph as the gap between the Minimum Payment Only and Actual Payment (with PFG Contributions) lines.
On average... in the past 12 months we have paid an extra $593 per month in extra principal ($765 per month overall). Based on that, we are on pace to pay off the mortgage in February 2017. This would be 64 months early; avoiding $92,439 in future payments. This is shown on the graph by the dashed Projected Payoff at Current Rate line.
The graph also includes a dashed 6 Year Target Payoff line. It shows that extra principal payments of $1,496 per month can pay off our loan by its August 2014 due date. At that time, we will owe the remaining balance and have to refinance the loan. While paying the loan off by that date would be fantastic, our goal is to lower that balloon payment as much as possible. As you can see, we’ve made a significant dent in it.
Note: All calculations are based on a minimum mortgage payment of $1441.93. They assume the interest rate remains fixed at 6% for the life of the loan. The rate will likely adjust at the loan’s 3 year point, in August 2011.
Every cent of every dollar goes directly to the mortgage principal. A $5 donation today reduces our future payments by over $10!
THANK YOU to those who have generously donated their time and/or money to this campaign. You have allowed us all to benefit from your generous efforts. We ask every one, firstly, for your prayers and secondly, for your one-time or recurring donations
See Amy R, Cyndi S, Steve D, or any member of the Finance Committee if you have questions.
