Investing with Faith / Joanna Feltz

Matching funds can encourage others to give while growing endowments

In this column, I often discuss how individuals can create endowment funds. But organizations can also create them. Recently, I saw this happen with the Knights of Columbus, Holy Family Council #3682, in Indianapolis.

After receiving the cash proceeds from the sale of its meeting hall, the Knights of Columbus Holy Family Council chose to establish the Monsignor John T. Ryan Scholarship Endowment Fund at Cardinal Ritter Jr./Sr. High School in Indianapolis through the Catholic Community Foundation (CCF).

According to Jim Thieman, past grand knight for the council, “We draw our membership from four different parishes, so we were looking for something good to do with the money that would benefit more than just one parish on Indianapolis’ west side.”

Another reason for supporting the school is that the council and Cardinal Ritter share a connection to Msgr. Ryan, in whose memory the fund was created. The late priest was both the chaplain for the council and a champion of Catholic education when he served as dean of the Indianapolis West Deanery.

The council wanted to offer an enticement for others to make a gift to the Monsignor John T. Ryan Scholarship Endowment Fund. Instead of funding the endowment immediately with the total contribution, council members decided to fund the endowment initially with $25,000 and set aside $155,000 within the Catholic Community Foundation to be used as a dollar-for-dollar match.

This means until Dec. 31, 2019, any contributions made to the endowment fund from any donor is matched dollar-for-dollar—up to $155,000. With such a matching component, any donors’ potential gifts of $155,000 will be added to the council’s $155,000 gift, creating a potential total endowment of $310,000.

Beginning in 2020, distributions will fund two four-year scholarships ($2,000 each year per student) to incoming freshmen. Until then, the council is funding two scholarships a year through an additional gift.

According to Jo Hoy, president of Cardinal Ritter, endowments like this one are crucial for organizations like her school because “they help continue to lay the foundation for what it’s like to lead a Catholic life.”

If you’d like to make a donation to the Monsignor John T. Ryan Scholarship Endowment Fund, please visit archindy.org/ccf/donate.html. Or to learn how the Catholic Community Foundation can assist your organization with long-term gifting, feel free to contact me at jfeltz@archindy.org, 1-800-382-9836, ext. 1482 or 317-236-1482.
 

(Joanna Feltz, J.D., is director of planned giving for the Catholic Community Foundation in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, and consultant to the law firm Woods, Weidenmiller, Michetti, Rudnick & Galbraith PLLC. For more information about planned giving, log on to www.archindy.org/plannedgiving. Tax information or legal information provided herein is not intended as tax or legal advice and cannot be relied on to avoid statutory penalties. Always check with your legal, tax and financial advisors before implementing any gift plan.) †