The future success of your favorite Catholic cause started with you …

The future success of your favorite Catholic cause started with you …

… and your strategic gift to an endowment fund.

During the past five years, close to 500 donors made more than 600 gifts to endowment funds managed by the Catholic Foundation of Eastern Pennsylvania to support their favorite Catholic causes. This is tremendous.  Thank you.

And thanks to those same donors, the Catholic Foundation has grown to more than $25 million in managed assets. During the past eight years, the Catholic Foundation also has distributed more than $3 million to support parishes, schools, scholarship programs, ministries and cemeteries.

Thank you to all the generous donors who “believe in forever “…

… and the impact our Catholic faith has on people’s lives.

It is because of you, the Catholic Foundation is doing what it was set up to do: provide needed income to Catholic organizations.  The Catholic Foundation is a game changer for Catholic philanthropy in our region.

Traditionally, people often associate “philanthropy” with an activity that only “wealthy” people may participate in.  Anyone can be a philanthropist.

A few years ago, I enrolled in the inaugural course Giving 2.0 taught by Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen through Stanford University. Like many, I thought financial wealth was the only ingredient for philanthropy.  We learned that “anyone who gives anything—time, money, experience, skills, networks—in any amount to create a better world,” may be considered a philanthropist.

Philanthropy Is a Long-Term Commitment

Philanthropy is a long-term commitment (time, talent and treasure) to a cause in an effort to change systems and find a viable solution to a deep-rooted concern. We all have time, talents and skills to share. We all can make a financial investment at a level meaningful to us—and one that will make a difference to solve a concern for a Catholic cause we deem worthy.

Philanthropy isn’t easy. It often involves personal engagement and a lot of thought. Encouraging people to  think strategically about their giving can make the difference of your favorite Catholic cause barely surviving to one that is thriving.

Endowment funds are a strategic approach to Catholic philanthropy. And once an endowment fund is in place, anyone can give to it—at any level.  Now gifts—cash, IRA rollovers, appreciated stock—can get things rolling. But true growth and security for Catholic causes will come from later gifts: gifts in a will, and insurance, IRA or other investment beneficiary designations.

Forever Giving and Your Favorite Catholic Cause

At the Catholic Foundation, we call it Forever Giving.  Since an endowment fund provides ongoing income to an organization, donors believe their final intention (gifts in a will or a beneficiary designations)—their Forever Gift —allows them to continue supporting their favorite Catholic causes long after they are gone. Essentially, their gift lives forever.

By making a gift to an endowment fund, you are already practicing strategic Catholic philanthropy.