When people think about giving, they often imagine writing a check, making an online donation, or dropping cash in an offering plate. While these gifts are vital, there’s another way of giving that not only fuels greater impact today but also extends your legacy far beyond your lifetime: asset giving.
What Is Asset Giving?
Asset giving is the process of donating non-cash resources—such as stocks, real estate, retirement funds, or business interests—instead of (or in addition to) cash. For many, the majority of wealth is held in these types of assets rather than in a bank account. Unlocking those resources can dramatically shift what’s possible for ministries like ServeNow.
Why It Pushes the Needle
Maximizes Impact
Giving appreciated assets—like stocks or property—often frees up resources on a much larger scale than cash alone. For example, donating stock that has grown in value allows you to bypass capital gains tax and direct the full value toward ministry impact. That means more Basic Series books printed, more children reached through Lighthouse Centers, more widows empowered with micro-enterprise projects, and more communities transformed.
Extends Your Legacy
Asset giving is not just about today—it’s about tomorrow. By including ServeNow in your estate planning, designating a percentage of your retirement account, or setting up a charitable trust, you ensure that your values, faith, and generosity ripple out long after you’re gone. Your legacy becomes more than what you leave behind; it becomes the lives transformed through your foresight.
Strategic Stewardship
Giving isn’t only about sacrifice—it’s also about stewardship. Asset gifts allow you to leverage what God has entrusted you with in the most effective way possible. Instead of liquidating and paying unnecessary taxes, you can redirect those funds toward eternal purposes—multiplying the return for Kingdom good.
What It Can Look Like in Practice at ServeNow
- A supporter donates stock, fueling the printing of thousands of Basic Series discipleship books in new languages and countries.
- A family includes ServeNow in their estate plan, ensuring that children in Lighthouse Centers will continue to receive education, food, and spiritual care for years to come.
- A donor gives a piece of land, allowing ServeNow to expand its outreach in Africa by equipping local pastors and leaders.
- A couple designates a portion of their retirement funds to ServeNow, ensuring that long after their working years, their resources will still be advancing the Great Commission.
And closer to home, we’ve already seen the powerful impact of legacy giving:
- A generous gift through a Living Trust created a significant shift in ServeNow’s financial position. Last year, we began with just under $1 million in net assets. By the close of the fiscal year, that had grown to more than $5 million.
- A legacy gift of mineral rights brought in $145,437 in royalties—an unexpected blessing that is already helping expand ministry impact.
What does this mean? ServeNow is entering the future on stronger financial footing, with reserves that allow us to respond quickly to urgent needs, expand ministry opportunities, and serve with stability and sustainability.
Your Legacy in Motion
Extending your legacy doesn’t always require grand gestures. Sometimes it’s about rethinking the resources already in your hands and asking, How can I steward these for eternal impact?
Asset giving pushes the needle further than most of us realize. It expands what’s possible today while also carrying your heart for ministry into the future. Through these kinds of gifts, you’re not just giving—you’re investing in lives, in hope, and in the Kingdom of God.
Learn more about planned giving and how you can make a lasting impact through ServeNow by visiting our Planned Giving page.
