CCF honored for ‘telling archdiocese’s story’ through funds
Archbishop Charles C. Thompson on Aug. 16 tells past and current board members that the Catholic Community Foundation’s nearly 500 endowments “tell a story about how the Catholic faith is being lived throughout central and southern Indiana.” (Photos by Natalie Hoefer)
By Natalie Hoefer
It was an evening celebrating stories, an historical event and the people who helped make history happen.
So, said Archbishop Charles C. Thompson, “I think it’s fitting that we’re gathered at the Indiana Historical Society [in Indianapolis] tonight to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Catholic Community Foundation.”
Noting that the Indiana Historical Society describes itself as “Indiana’s storyteller,” he said, the Catholic Community Foundation (CCF) “is the Archdiocese of Indianapolis’ storyteller. … [Its nearly 500] endowments tell a story about how the Catholic faith is being lived throughout central and southern Indiana.”
The dinner, held on Aug. 16 in honor of —and in gratitude for—CCF’s past and current board members, was the final event of a year celebrating three decades since the creation of the foundation in 1987.
‘That was an exciting time’
“Fundraising seemed so much simpler” prior to 1987, said Msgr. William Stumpf, archdiocesan vicar general, earlier in the evening. “You made a budget, you went out and raised the money you needed, and then you did it all over again the next year.
“But the truth is, even back in 1987 I think we all knew that wasn’t a good way in which to operate. We needed to start thinking more long term, and how we were going to provide the needed resources to carry out the Church’s mission in the archdiocese.”
It was during that year, he said, “Archbishop [Edward T.] O’Meara, with the help of many faith-filled people in the archdiocese, had the vision to create a foundation that would allow people to create a lasting legacy.”
Among those present at the event was Dr. Eugene Tempel, professor of philanthropic studies, founding dean emeritus of the Lilly family School of Philanthropy, and special assistant to the chancellor of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. Having served as vice-president and president of the Indiana University Foundation, Tempel had expertise in board-building and fundraising, and was asked to help create CCF.
“We know from research, and it’s still true today, that people make these planned gifts, estate gifts, but they don’t leave them to the Church,” he said. “They leave them to secular causes most of the time.”
The goal was to try to “work with [potential donors] deliberately and have people become conscientious about leaving money for the Church.”
Tempel, now a member of St. Joan of Arc Parish in Indianapolis, was still involved with CCF when Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein became the shepherd of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in 1992.
“That was an exciting time,” he said with enthusiasm. Archbishop Buechlein had spent years as president-rector of Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in St. Meinrad, so “he knew what a successful development plan looked like and what was possible,” Tempel explained. “He really wanted this thing to succeed and wanted to see a lot of money come in for the good causes that could be funded by philanthropy.”
‘Money producing interest’
One of Tempel’s first jobs was to hire a planned giving coordinator. He selected Sandra Behringer, a 25-year speech and language pathologist and former newspaper editor.
“They were looking for someone to go out to the parishes and talk about the foundation,” explained Behringer, a member of St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis. “Communication has always been my strong suit.”
She spent the next “year or two” learning about planned giving then educating the foundation staff.
“Then I got busy about the business of meeting donors and starting the foundation,” Behringer said.
“Our parishes needed funding just to operate. So to go in and suggest that they take a certain amount of money from a bequest and set it aside so they couldn’t touch the principal and only receive the interest income was difficult for them.
“They had to learn that … if they put something aside and have money producing interest over a whole period of years, they would recoup the original endowment funding for their project and still have money producing interest.”
It took parishes “four or five years” to become comfortable with the concept and practice, and “to trust that the archdiocese was trying to help them,” Behringer added.
‘The donor who never dies’
Individuals also needed help with understanding the long-term value of their planned gift to the Church.
First, said Behringer, potential donors needed to grasp that planned gifts could reflect a “particular Catholic value, like a Catholic school they wanted to support, or a vessel of service or outreach,” and that establishing a cause-benefiting endowment “would be a good way to remember someone or something they loved.”
As for those “who had been committed Catholics all their lives,” she said, they had to learn that they “could give this one gift that would last forever, because [when] the person dies, so [too] the amount they gave every Sunday is gone. But if that person sets up an endowment, they become the donor who never dies.”
The message of Behringer—who went on to serve about 15 years as director of planned giving—obviously worked. The foundation launched with initial investments totaling $1.2 million. Today it stands at more than $184 million in nearly 500 endowment funds benefitting parishes, parish schools, archdiocesan agencies and ministries across central and southern Indiana.
Many of those funds memorialize loved ones. One example is the Jerome W. DeChant Memorial Endowment Fund for St. Malachy School in Brownsburg. It was established by DeChant’s brother in memory of Jerome, who died of cancer.
Tempel, too, set up an endowment in memory of his parents to help their faith community of St. Meinrad Parish after they passed away.
Third place ranking is ‘quite a tribute’
Throughout the past year, the Catholic Community Foundation’s 30-year milestone has been celebrated or marked in several ways. One example is a rebranding of the logo to include the words, “For God. For Others. Forever.” At the Aug. 16 event, current CCF director Elisa Smith explained the new slogan.
“ ‘For God’ refers to the fact that legacy giving is a way to honor God,” she said. “ ‘For Others’ refers to our Christian duty to serve others. And ‘Forever’ refers to the enduring and everlasting nature of endowment funds.
“Collectively, these three elements provide an excellent summation of the Catholic Community Foundation and its purpose in our archdiocese.”
In her address during the event, current CCF board president Christine Vujovich, a member of St. Bartholomew Parish in Columbus, offered a “proud” fact.
“According to a research study conducted in 2015 by Wilmington Trust—and we’re all proud of this—we were the third largest Catholic [community] foundation in the country, based on asset value. And we follow the [Catholic community foundations] of Minnesota and of Los Angeles, so that’s quite a tribute.”
Such financial resources are “critical … to strengthen Christ’s mission” in central and southern Indiana, said Archbishop Thompson.
He cited a story about the Servant of God Bishop Simon Bruté, first shepherd of the Diocese of Vincennes,which later became the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
The bishop set out “during a treacherous winter night some 170 years ago to bring Communion to an elderly man who was near death,” Archbishop Thompson said. “Bishop Bruté brought a guide with him to show him the way to the dying man’s home.”
But in the “pitch-black, freezing night,” the guide soon despaired.
“Bishop Bruté told the guide, ‘Let me walk ahead of you. Follow in my footsteps,’ ” the archbishop continued. “And together, they were able to reach the dying man’s house. …
“Under the most trying circumstances, Bishop Bruté remained faithful and committed to answering God’s call to carry on Christ’s mission in our part of the world … .
“Each of us has the opportunity to be like [him] and to say, ‘Let me walk ahead of you. Follow in my footsteps.’ And ultimately, we follow in the footsteps of Christ.”
(For more information on the Catholic Community Foundation, the funds it offers or to donate, go to www.archindy.org/CCF, email CCF@archindy.org, or call 800-382-9836, ext. 1482, or 317-236-1482.) †
