The Foundation of SMCC

The Foundation of SMCC exists to protect the long-term investments of the congregation, and seeks the flexibility to be responsive to urgent needs and beneficial opportunities that arise to help our congregation.

Giving Pages

The 2023 Legacy Campaign: Building Our Future

A carves stone arch and white wall on the facade of SMCC.

About the Foundation

The purpose of funds donated to The Foundation differs from regular gifts to the Stewardship Campaign or Estimates of Giving. The best way to explain these differences is in terms of a checking account verses long-term savings.

Estimates of Giving (via the Stewardship Campaign) are used to fund the operating budget for that year only, and include support for all of the church’s ministries and programs, and regular maintenance for the property. While the church’s budget covers daily operating expenses, it cannot absorb all necessary long-term capital improvements and special projects, and has only limited capacity for weathering difficult economic times. Estimates of Giving act like a checking account that allows us to meet those expenses that we can reasonably project year-to-year.

Gifts to The Foundation are invested in perpetuity like a savings account, with disbursements made annually to support aspects of the church’s ministries that go above and beyond the annual operating budget. In this way, it acts as a savings account for the church, providing financial stability for those expenses not foreseen in the budget.

Four dozen attendees fill the back pews in the SMCC sanctuary.

In addition to disbursements made to the church, the Foundation Board has a Community Grants Committee that receives annual applications for community grants. Each year, the Community Grants committee selects a number of local organizations (in the San Gabriel Valley or larger Los Angeles community) to receive grants for capital improvements that make possible their continued ministry. For the 2022-2023 Grant season, the Foundation distributed nearly $60,000 in grants to these local non-profit organizations.

Cornerstone Society

The Cornerstone Society of the Foundation of San Marino Community Church was established in 2007 in order to recognize individuals who have made a commitment to SMCC in their estate plan or who are committed to making a pledge at some point in the future. The Cornerstone Society provides individuals with an opportunity to acknowledge the value of SMCC in their lives, while helping to ensure it continues to serve others in years to come.

Estate gifts of all sizes are gratefully accepted. Membership in the Cornerstone Society not only blesses SMCC and the donor but also provides an opportunity for fellowship. Society members are invited to a reception in addition to seminars and other special events throughout the year.

For more information, download our brochure.

If you have questions about The San Marino Community Church Foundation, contact Director for Communications & Development Victoria Smith.