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The Foundation
What We Do
Catholic Charities Foundation-What We Do
Building a foundation for the future
The Catholic Charities Foundation was created in 1999 in order to begin the task of building a permanent fund, the proceeds of which will help Catholic Charities to provide uninterrupted services to the poor...every year.
Gifts to the Foundation are invested wisely and the proceeds are used to provide help for children and families, to assist migrant farm worker families and provide emergency assistance to the poor.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
A Family Fund
You may wish to establish a Family Fund with your gift to the Catholic Charities Foundation. A Family Fund assures that your name will be remembered in perpetuity and will provide an annual gift in your family name to a specific work or the Catholic programs you designate.
A Perpetual Memorial
Your gifts to the Foundation can create a perpetual memorial for your children, parents or loved ones who have passed away. A memorial gift will provide an annual donation which will continue the works of mercy done by Catholic Charities and these works will be done in the name of your loved ones.
What Kind of Gifts Can You Give?
Many donors choose to create a gift through their wills. Others make outright gifts through stocks, real estate, IRA's, paid-up life insurance policies, charitable lead or remainder trusts.
This type of planned gift donated to the Foundation will not only assure that Catholic Charities will be able to help the poor for the foreseeable future but can also offer appreciable tax benefits for the donor.
For more information Contact our foundation:
Catholic Charities Foundation
Diocese of Venice
P.O. Box 2116
Venice, FL 34284-2116
Advantages of a Foundation Gift
- Provides benefactors with the opportunity to continue giving during and beyond their lifetime.
- Gives the satisfaction of knowing that you have taken a positive step toward continuing the "works of mercy" done by Catholic Charities.
- Provides growth in the Foundation which increases the annual income of Catholic Charities for its programs in the Diocese of Venice.
- Achieves the spiritual benefits that come with enrollment as members of The Good Samaritan Guild.
My Gift, Where Will it be Used?
These are the three primary areas where you can designate your gift to the Foundation:
- For children and families in need
- For emergency assistance to the poor.
- To assist migrant worker families.
Or you can fund an unrestricted gift to Catholic Charities
Here is how your gift can help
One in 28 are Served
For one in every 28 of our neighbors in the ten-county area of the Diocese of Venice, Catholic Charities is frequently the only hope. Catholic Charities expertly helps people in need regardless of race, nationality or creed. It provides this help through 31 programs across Southwest Florida with professional caring staff members aided by dedicated volunteers.
Over the years, the primary source of philanthropic financial support for Catholic Charities programs has come from parishioners of the Catholic Diocese of Venice through free-will offerings made to the Catholic Faith Appeal conducted through the local parishes and has accounted for just under 15% of the Catholic Charities $5 to $6 million annual budget.
However, even though the Catholic Faith Appeal continues to grow, the population of southwest Florida is growing at a dramatic pace, as are the social service needs of more and more people in the area. To relieve these tremendous financial pressures Catholic Charities has begun making a concerted effort to acquire additional private and public grant support.
A number of community leaders with the approval of the Bishop established the Catholic Charities Foundation to lead this effort. The Foundation is building a permanent fund, where the proceeds will be utilized to strengthen existing programs and to initiate new strategies to meet emerging social needs.
Providing Help
As examples….our help to people comes in these ways:
- Emergency Assistance: Food, medication, and financial aid, especially to pay rent and utilities for individuals and families.
- Counseling and Mental Health Services: Family and marital counseling offered to individuals, couples or in focused peer groups.
- Pregnancy Services: Housing, support and counseling for pregnant women and young mothers.
- Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services: Reception, reunification with family, education services, employment services, health services, language and civic education, housing placement and legal services toward citizenship.
- Education and Family Support Services: Family life education, values clarification, parenting education, and tutoring.
- Social Support Services: Respite care, transportation services, employment services, friendly visits, case management, and information and referral services.
- Permanent Housing Services: Helping low-income families achieve home ownership.
Assuring the Future
The gifts given to the Catholic Charities Foundation are invested and the growth and interest income from that investment is provided annually for Catholic Charities programs.
For example, a gift of $30,000 would provide a minimum of five percent, approximately $1,500 a year, which is the six-month cost of marriage counseling for one family. In another example, a gift of $45,000 would provide annually $2,250, which is the six-month cost of a child day care scholarship.
Your donation can be individualized under your name. For example: “The McTague Family Fund, designated for children.” For this purpose gifts to the Catholic Charities Foundation may have the following designations:
- For Children
- To Support Families
- For Emergency Assistance
- For Changing Lives
You Can Help
The Catholic Charities Foundation for the Diocese of Venice has stated its primary purpose to be encouraging regular giving to Catholic Charities in order to build a permanent fund that will ensure uninterrupted services of Catholic Charities in Southwest Florida well into the future and free-up funds necessary for program expansion.
There are many ways available for you to choose in building the Foundation assets to support the social services ministry of Catholic Charities. For example:
- Naming Catholic Charities in Your Will
- Making an Outright Gift of Cash or a Pledge
- Assigning a Life Insurance Policy
- Establishing a Gift Annuity Plan
- Giving Retirement Plan Assets
- Establishing a Charitable Trust
Catholic Charities recommends that all donors be represented by a financial advisor or attorney when considering a planned gift other than cash. If you do not have an advisor, Catholic Charities will be pleased to recommend several qualified professionals.
Catholic Charities is a Good Steward of Your Gifts
"Only 12 percent of the charities we've rated have received at least two consecutive four-star evaluations, indicating that Catholic Charities, Diocese of Venice outperforms most charities in America in its efforts to operate in the most fiscally responsible way possible," Stamp said.
Catholic Charities, Diocese of Venice, Inc. serves the needy in the 10-county area of Southwest Florida regardless of race, creed or nationality.
“I am extremely pleased that we have received this top rating of four-stars for the sixth straight year,” said Peter Routsis-Arroyo, President and CEO of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Venice, Inc. “The award provides tangible evidence Catholic Charities is worthy of donors' trust."
Charity Navigator is a nonprofit organization that helps donors make informed decisions by evaluating the financial health of more than 5,000 charities. By accepting no advertising or donations from the organizations it evaluates, Charity Navigator ensures that its evaluations are unbiased. The ratings are available for free at the organization’s web site.
“Our sole goal is to provide America’s donors with the data they need to make informed giving decisions,” said Stamp. “By using our web site to check on the financial health of a charity, givers can be assured that the charities they support are worthy of their trust and commitment.”
The organization evaluates charities in two broad areas of financial health: their organizational efficiency and their organization capacity. A set of financial ratios or performance categories to rate each of these two areas are used and an overall rating is issued that combines the charity’s performance in both areas.
According to Stamp, organizational efficiency reveals how well a charity functions day to day. Charities that are efficient spend less money to raise more. Their fundraising efforts stay in line with the scope of the programs and services they provide. They keep administration costs within reasonable limits and devote the majority of their spending to the programs and services they exist to provide.
Organization capacity, Stamp said, is determined by how well a charity has sustained its programs and services over time and whether it can continue to do so even if it loses support or faces broad economic downturns. Charity Navigator shows donors how well a charity is positioned to pursue long-term, systemic change. Charities that show consistent growth and maintain financial stability are more likely to last for years to come. They have the financial flexibility to plan strategically and pursue long-term objectives, rather than fundraising to meet short-term financial obligations.
“These charities can more ambitiously address our nation’s challenges, envisioning and working toward long-term solutions,” Stamp said.
Charity Navigator evaluates all types of charities in all regions of the country. Guidelines for choosing the charities they rate include: organizations that are granted the tax-exempt status 501 (c) (3) by the IRS; organizations that seek donations from individual donors; and organizations that appeal to vast networks of individual donors.
“I hope our donors will use the Charity Navigator web site to see for themselves how and why Catholic Charities again received this high rating,” Routsis-Arroyo said. “One visit will provide further assurance that we strive to make the maximum use of all funds we receive, whether they come from individuals, parishes, foundations or businesses.”
For more information about Charity Navigator and Catholic Charities Four-Star rating, visit www.charitynavigator.org.