The Catholic Diocese of Madison Foundation (CDMF) provides grants, charitable distributions, and financial support to various Catholic ministries throughout the Diocese of Madison. Many of the funds that support these great works were started by individuals looking to make a difference in their community, both now and into the future.
Investing with the CDMF is attractive for a number of reasons. Our investment portfolio is unitized, pooling all contributions together. Unitized accounting creates the significant benefit of access to investment strategies and money managers that are often exclusive to investors with larger accounts.
The CDMF’s portfolio also adheres to investment guidelines set forth by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). This significantly sets us apart from other financial partners. While still focusing our portfolio on long-term performance and exceeding established benchmarks, we utilize these principles and objectives when selecting securities, allowing the CDMF to safeguard our Catholic faith.
As an experienced fundraiser, the CDMF also offers fund holders marketing assistance for educational materials for their fund along with an online giving platform for their donors. Depending on each fund holder’s financial goals, the CDMF can offer experience in event planning and donor education to grow the fund’s assets and increase donor engagement.
The first step in creating a fund is deciding what charitable cause is important to you. It could be your parish, a Catholic school, homeless ministry, religious education, or nearly anything that supports our Catholic mission here in the diocese. Many funds are started in honor or memory of loved ones who have passed away or by individuals seeking to leave a legacy of their own.
The second step is deciding how much money you would like to use to start the fund. The minimum amount required to start an endowment fund with the CDMF is $25,000. The foundation will then invest this money with our trusted partners at US Bank where it can grow over time. A distribution can be made each year from the fund to the cause you choose to support.
The third step is working with the CDMF staff to craft the purpose for the fund in line with the cause you are interested in supporting. We will work with you to make sure your fund matches your intentions. The CDMF ensures that funds are used only to support the specific fund purpose, so you can rest assured that your money will not be used in any other way.
The final step is for your fund and its purpose to be reviewed and approved by our CDMF board of directors. Our board is comprised of legal and financial experts who review every aspect of the fund agreement to make sure it is both legally and financially sound and that it fulfills your intent.
Some examples of recent funds that have been started at the CDMF include the Our Lady of Hope Clinic Endowment Fund, the Uppena Family Fund for Religious Education, the Janice Weichmann-Werlein Catholic Education Music & Art Fund, and the St. Faustina Parish Non-Endowed Fund.
The Our Lady of Hope Endowment Fund was started to support medical services provided to the needy at the Our Lady of Hope Clinic in Middleton. Msgr. James Uppena started the Uppena Family Fund for Religious Education to provide grants to those studying to become quality parish religious education teachers in our diocese. The Janice Weichmann-Werlein Catholic Education Music & Art Fund was started to provide grants for music and art supplies/programming in Catholic schools. The St. Faustina Parish Fund provides financial support for the Pardeeville area parish, its ministries, and operations.
These are just some examples of funds that were started to support personal causes important to the donor’s hearts.
If you are interested in starting an endowment fund of your own, visit diocesemadisonfoundation.org or give us a call at 608-821-3048. Also, consider asking your parish priest if he has considered starting a fund with the CDMF. We would be happy to help in any way possible as we work together to serve Christ and his Church right here in the Diocese of Madison.
Grant McGurn is the operations coordinator for the Catholic Diocese of Madison Foundation.