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Foundation Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the Foundation for the People of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois (hereinafter "Foundation")?

The Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation of the State of Illinois, legally separate from the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. It was incorporated on October 14, 1992. Its purposes,generally are to further the ministries of and to receive funds for the religious, charitable, educational and social purposes of the diocese, within the meaning of Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

In practice, the Foundation will manage endowed monies on behalf of the parishes, parish schools, and diocesan entities and purposes. The members of the Board of Directors of the Foundation are diocesan officials: the Diocesan Bishop (its president), the Vicar General/Moderator of the Curia (its vice-president), the Diocesan Finance Officer (its treasurer), the Director of the Office for Development (its secretary), and the Director of the Office for Catholic Education.

2. Who oversees the daily affairs of the Foundation?

The Board of Directors may appoint an executive director to handle the routine affairs of the Foundation. As the work of the Foundation increases, such an appointment would be in order.

3. Does the Foundation have an advisory board?

Yes! The bylaws of the Foundation require that the President of the Board of Directors appoint an advisory board to offer advice on any matter handled by the Foundation. The advisory board is composed of ten to twenty members, each serving for a three-year term, renewable. It meets least annually, though more meetings are likely.

4. May there be any committees appointed?

Yes! The Board of Directors may opt to appoint committees, each of which would have a particular focus to assist in the management of the Foundation. At least two members of each committee will be members of the Board of Directors.

The Advisory Board also may have committees. In fact, the bylaws speak of the establishment of a Committee for Finance and Investment to make recommendations on all matters of handling and investing (and reinvesting) of the monies of the Foundation. The members of this committee are experts in finances and financial management.

5. Who are the beneficiaries of the Foundation?

The beneficiaries of the Foundation are the parishes and the parish schools of the diocese, and other diocesan entities and purposes established as beneficiaries by the diocesan bishop (e.g., the formation of seminarians, the continued formation of priests, the health care of priests, the pension of priests, etc.).

6. Who are the representatives of the beneficiaries?

The representatives of each beneficiary are the pastors of the parishes and the parish schools of the diocese, and the diocesan bishop (of diocesan entities and purposes). The representatives must make regular reports to the Foundation to explain how the disbursed monies were applied, to assure that the disbursement reflects the purpose of the endowment and the intention, as it may apply, of any donor(s).

7. Shall there be an advisory board for each beneficiary?

Yes. Each beneficiary must have an advisory board, whose bylaws are approved by the Board of Directors. This advisory board will advise the representative of the beneficiary on the disbursement of earnings. Parishes may choose to select an existing group to fulfill this role.

8. What happens if a beneficiary is modified?

Should a beneficiary be modified (i.e., suppressed, divided, merged), the following shall apply:

Should a parish be suppressed, its rights shall pass to the parish or parishes which will then include the geographic area previously served by the suppressed parish. Should a parish be divided, its rights shall also be divided and distributed to the parishes now serving those parishioners previously served by the divided parish, in proportion to the number of parishioners which the new parishes now serve. Should parishes be merged, their rights shall pass to the new parish created by the merger.

Should a parish school be suppressed, its rights shall pass to the parish for its educational mission. Should a parish school be divided into more than one parish school, its rights shall also be divided and distributed to the parish schools now served by those students previously served by the divided parish school, in proportion to the number of students which the new parish schools now serve. Should parish schools be merged, their rights shall pass on to the new parish school created by the merger.

9. What gifts may be accepted by the Foundation?

The Foundation may accept any gift, grant, bequest or devise for the general purposes or for any special purpose of the Foundation. It may refuse these if they are incompatible with the ideals, objectives, programs or principles of the Foundation. Whatever is designated corpus (i.e., the original contribution and subsequent additions thereto) shall be irrevocable and never distributed. All gifts, grants, bequests and devises become property of the Foundation.

10. How are earnings and losses distributed?

Subject to the Illinois Not for Profit Act, the Articles of Incorporation, and the Bylaws, the Board of Directors will, at its annual meeting, set a distribution to or for the beneficiary of net earnings, if any, with due regard for the amount of corpus and net earnings. No later than September 15 of each year, the Foundation shall disburse to each beneficiary, for each of its accounts (if it has more than one), the appropriate distribution of net earnings, if any, for the fiscal year just ended at the same rate of earning as all other beneficiaries and in proportion to the current value of property the Foundation has accepted for the account. If there are no net earnings, but rather net losses, then net losses shall be allocated to each account at the same rate of loss as all other beneficiaries and in proportion to the current value of property the Foundation has accepted for the account. The Board of Directors will publish, as part of its annual report to all beneficiaries, a detailed accounting of all net earnings, management fees and administrative expenses.

11. How are funds invested?

The advisory board has established a committee for finance and investment, composed of two to six members, which is only advisory in nature and offers advice to the Foundation Board of Directors via the advisory board on the placement of all Foundation property into investments. The treasurer of the Board of Directors shall attend all meetings of this committee and shall be a valued resource for it. The treasurer or such other person or entity as the Board of Directors may select has the obligation to study, evaluate and make recommendations regarding the handling of all funds. All such property received and accepted by the Foundation shall become a part of the Foundation property and may be commingled with other assets of the Foundation. Such property shall or may be placed in any funds, investments or accounts whenever the Board of Directors determines that such property should be placed in such funds, investments or accounts.

The Board of Directors shall periodically establish policies for investment of the corpus; such policies shall cover matters such as the goals of investment, the types of investments to be made because of the social and moral teachings of the Roman Catholic Church in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. These policies shall be communicated to the agents of the Foundation who are charged with the actual investment of the corpus.

12. Will the funds of the Foundation be separate from diocesan monies?

Absolutely! The Foundation is a legal corporation separate from the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. All its records and actions are separate from the diocese. Each year the books of the Foundation will be audited by a certified public accountant, and copies of the audit will be available to each beneficiary upon request.