Dear Friends:
In July, I had the honor of attending the USCCB’s Convocation of Catholic Leaders in Orlando, Florida. The convocation focused on Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation The Joy of the Gospel. In this document, our Holy Father instructs Christians to “appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty.”
Swarming with Catholic leaders of all kinds who joyfully pointed to that horizon of beauty, the convocation was truly inspiring. It helped me to see that, as a perpetual steward of our community’s financial resources, the Catholic Community Foundation (CCF) can ensure our Catholic community does more than point to that horizon. We can ensure our Catholic community reaches that beautiful horizon.
In the past 12 months, CCF has taken large strides toward that horizon of beauty. $32 million in new assets entered the Foundation, allowing us to close our fiscal year on June 30th with more than $300 million in charitable assets under management – a record in CCF’s nearly 25-year history. The strength of those assets allowed us to grant more than $13 million dollars to our community, which is a staggering 30% increase in grantmaking over last year. That brings our total grantmaking since inception to more than $140 million. I am happy to say we remain the largest community foundation in the nation serving Catholic philanthropy.
In this newsletter, we tell the story of a visionary school leader, who pointed her community toward a beautiful horizon of endowing Catholic education for future generations. We highlight our Board Vice Chairperson, Tom Letscher, and his wife, Sheila’s shared commitment to Catholic philanthropy. And, we celebrate the 20-year tenure of our Senior Accountant & Lead Financial Analyst Becky Abbott, whose dedication to the mission of CCF is unparalleled.
Thank you for helping us to make a horizon of beauty attainable for our Catholic community.
Sincerely,
Anne Cullen Miller, MBA
President