Investing with Faith / Peter Duncan

CCF is called to provide long-term financial stability for the Church

This spring, I accepted the role as director of the archdiocesan Catholic Community Foundation (CCF). As I’m settling in, I am more excited now than I was when I accepted the role. When I shared this exciting news with friends and family, the response was nearly uniform—“Congratulations! What is the Catholic Community Foundation?”

My immediate goals became gathering feedback, ensuring our team is ready to serve you, and exploring ways we can best serve and advance the mission of the Church.

The responses from my friends and family, along with the support of the Advisory Board of Directors, confirmed for me that a great first step in serving is raising awareness about the Catholic Community Foundation. So let me start with the basics.

CCF was created to provide long-term financial support for the ministries that make up the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. For 39 years, CCF has partnered with the faithful to help maximize the impact of their sacrificial giving. The main focus has been the establishment, management and growth of endowment funds dedicated to supporting parishes, schools and agencies across central and southern Indiana.

CCF manages more than 600 endowment funds, each with a unique purpose to fund a specific ministry. The foundation exists under the umbrella of the archdiocesan Office of Stewardship and Development (OSD) and utilizes the full resources of the archdiocese’s OSD team in support of its mission.

The OSD team accompanies donors who have identified a ministry’s financial need and helps them explore the options they have to fulfill that need. Often, this is accomplished through contributions to an existing fund or the establishment of a new endowment fund.

Contributions to an endowment can take many forms—outright cash gifts, gifts of stock, or using a required minimum distribution (RMD) to name a few.

Our team stewards the endowment gifts and each year distributes a portion to fulfill the endowment fund’s specific ministry designation.

Endowment fund distributions are used by ministries in numerous ways. They allow parishes to take on new projects and explore new program opportunities. They help charities give food to people in need. They provide schools with library books and students with scholarships so they may grow in their education and their faith.

Following the guidelines from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, we invest endowment funds in accordance with Catholic social teaching. Through responsible stewardship, fund investments are designed to grow and provide financial support for ministries in perpetuity. Sacrificial gifts made are invested in a Catholic way and distributed to the Catholic community—forever.

As I write this, I am mindful of Christ’s charge to go forth and make disciples of all nations. I pray we never lose sight of this mission and remember that we are instruments God wields to bring about his will.

At CCF, we are called to provide long-term financial stability for the Church, allowing its ministries to continue to serve God’s people and spread the Gospel. I ask for your prayers as we stay focused on our mission and serve in the ways we have been called.

To learn more about existing endowments or partnering with the CCF to advance the mission of the Church, you can e-mail ccf@archindy.org, call 317-236-1482, or visit archindy.org/CCF.
 

(Peter Duncan is director of the archdiocesan Catholic Community Foundation. He can be reached at pduncan@archindy.org.) †