As a triathlete and basketball junkie, Tim Townsend brings a certain fervor to his role as the newly elected president of the PCA Foundation (PCAF), replacing Randy Stair. Townsend spent 13 years on the National Christian Foundation executive team. He is also an elder at Westminster Presbyterian (Atlanta).

What does the PCAF do?

PCAF makes grants to PCA churches, committees and agencies, and other Christian ministries to advance the kingdom of Jesus Christ. We are considered a grant-making charity as opposed to an end-user charity (such as churches, schools, and humanitarian organizations, etc.).

Why would someone give through PCAF instead of giving directly to a church or charity?

There are several reasons. One of the main reasons is that we enable donors who experience significant income events to give wisely and effectively over a period of time and to multiple charities, and not be penalized by the tax law. Consider a business executive who receives a large bonus at the end of a year. He decides to give away $100,000 of that to his church and to a number of as-of-yet undetermined charities. In order not to be penalized, he would have to give all of that money within the year that he receives the bonus. If, however, he gives to those end-user charities via PCAF, he can receive a tax deduction immediately and then identify charitable needs and recommend grants to those charities over a number of years. 

Another significant reason is that PCAF can process gifts in the form of noncash assets (for example, real estate, interests in closely held businesses, and marketable securities). Most end-user charities don’t have the ability or expertise to process noncash gifts.

What are you most excited about for the future of PCAF?

In the next year we will significantly expand our capabilities in the complex gift arena. For instance, creating giving opportunities for someone who owns an S corporation or an LLC. 

I’m also excited to help equip our donors to be better grant advisors, to help them become more knowledgeable about which charities are doing the most effective work for the kingdom. To that end, we will establish charitable project funds overseen by churches, to which donors can recommend grants. For example, a PCA church in Memphis might advise a fund formed to address sex trafficking in that city by making grants to rescue, shelter, education, policy, and counseling ministries.

What’s something most people don’t know about you?

I was almost not here. My great-great-grandfather was almost persuaded not to book second- or steerage-class passage from England to America on the RMS Mauretania in 1911, but to wait a year for the completion of the largest passenger ship in the world, the Titanic.