Catholic Community Foundation fosters faith-based stewardship in the community for the spiritual, educational and charitable needs of all.
Encouraging faithful philanthropy
Dedicated to enriching the lives of others by encouraging faithful philanthropy, the Foundation supports the mission of the Diocese of Cleveland to provide for the spiritual, educational and charitable needs of people throughout Northeast Ohio.
Grantseeking guidance
The Catholic Community Foundation manages a number of grants and makes them available to Diocesan agencies, schools, parishes and programs and other faith-based or nonprofit organizations located within the Diocese of Cleveland.
Making a gift that will make a difference
There are several meaningful ways you can support the ministries of the Church in Northeast Ohio and help make a profound impact. Learn which giving opportunities are right for you and your financial situation. Every gift will make a difference!
Strengthening our parishes is essential to face the challenges of our age.
The heart of our diocese is our parishes. Always mindful that we are a universal Church, it is unquestionably at the parish level where we most regularly feel God’s presence through the celebration of the Sacraments and involvement in our local Catholic community.
With this understanding that a parish is the community that nourishes our spirituality as Catholics, the Catholic Community Foundation is committed to helping create more vibrant parish communities by advancing philanthropy and catholic stewardship in several ways including introducing offertory enhancement, legacy giving, and endowment management.
Offertory Enhancement
We invite you to view the above recording, "Driving Increased and Sustained Giving Through an Enhanced Offertory Appeal" featuring Fr. Michael Matusz, pastor of Our Lady of Victory Parish which experienced an offertory increase during the challenges of the pandemic; Joanie Lewis from Our Sunday Visitor; and, Patrick Grace, executive director of the Catholic Community Foundation. Recorded May 24, 2022.
The Catholic Community Foundation has partnered with Cathedral Corporation and Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) to provide a unique offertory enhancement program that combines critical faith formation with successful techniques of inspiring increased giving.
Components of Running an Increased Offertory Program (IOP)
The program is conducted over 6-9 weeks (depending upon the vendor selected) and includes personalized letters to registered households, use of lay witnesses, a Pastor in-pew commitment weekend, thank you letters to responders and follow up letters to the non-responders.
The appeal concludes with giving thanks and providing a summary of result reported to the parish community.
Two experienced partners to select from who manage the week-to-week administration of the program from fulfillment of printed materials to reporting of outcomes and recommended next steps.
Benefits of an IOP
The communications provide increased parishioner investment in the mission and ministries vital to the Church, while cultivating stewardship awareness.
Parishes experience an immediate increase in offertory beginning with commitment weekend.
Each vendor offers an investment guarantee.
Additional outcomes include increase in utilization of electronic giving, new member registrations, legacy giving disclosures, and new requests for envelope usage.
