By Sr. Laura Goedken, OP
In 2009-10 the Diocese of Davenport conducted a successful $22 million capital campaign. The chancery building was purchased and renovated. The expenses of the campaign were paid. The Catholic Foundation for the Diocese of Davenport was established in the State of Iowa as a non-profit corporation.
All income from the capital campaign went into the Catholic Foundation. Parishioners made pledges payable to the Catholic Foundation over a period of three to five years. At this point, 65 percent of pledge payments have been paid. The diocese is most grateful for this.
Part of the capital campaign case statement was that 20 percent of the income given by parishioners would be returned to their respective parishes. To date, $2,757,214 has been sent to our parishes. To see a listing of parishes and the amounts received, go to the Catholic Foundation page on the Diocese of Davenport website. (www.davenportdiocese.org)
A Board of Trustees governs the Catholic Foundation. This board meets quarterly. You can go to the Foundation web page to see the board membership. This board follows the State of Iowa laws for a nonprofit. An audit is conducted each fall. This will be posted on the website for your review.
The board has investment and spending policies which can be found on the web page along with other policies. The spending policy is to distribute 4 percent of the average financial assets of 12 consecutive quarters annually to the various funds as specified in the case statement for the campaign. The diocese received $84,634 in July to be used for seminary education, deacon formation, chancery support, faith formation and social action and Catholic Charities. The Catholic schools received a total of $19,028 distributed to the schools on a per capita basis.
The Catholic Foundation accepts additional donations and various kinds of estates gifts. These are invested in funds as specified by the donor and will live on for many years to come to benefit the diocese and our Catholic schools. For more information please contact Sister Laura Goedken, development director, at goedken@davenportdiocese.org or (563) 888-4252.
