I love it when I get the opportunity to answer these questions from Catholics throughout our diocese:

What IS an endowment?

Why would I be interested in giving to an endowment?

To those who ask, thank you! And for all the readers, I hope the following is helpful.

What is an endowment? An endowment is a permanent fund that any Catholic can donate to through the Catholic Foundation of Eastern Montana. “Permanent” means your donation will never be spent, but will be pooled and invested with other gifts, to that same endowment, for the purpose of generating earnings. Those earnings will be given to your parish, or the ministry, you select – and here is the important part: Those earnings will be given not just this year, but every year forever. That is the power of giving to an endowment!

The Catholic Foundation of Eastern Montana has many endowments for individual parishes and endowments for you to choose from that help different ministries and services for the Catholic Church, as a whole, in our diocese.  Or, if you wish, you may start a brand new endowment with your gift.

Why would I be interested in giving to an endowment? For so many reasons! First, it is important to note that outright gifts to benefit the Church today (for example, through the offertory collection at Mass) are vital to the life of today’s Church. People who give to endowments do so in addition to their normal support, not instead of it. With that said, following are the most popular reasons that Catholics support endowments:

• They love their faith and want to build a stronger parish, a stronger Church.
• They want to ensure a healthy future for their parish and the diocesan Church.
• They know that endowment earnings, sent to their parish or chosen ministry, provide a secure, solid, steady stream of income that can be counted on, year after year.
• They like the idea that their gift is helping not only today, but forever.
• They like seeing their charitable dollars stretch further and make a bigger impact.
• They love the improved/increased tax benefits they get for giving to endowment (see “The Montana Endowment Tax Credit” below, please).
• And, some people like the opportunity an endowment offers to establish a legacy in a loved one’s name or memory.

May I tell you more? Let’s build a stronger Catholic Church together! Please call me at (406) 727-6683, ext. 120 or send me an email at [email protected].