Catholic Charities
Providing help. Creating hope.

Building a foundation for the future

The Catholic Charities Foundation was created in 1999 in order to begin the task of building a permanent fund, the proceeds of which will help Catholic Charities to provide uninterrupted services to the poor...every year.

Gifts to the Foundation are invested wisely and the proceeds will be used to provide help for children and families, to assist migrant farm worker families and give emergency assistance to the poor.

A Family Fund
You may wish to establish a Family Fund with your endowment gift to the Catholic Charities Foundation. A Family Fund assures that your name will be remembered in perpetuity and will provide an annual gift in the family name to the specific work or programs you designate.

A Perpetual Memorial
Some gifts to the Foundation create a perpetual memorial for parents, children or loved ones who have passed away. A memorial gift will provide an annual donation which will continue the works of mercy done by Catholic Charities and these works will be done in the name of your loved ones.

What Kind of Gifts Can Create an Endowment?
Many donors choose to create an endowment gift through their wills. Others make outright gifts through stocks, real estate, IRA's, paid-up life insurance policies, charitable lead or remainder trusts.

The type of gift donated to the Foundation will not only assure that Catholic Charities will be able to help the poor for the foreseeable future but can also offer appreciable tax benefits for the donor.

Advantages of an Endowment

• Provides benefactors with the opportunity to continue giving during and beyond their lifetime.

• Gives the satisfaction of knowing that you have taken a positive step toward continuing the "works of mercy" done by Catholic Charities.

• Provides growth in the Foundation which increases the annual income of Catholic Charities for its programs in the Diocese of Venice.

• Achieves the spiritual benefits that come with enrollment as members of The Good Samaritan Guild.

My Gift, Where Will it be Used?
These are the three primary areas where you can designate your gift to the Foundation:

• For children and families in need.

• For emergency assistance to the poor.

• To assist migrant worker families.

Or, you can give an "unrestricted" gift.

One in 28 are Served
For one in every 28 of our neighbors in the ten-county area of the Diocese of Venice, Catholic Charities is frequently the only hope. Catholic Charities expertly helps people in need without regard to religious preference, race, or economic circumstance. It provides this help through 31 programs across Southwest Florida with professional caring staff members aided by dedicated volunteers.

Over the years, the primary source of philanthropic financial support for Catholic Charities programs has come from parishioners of the Catholic Diocese of Venice through free-will offerings made to the Catholic Faith Appeal conducted through the local parishes. This vital support now generates more than $1 million per year (not including Diocesan donations of goods, services, and use of property) and has accounted for just under 15% of the Catholic Charities $5 million annual budget.

However, even though the Catholic Faith Appeal continues to grow, the population is growing at a dramatic pace, as are the social service needs of more and more people in the area. To relieve these tremendous financial pressures Catholic Charities has begun making a concerted effort to acquire additional private and public grant support.

A number of community leaders have established the Catholic Charities Foundation to lead this effort. The Foundation is building a permanent fund, where the proceeds will be utilized to strengthen existing successful programs and to initiate new strategies to meet emerging social needs. 

Providing Help

Our help to people comes in these ways:

• Emergency Assistance: Food, medication, and financial aid, especially to pay rent and utilities for individuals and families.

• Counseling and Mental Health Services: Family and marital counseling offered to individuals, couples or in focused peer groups.

• Pregnancy Services: Housing, support and counseling for pregnant women and young mothers.  

• Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services: Reception, reunification with family, education services, employment services, health services, language and civic education, housing placement and legal services toward citizenship.  

• Education and Family Support Services: Family life education, values clarification, parenting education, and tutoring.  

• Social Support Services: Respite care, transportation services, employment services, friendly visits, case management, and information and referral services.

•  Permanent Housing Services: Helping low-income families achieve home ownership.  

Assuring the Future

The funds given to the Catholic Charities Foundation are invested and the interest income from that investment used for the program(s) designated annually or in perpetuity. For example, a gift of $30,000 would provide a minimum of five percent, approximately $1,500 a year, which is the six-month cost of marriage counseling for one family. In another example, a gift of $45,000 would provide annually $2,250, which is the six-month cost of a child day care scholarship. Each year your gift to the Foundation will fund the program you designate. 

Your donation can be individualized under your name. For example: “The McTague Family Fund, designated for children.” For this purpose the Catholic Charities Foundation has established the following designations:  

• For Children

• To Support Families

• For Emergency Assistance

• For Changing Lives (unrestricted)
  

You Can Help

The Catholic Charities Foundation for the Diocese of Venice has stated its primary purpose to be encouraging regular giving to Catholic Charities in order to build a permanent fund that will ensure uninterrupted services of Catholic Charities in Southwest Florida well into the future and free-up funds necessary for program expansion.

There are many ways available for you in building this endowment to support the social services ministry of Catholic Charities.  For example: 

• Naming Catholic Charities in Your Will  
• Making an Outright Gift of Cash or a Pledge  
• Assigning a Life Insurance Policy
• Establishing a Gift Annuity Plan
• Giving Retirement Plan Assets
• Establishing a Charitable Trust

• If you are 70 ½ and have an IRA: The Pension Protection Act. 

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 contains a two-year Charitable Rollover provision that allows you to exclude up to $100,000 from your gross income for a taxable year for cash gifts from your IRA directly to a qualified charity. Examples: Catholic Charities and Catholic Charities Foundation.

Under this new tax law, your gift must be made directly from your IRA to a qualified charity. The funds you donate will be tax-free and you will avoid any penalty on early withdrawals.

There is a window of opportunity for you to take advantage of this new law. The Charitable Rollover Provision can be used from the current date in 2006 through December 31, 2007.

For those donors who have wanted to use funds from their Individual Retirement Accounts to make a gift to their favorite charity, the new law offers a wonderful opportunity to make a tax-free gift.

You may want to consider using your IRA for a donation to the Catholic Charities Christmas Appeal.

Always consult your IRA plan administrator in order to make your gift and be assured that it qualifies under the provisions of the Pension Protection Act.

Note: Since the distribution from your IRA will not be included in your taxable income, individuals will not be able to claim a tax deduction for the charitable contribution.

Catholic Charities recommends that all donors be represented by a financial advisor or attorney when considering a planned gift other than cash. If you do not have an advisor, Catholic Charities will be pleased to recommend several  qualified professionals.

Do you have a will? 

Without a valid will you are at the mercy of the court system as to how your estate will be distributed.

Click here for information to help you prepare a valid will. 

Interested in giving our Mass Cards?

Congratulate, celebrate, honor a friend or family member with the Good Samaritan Guild Mass Cards.

Click here for more information and sample Mass Cards.

If you need more information about the Catholic Charities Foundation or anything else on this page, please contact Foundation Director Lou Baumer toll free at 1-866-410-7650 or email him at loubaumer@comcast.net.