Northward Group, U.A.
From alms to abundance.
A ministry should not live or die by the offering plate. We turn charitable gifts into real estate, held in trust, so the rent funds Christian ministry month after month.
Gifts become property
Many gifts, gathered for one purpose.
Contributions from parishioners, corporations and benefactors around the world are combined to acquire multiunit residential and commercial real estate.
Property is held in trust
Owned outright. Kept for the mission.
Each property is purchased whole by a designated F.B.O. Integrated Auxiliary Irrevocable Trust. No shareholders, no private owners. It is dedicated to ministry for generations.
Rent becomes mission
Cash flow that keeps on giving.
Net rent is granted to member ministries for their mission fields: the orphan, the widow, the working family. Choose where you stand in the work.
Our mission
Faithful stewardship of what the Church has been given.
Northward Group, U.A. is an unincorporated Faith Based Organization. We establish F.B.O. Integrated Auxiliary Irrevocable Trusts for one purpose: to acquire multiunit residential and commercial real estate that produces sustainable, passive cash flow for Christian ministries.
The people did not change. The model did.
Most ministries are funded by the very people they exist to serve. When jobs disappear, giving drops at the moment need is greatest, and nothing is built because every dollar is spent as it arrives. That is not a failure of faith. It is a failure of design.
Our answer is the one Scripture gives in the Parable of the Talents: what God entrusts is meant to be multiplied, not spent and not buried. A gift given once buys an asset that pays the mission every month.
How the model works
One gift. A lasting source of mission funding.
Our trusts work much like a real estate investment trust gathers capital from many participants, with one difference that changes everything: there are no investors. The capital is charitable, the trust owns the property whole, and the cash flow belongs to ministry.
Give
Parishioners, corporations and benefactors contribute cash, securities or real estate to Northward Group.
Gather
Gifts from our international network of member ministries are combined. Capital Providers add larger capital support for acquisitions of $25 million and above.
Acquire
A designated F.B.O. Trust purchases the property and takes title, with the aim of holding it free and clear.
Steward
Independent managers run the property. Tenants pay rent to the trust. Reserves are funded first.
Grant
Net cash flow is granted to member ministries for their expansion, mission objectives and good works.
Ministry results bring new givers into the work, and the portfolio grows. The property may be in one city while the ministries it funds serve communities all over the world.
An illustration
What one community can do for the mission.
Move the sliders to see how a single residential community, owned with no mortgage, becomes monthly mission funding.
| Gross potential rent, per year | $8.88 million |
|---|---|
| Other receipts (parking, laundry, fees) at 3% | + $0.27 million |
| Vacancy and credit loss at 5% | − $0.46 million |
| Operating expenses at 38% | − $3.30 million |
| Net operating cash flow | $5.39 million |
| Capital reserve at 10% | − $0.54 million |
| Available for the mission, per year | $4.85 million |
Illustrative figures only, using the assumptions shown. Actual results depend on the property, its market and its audited operating history.
With no mortgage to service, the rent that would have gone to a lender goes to the mission instead.
In our teaching example, one community of 400 homes supports 300 families in affordable homes, cares for orphans and widows, funds a house of worship, and still leaves grants for other ministries.
Find your place in the work
Three ways to walk northward with us.
Fund your mission field from rent, not only from the plate.
For unincorporated F.B.O. ministries and the people who worship in them.
See how ministries join
Give once. Watch it serve for generations.
For individuals, companies and Capital Providers seeking meaningful charitable giving.
See how giving works
Sell your portfolio to a buyer with a purpose.
For owners of multiunit residential and commercial real estate valued at $25 million or more.
See how we buyPrinciples of faithful management
The commitments that govern every trust.
Trust is earned by structure, not by promises. These six commitments guide each acquisition and each grant, and each is confirmed with qualified counsel.
Lawful by design
Section 508(c)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code is a filing exception for churches. Every rule of Section 501(c)(3) is still honored.
Owned free and clear
The aim for every property is title held by the trust with no mortgage, so rent stays passive and the mission is never hostage to a lender.
Rent, not services
The trusts are landlords. Independent managers operate each property, and operating businesses stay with third parties.
Care follows need
Grants serve ministry and people in need. Nothing flows back to donors, insiders or their families.
Open to all
Fair housing for every resident. Worship is always welcomed and never required, and no one's home depends on attendance.
Accountable to every partner
Minutes are kept, books are audited, and givers and ministries receive an annual impact report.
“It is well done, good servant and faithful; thou hast been faithful in little, I will make thee ruler over much.” Matthew 25:21, Geneva Bible