Why the Name Horizon Outreach Fund Says it All
The Horizon Outreach Fund (HOF) represents a unique, sustainable, long-term commitment by Saint Michael to deploy significant resources outside of our parish and address some of the most pervasive needs of our greater community. It reflects a relationship with our resources that grows from an outlook of abundance rather than a mindset of scarcity.
The name Horizon Outreach Fund says it all:
Horizon. HOF is far sighted. It looks beyond where we are at present; it looks to where we should be going in the future; it looks to the horizon.
HOF was endowed to be a powerful and permanent force to help build God’s kingdom. It follows a venture philanthropy model allowing for multi-year investments in time, talent, and treasure, with nonprofit organizations as strategic partners rather than simply grant recipients. HOF is focused on bold, strategic, and life-changing initiatives, particularly those serving people who are in desperate need of the opportunity and resources for a second chance.
Outreach. When the idea for HOF was incubated, Saint Michael wanted very much not to “bury its talent.” Matthew 25: 14-30. It was committed to the idea that the resources it enjoyed as a parish should be used to assist others in need of what that abundance could help provide.
Of course, Saint Michael (as does every church) has significant programming and facility needs; however, through HOF—together with its Mission and Outreach Committee and All Angels Foundation and alongside the Women of Saint Michael’s charitable fundraising and grantmaking—Saint Michael has committed to outreach as a fundamental component of its mission and ministry. HOF is required to distribute its income solely in furtherance of strategic outreach initiatives and activities outside of Saint Michael.
Fund. Saint Michael determined several years ago the tract of land on the north side of its campus—which was acquired originally to allow future expansion—was larger than necessary to meet its expected future needs. In a win-win arrangement, Saint Michael entered into a 99-year ground lease of the “excess” land with Lincoln Property Company (LPC) whereby (1) LPC developed residential and office buildings, green space, a parking garage, and a restaurant, and (2) Saint Michael received, among other things, a good neighbor, parking rights at the development, and a significant, predictable income stream in the form of monthly lease payments (adjusted periodically for inflation) for 99 years.
Of each lease payment received under the long-term ground lease:
- Up to 15% may be used to supplement the church budget for parish operations;
- Up to 34% is used to fund an endowment (the Horizon Facilities Fund) for Saint Michael’s future facility needs; and
- No less than 51% is used to fund the HOF endowment.
In this way, HOF will grow an increasingly significant and permanent endowment fund balance, with the potential to eventually reach—over the duration of the 99-year ground lease – hundreds of millions of dollars to deploy for future generations of those in need. As up to 4% of the fund balance of HOF is available for distribution annually to invest in outreach beyond the doors of Saint Michael, HOF’s community impact will grow larger every year.
HOF funds are professionally managed and invested with oversight by the All Angels Foundation. HOF is directed by a committee of parish volunteers appointed primarily by the All Angels Foundation with additional members appointed by the Saint Michael vestry.