The WELS Church Extension Fund Stamp Program is designed to involve WELS youth in ministry work from an early age. This investment program helps children build a foundation in Biblical stewardship. This program also allows parents and teachers to instruct WELS youth to actively participate in ministry work happening around the world. It’s a valuable teaching tool for WELS Day School and Sunday School teachers as they guide students in understanding and practicing Christian stewardship principles.

How does a WELS church or school participate in this investment program?

• A church or school completes an “Initial Order Form” and sends it to WELS CEF, along with a check. This establishes a stamp purchasing account number.
• Upon receiving the “Initial Order Form,” WELS CEF sends the church or school the stamps and support material requested. A stamp purchasing activity statement, along with another stamp order form, will be sent with each order to reflect the current balance due on the stamp account. A payment should be included with each subsequent stamp order to cover the amount of the stamps sent from WELS CEF.
• The church or school then sells each stamp to the students for $1.00 to cover the purchase amount. Students can purchase stamps on a designated stamp day made by the church or school. When a stamp book is full, the teacher provides the student with an investment application. An investment application is filled out by the student’s parent and returned with the full stamp book to the WELS CEF office. (Please note: The Application attached to the stamp book must be completed to open the first certificate.  The Additional Investment-Partial Redemption Form attached to the stamp book must accompany every additional stamp book sent to WELS CEF.)
• All Stamp Program certificates are issued as I-Year Savings Certificates as an UTMA.   The parent, or guardian, is lsited as the custodian for the minor.  Taxes are reported under the minors SocialSecurity number.
• WELS CEF then issues a Savings Certificate to the child and sends it to their permanent home address. The parent is the custodian or joint owner on these investment certificates so that statements and maturity notices can be handled accordingly.
• Additional investments may be made to an existing Stamp Program certificate at any time using the Additional Investment-Partial Redemption Form.  Parents, grand-parents and students are encouraged to continue adding additional investments to the certificate.
• If the certificate does not have an accumulated value over $50 after 5 years, WELS CEF may ask the investor to bring the value up to $50, redeem the certificate, or donate it to the WELS CEF Grant Program.

Through this program, a new investor is introduced to the WELS CEF mission — an investor who will hopefully help support ministry for many years to come.

Get Started Today:  Simply download and complete the Initial Order Form and send it with a check to: