Mission Statement

The Catholic Foundation of The Archdiocese of Boston (TCF) was organized as the Third Century Foundation under Massachusetts’s law on November 15, 1989 and renamed The Catholic Foundation in preparation for the Promise for Tomorrow Campaign in 2000.

TCF exists to promote, receive, manage, grow and distribute gifts and bequests to support the Mission of the Catholic Church and on behalf of various Catholic organizations within the Archdiocese of Boston.

TCF carries out its purpose through a variety of activities:

• Catholic Appeal and Cardinal’s Christmas Campaign

  These fundraising efforts generate the most activity and funding for the central ministries of the Archdiocese. This work consists of personalized outreach via the mail and in one-on-one meetings and through working with pastors and parishes to encourage support of parishioners throughout the Archdiocese. There is a significant major gifts component of the work to produce larger gifts for these campaigns.

• Gift Planning

  TCF conducts a planned giving effort that is designed to increase giving through people’s estate plans (primarily bequests and planned gifts). This work happens through direct work with pastors, parish finance councils that results in activity at the parish level and through TCF direct mail and other marketing activities.

• Assistance for Parish Fundraising

  TCF assists parishes in raising money through increased offertory campaigns, grand annual campaigns and parish capital campaigns. This work involves reviewing and recommending fundraising counsel to assist parishes; answering questions from pastors, business managers and parish finance council members; and producing annual Fundraising Forums that cover these and other topics for the benefit of parishes.

• Assistance for other Fundraising Entities in the Archdiocese

  TCF provides assistance on request to other entities in the Archdiocese of Boston.

• Stewardship

  TCF manages the Archdiocesan stewardship program. This program encourages parishioners to be generous with gifts of time (prayer, devotion and spiritual study), talent (service to the parish and wider communities) and treasure (financial support).

  As a result of this activity, TCF produced over $17 million in new revenues for the central ministries of the Archdiocese in Fiscal Year 2008, not including funds raised by parishes and other entities to whom TCF provided assistance. TCF also managed 58 endowment funds with a value of over $28 million. In addition, TCF currently manages over 80 charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts and a pooled income fund with a combined value of almost $2 million.