Catholic Community Foundation: 27 years of building funds ‘critical to the legacy of the Catholic Church’

By Natalie Hoefer

In today’s economy, raising enough money for day-to-day operations can be difficult for parishes and ministries in the archdiocese.

“Often [ministries and parishes] are more concerned with just keeping the lights on,” said Ellen Brunner, director of the archdiocese’s Catholic Community Foundation (CCF).

“But if you can set aside a little bit over time, it’s amazing what those dollars can do just through time and investment.”

That’s why for more than 25 years, the Catholic Community Foundation has been ensuring the legacy of the Catholic Church in central and southern Indiana through financial investments for parishes, ministries and schools.

For these entities, said Brunner, “there’s a chunk of money that’s invested, and then there’s [a percentage] that is distributed each year. That distribution is above any amount raised by [the parish or ministry] or funds raised by the United Catholic Appeal on an annual basis.”

After more than 25 years of focusing on building 441 endowment funds for parishes, archdiocesan ministries and schools, the CCF needs to add a new focus, Brunner said.

“Now we need to spread the word of the good works [of the CCF],” she said. “We need to let people know the foundation is here to serve them, and that anyone can give [to the endowments].

“[We offer] a ministry to help people understand the importance of [financial] planning, and how the CCF can help and provide resources,” Brunner explained.

The need for “getting the word out” was confirmed recently when four new members and an advisor joined the CCF board.

“I didn’t realize how extensive [the Catholic Community Foundation] is,” said new CCF board member Marilyn Faulkenburg, a member of St. Mary-of-the-Knobs Parish in Floyd County. “Seminarians, priests, schools—it touches so many different things … critical to the legacy of the Catholic Church.”

Faulkenburg is a faculty member of the graduate study program in Human Resource, Management and Leadership at Sullivan University in Louisville, Ky.

“I hope to bring to the board thoughts on communication, education and to make the CCF more visible,” said Faulkenburg.

New board member Christine Vujovich of St. Bartholomew Parish in Columbus agreed with Faulkenburg’s assessment.

“So many people don’t know it is here,” said Vujovich, a retired vice president of marketing and environmental policy for Cummins, Inc., in Columbus, and a current member of the board of directors for Kimball International, Inc. “[CCF] has many directions from which it can draw funds to put into the community—not just in Indianapolis but throughout the archdiocese, especially for schools.

“I think people just need to know that it’s here, that it exists, and what it can do for them.”

As the Catholic Community Foundation places a renewed emphasis on education, Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin gave the CCF board a refocused mission as well.

During the course of its 27 years, the CCF board took on an advisory role to the archbishop.

In reviewing the various consulting groups in the archdiocese, Archbishop Tobin saw a need to “sharpen the focus” of the CCF board by diminishing its role of advising the archbishop.

“I thought it would be cleaner and more focused for the CCF board to concentrate on their primary functions in order to sharpen their valuable service,” he said. “I thought this would be the best use of their gifts.”

Steven Stapleton, current president of the board, said the new focus has led to the development of three subcommittees on planned giving, endowments and investments.

“I think this will allow us to do a better job of informing people about the work of the foundation, and what a great resource it is for families throughout the archdiocese to do estate planning, realizing they can assist the Church, and that there’s this wonderful entity that will act as a facilitator for all of that,” said Stapleton, a member of St. Matthew the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis, who works as a financial advisor for Morgan Stanley.

Faulkenburg and Vujovich will be joined by new board members Earl Elliott and Gary Libs.

Elliott, a member of St. Benedict Parish in Terre Haute, is president of Sackrider and Company, a Terre Haute area accounting firm. He and his wife, Christina, currently serve as chairs for the Terre Haute Catholic Charities Food Bank campaign.

Libs is president and chief executive officer of Asphalt Supply Co. in Jeffersonville, and president and chief executive officer of Libs Paving Co., Inc., in Floyds Knobs. He is a member of St. Mary-of-the-Knobs Parish.

Jim Laudick of St. Pius X Parish in Indianapolis will serve as a new advisor to the CCF board. Laudick works as the regional tax director for the east region of the Indianapolis accounting firm BKD.

Archbishop Tobin said the new members were selected for their “commitment and active participation in their own local communities and parishes, who had expertise that would equip them for the goals of the CCF, especially in financial management and education.

“I’m grateful to have three men and two women from different corners of the archdiocese,” said the archbishop. “I think that represents the diversity of gifts throughout the archdiocese.” †