O Lord, all You have given us - our talents, our possessions, and our very lives - will eventually pass from our hands. 

Inspire in our hearts an increased desire to return to You the FIRST fruits of all You have first given us. 

Once we have given a share back to You through acts of compassion for Your beloved people, may we live in the confidence that our generosity to others is but a glimpse of Your everlasting, generous gifts that are our salvation and life.

As you prayerfully consider how you will share from all that you have been bestowed, we offer the following information about various one-time and recurring giving options. See the left column of this page for links to the online options. Please don't hesitate to contact our Business Manager with any questions. Thank you for generously returning to God the first fruits of your labors.

• Bank checks are initiated by you from your bank account to be mailed directly to St. Edward Church.

• “Budget” Envelopes are sent to families up to six times per year with either weekly or monthly envelopes and the “special collection” envelopes designated for that mailing. Offering is collected at each weekend Mass, or they be mailed or placed in the mailbox near the parish center driveway. (Families who designate IRA, EFT, or Bank Check will receive one mailing per year with the “special collection” envelopes).

• Charitable funds, trusts or business accounts may also be used. These gifts will be acknowledged on an annual statement to the name and address of the name listed on the check.
  • Vanguard account contributions may be made by logging into your Vanguard account, click on “Grants” at the top, and use the drop-down menu to click on “Recommend a Grant.” You will then search for St. Edward Parish. Scroll down to our listing that includes Waterloo, IA and a picture of our St. Edward stain glass window. 

• Electronic Funds Transfer, also known as EFT, authorizes St. Edward Church to withdraw your offering directly from your bank account. You can authorize a weekly or monthly sacrificial gift, or monthly gifts to Sister Parish-Haiti Adopt-A-Student and Sustaining Our Church Appeal.
  • Complete our EFT authorization form.

• Individual Retirement Account (IRA) qualified minimum distributions may be made directly to St. Edward Church, and you will not pay taxes on that distribution amount. You will make this request directly with your financial advisor/institution.  You will receive a letter from St. Edward Church acknowledging the IRA distribution as required by the IRS, and the gift will be listed as “Non Ded” on your annual statement (as the IRS considers this a “transfer of an asset” rather than a “charitable contribution”).

• Legacy gifts are made through estate planning. You may designate a bequest to St. Edward Church in your will or trust plan.  You may also designate St. Edward Church as a beneficiary of your IRA, 401K, life insurance policy, or other investment portfolio. Your attorney and investment advisor will assist you in making these designations.

• Online Giving allows you to generate a single or recurring gifts using your bank account or credit card on our safe and secure website.
  • Online Sacrificial Giving
  • Online Giving for Holy Days/Special Collections

• PayPal is available for your convenience.

• Property or grain may be accepted as a donation. Please contact the Business Manager to discuss your specific requests.

• Stock Transfers may be made to St. Edward Church and are acknowledged at the closing value on the day the stock leaves your account. Contact, or refer your financial advisor to, the Business Manager to obtain the account information needed to process the stock transfer.

• Venmo is available for your convenience.

Memorials

You want to give a memorial to St. Edward Church in the name of a deceased family member or friend. Here’s a tip - always write the name of the person being remembered in the “memo” space and not in the “pay to the order of” line. The “pay to order” line should be the name of the person or organization who is receiving your memorial check. Our bank will only allow us to deposit checks when our name (St. Edward Church) is listed in the “pay to the order of” line.

Memorials come to us in a variety of ways, and this is how we acknowledge and process those gifts.

• If you write a check to St. Edward Church and forward it to the family, the family will forward that gift to us for deposit. If you are a registered member of St. Edward Church, we will post the memorial to your account.
• If you write a check “to the family of....” with St. Edward Church in the memo line, the family should cash the check and forward the memorial funds to St. Edward Church. The family will likely acknowledge your gift.
• If you write a check to St. Edward Church and forward it directly to us, we will send the family notification of your memorial gift and post it to your account if you are a registered member.

The same process applies if you give St. Edward Church a memorial using Online Giving on our website, Venmo, PayPal, or cash.

Recent memorial funds have been used for landscaping, our outdoor prayers space, and the Marian prayer space that is being created in the lower level of the church. Thank you for your generosity in remembering your loved ones and friends.

Postdated Checks

Some background...we have a generous group of parishioners who rotate through the Money Counting Ministry every Monday morning.  They open envelopes and count checks and cash from the weekend collection as well as contributions received by mail or in person since the previous Monday Money Counting session. We follow money handling procedures as outlined by the Archdiocese and reviewed annually by members of our Finance Council.

Despite their attention to detail, a postdated check can slip through.  A postdated check is one which has a date that is in the future. We’ve had a couple of them recently, and our bank rejects postdated checks. Please help our Money Counting Ministry by using current dates on your checks.  As always, feel free to contact Toni if you have any questions.  Thank you!

Offering Envelopes

Canon Law requires the Church to use all financial gifts for the purpose intended by the giver.  To that end, we utilize offering envelopes, sometimes referred to as “budget” envelopes.  Offering envelopes are mailed from our vendor every other month. Included in this mailing are envelopes for any “special” collection during that time period, such as Holy Days, designated gifts to our sister parishes, or other needs. We also include a (brown) return envelope addressed to the church for the convenience of those who are unable to make it to Mass.

Parishioners may elect to receive envelopes for weekly or monthly giving. If giving through EFT (electronic funds transfer) or with an IRA contribution, typically you will receive a mailing annually with the “special” contribution envelopes.

There is typically a month or two transition time if you change your giving, and if you find that you’re not receiving the envelopes you prefer for your giving preference, please contact Toni to have that updated.

If you write a check or place cash in one of the envelopes without making a notation in the “memo” line of your check, we are obligated to credit your account for the purpose designated on the envelope.  For example, if you place a check in your Christmas envelope, the contribution will be credited as a Christmas contribution rather than a December contribution.  If you happen to be away for a while, and you drop 3 envelopes in the basket for the past three months, all three contributions will be credited to your account in the month we received them. So, you’re welcome to write one check for the total of the last three months and place it in one envelope.

We want to hear from you if you have any questions and need to make changes to your offering envelopes, just call Toni at the Parish Center.