Our History
Incorporated in 1997
In 1995, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of its founding, the members of the Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities, a family foundation, conceived the idea of linking Catholic philanthropy to the community foundation model whose scope would be national and whose governance would be the responsibility of Catholic laity. Two years later, in 1997, the National Catholic Community Foundation was incorporated in Delaware and the same year received its 501-© (3) tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service.
At the invitation of the Raskob Foundation these twenty organizations and religious Orders became co-founders:
- The Amaturo Foundation (Florida)
- Catholic Medical Mission Board (New York)
- Daughters of Charity (Emmitsburg, Maryland)
- Franciscan Sisters of Baltimore (Maryland)
- Franciscan Sisters of the Poor Foundation (New York)
- Jesuit Conference (USA)
- Leadership Council of Women Religious (Northwestern States)
- Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (USA Province)
- Order of Carmelites (Illinois)
- Order of Most Holy Trinity (Maryland)
- Sisters of Christian charity Mallinckrodt Convent (New Jersey)
- Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- Sisters of Mercy of Baltimore (Maryland)
- Sisters of St. Benedict (Ridgely, Maryland)
- Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (All Provinces)
- Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia (Aston, Pennsylvania)
- Society of the Holy Child Jesus (Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania
- St. Joseph Medical Center (Towson, Maryland)
- Ursulines of Wilmington (Delaware)
- The Xaverian Brothers USA Inc.
Notably, while the community foundation model had existed for decades in the United States, it was generally unknown. Furthermore, diocesan foundations were few and far between. The concept of a Catholic community foundation administered by laity independent of diocesan authorities was novel. What is more, the co-founders recognize the creation of NCCF as a response to the call of Vatican II for greater laity involvement in the management of resources benefitting the Church.
At its founding NCCF was endorsed by Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore who graciously served as the first Chairman of our Church Affairs Council, a position currently held by Bishop Joseph Coffey.
NCCF’s initial service was the provision of donor advised funds and charitable trusts to individual donors. After the first few years, however, the Board of Trustees decided to issue charitable gift annuities to donors on behalf of third party charities. It soon became clear that by collaborating with charitable organizations and offering these services through them and on their behalf, we could assist them in their own fundraising efforts.
It was also evident that an important service we rendered was the ability for donors to support overseas Church-related charities while retaining the income tax advantage. A significant percentage of the distributions from our donor-advised funds is for overseas projects.
Through the course of the years, NCCF has developed a Catalog of Ministries, an index of charitable organizations around the world that have voluntarily listed their mission statements and contact information. With this growing catalog donors interested in funding specific fields of interest can search the catalog for prospective grantees.