Employee Benefits for Congregations and Faith‑based Organizations
Supporting your mission is why we exist — to sustain and strengthen the whole-person well-being of those who serve.
Rostered Ministers & Church Staff
We walk with faith leaders and their families for life — from seminary through retirement — supporting their well-being so they can live out their purpose.
Social Ministry Organizations
The services social ministry organizations provide are as diverse as the people and communities they serve. Portico provides employee benefits for organizations affiliated with the ELCA and its full-communion partners.
Colleges & Universities
ELCA colleges and universities educate tomorrow’s leaders. Portico provides flexible and comprehensive benefits to support the needs of faculty members, coaches, leaders, facilities staff, and more.
Your Life’s Work. Powered By Portico.
Portico is the nonprofit benefit ministry of the ELCA, serving with a commitment to enhance the well-being of those who serve in the church, faith-related ministries, and higher education.
With shared values and dedication to service, we provide benefits that support the financial, emotional, and physical well-being of members through every stage of life.
We serve on your behalf to secure and administer programs that focus on providing high-value benefits at more stable rates, to help you care for those who bring your organization’s mission to life.
Health Benefits
Support for health and well-being is at the heart of our innovative plans. We bring value to you and your community with benefits designed to improve outcomes and strengthen the resilience of those who serve.
Retirement
Financial preparation supports peace of mind — today and in the future. As part of a whole-person approach to living well, Portico offers a retirement plan that gives ELCA-affiliated organizations unique tax advantages and investment options.
Life & Disability
Families need financial protection from the unexpected. Life insurance and disability coverage protects your employees and their loved ones in the event of death, serious illness, or injury.
Serving You Is Our Life’s Work
Portico understands and shares your deep commitment to service and the need for careful stewardship of limited resources. We support you and your staff with high-quality, fully integrated, easy-to-administer benefits, access to best-in-class vendors, proven technology, and tools — all supported by an award-winning Customer Care Center.
Total Benefits Provider
Providing a high-quality, integrated package of benefits to care for and support your staff. Health and wellness, retirement, disability benefits, and life insurance — administered through a single point of contact.
Strength in Numbers
Our large collective participant pool gives you the advantage that we call “the power of the pool.” Portico allows you to increase your buying power with improved rate stability and access to a wider range of health services, products, and vendors.
Extension of Your Team
With Portico on your team, you add capacity without added cost. Our comprehensive benefit program includes a full range of administrative support and award-winning customer service — saving you valuable time and resources.
Aligned in Service
Portico’s mission, as a faith-centered nonprofit, is to provide benefits that support your team’s vitality so they can serve others. We understand the calling to serve.
You have questions. We have answers.
Portico Benefit Services pools together more than 16,000 health plan participants and negotiates health benefits for all of them as one collective group.
At Portico, we’ve seen the positive results of this collective power.
Our 403(b)(9) retirement plans are church plans, which are employee benefit plans established and maintained for the employees of a church or church-associated organization.
Church plans are not subject to ERISA or DOL regulations, saving time, money, and effort. Clergy can benefit from significant tax savings when taking distributions from the plan by claiming the clergy housing allowance exclusion, only available through church plans — not banks, investment firms, or fraternal organizations.
Church plans also benefit from the large pool of assets we manage, giving us access to industry-leading investment managers and Fidelity recordkeeping services, often not available to smaller plans.
Learn more about our approach to financial health and investments.
Portico offers a holistic approach to benefits with a focus on financial, emotional, and physical wellness. We curate cost-effective benefit solutions that support total wellness for those who serve, including: Retirement Plans, Health Plan Benefits, Life and Disability Plan Benefits
For congregations, we offer a bundled benefit package that includes health, retirement, disability, and life insurance. This bundled package protects members from a variety of financial risks and serves them throughout their lifetime.
Portico offers an experienced team to guide your employees as they enroll in their benefits. We meet members in their preferred channel whether it’s online, by phone, or even in person. Our team is here to simplify the member experience by taking the guesswork out of using their benefits. Our support includes:
- Portico Care Coordinators by Quantum Health to help employees navigate the often-complex health care system
- Condition-specific programs and coaching with personalized support for members’ wellness journey
- Financial planners and online tools that help guide members toward greater financial confidence
The Portico team will work in tandem with your HR administrator to provide extensive experience and support in onboarding, implementation, benefits education, member enrollment, and payroll integration.
We can provide this one-stop benefits administration experience (access to multiple vendors through our health plan) while you focus on your ministry. Learn more about the other ways we can serve as an extension of your team.
If your organization is associated with a church and is exempt from tax under Internal Revenue Code Section 501, you may be eligible to participate in a church plan, which is an employee benefit plan established and maintained for the employees of a church or church-associated organization. This could include congregations, skilled nursing facilities, schools, camps, colleges and universities, or social ministry organizations.
Portico Benefit Services can serve any organization associated with the ELCA or one of its full communion partners. As a nonprofit ministry of the ELCA, we were established to serve church-affiliated ministries like yours.
Church plans are not subject to reporting and disclosure requirements required in Title I of ERISA, including an annual Form 5500 filing requirement, and are not subject to an annual audit requirement — saving you costs.
Determination of eligibility to participate in a church plan is dependent on each organization’s unique facts and circumstances. Set up a call and we can help determine your eligibility. Learn more about church plan status.