Catholic Leadership Institute

What Catholic Leadership Institute does

Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI) is a U.S. nonprofit founded in 1991 and headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, that provides pastoral leadership formation and consulting services to the Roman Catholic Church. Its primary customers are bishops, priests, deacons, religious, and lay parish leaders across the United States; key user segments are organized vertically around Dioceses, Parishes and Pastors, and individual Priests and Bishops. CLI delivers a portfolio of structured programs, including the two-year parish transformation experience Next Generation Parish, the two-year priest and parish revitalization process Called for More, ongoing priest formation through Eius, one-on-one leadership coaching, Episcopal Ongoing Formation Support and Episcopal Transition Services, Seminarian Formation, and Parish Missionary Disciples (the last available in Spanish).

The technological backbone of CLI's offering is the Disciple Maker Index (DMI), a proprietary survey instrument that collects and analyzes parish-level data on attitude and belief, participation, relationship/satisfaction, and demographics; DMI has accumulated 525,000+ responses across 3,240+ parishes and reached its one-millionth survey in early 2026. Program participants access resources through the CLI Portal (portal.catholicleaders.org), and CLI distributes thought-leadership content via the weekly DIAL email, Via Magazine, whitepapers, case studies, and, since November 2025, a daily audio series (Catholic Leadership Daily) on the Hallow prayer app. The organization does not maintain AI/ML capabilities, mobile apps, public APIs, or subsidiary entities.

CLI is funded entirely through charitable contributions and grants rather than participant fees. It does not charge dioceses or parishes for services. Major disclosed gifts include a $10M anonymous commitment (October 2024), a $2M gift from Drew and Susan Peloubet (October 2024), a $1M grant from the Lilly Endowment (October 2024), $7M from visionary philanthropists supporting NGP expansion (2022), $3M from three anonymous donors (2023), $775K from Archdiocese of Cincinnati donors (2023), and $500K from the Called for More Foundation (2023). The organization is governed by a Board of Directors chaired by Drew Peloubet (since November 2025), led day-to-day by President & CEO Daniel Cellucci, and is accredited under the PANO Standards for Excellence program (2025).

Name

Catholic Leadership Institute

Legal name

Catholic Leadership Institute

Website

https://catholicleaders.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Catholic Leadership Institute is a U.S. nonprofit founded in 1991 that provides leadership formation, consulting, and data-driven assessment services to bishops, priests, and parishes of the Roman Catholic Church, funded entirely through charitable donations and grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Catholic Clergy and Parish Leadership Formation Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Ministerial Training Institutes (Clergy Formation) (EDAHAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Faith-Based Education & Formation (Seminaries, Religious Schools, Catechesis) (BPAGAJAD)

Keywords

• Clergy leadership formation
• Parish revitalization consulting
• Catholic ministry assessment
• Diocese leadership coaching
• Priest formation programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Malvern

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropy and Donations: Catholic Leadership Institute is a nonprofit organization funded entirely through charitable contributions from donors, foundations, and philanthropists. The organization does not charge parishes or dioceses for its services, relying on the generosity of supporters who invest in the Church's future. Major gifts include a $10 million anonymous commitment, multiple $1 million+ donations, and various foundation grants.
2. Planned Giving: The organization offers planned giving options through the St. Therese Society, allowing donors to include CLI in their estate planning.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Catholic Leadership Institute provides pastoral leadership formation and consulting services to bishops, priests, deacons, religious, and lay persons in the Roman Catholic Church. Its core offerings include multi-year parish revitalization programs (Next Generation Parish and Called for More), a data-driven parish assessment survey (Disciple Maker Index), and formation/coaching programs for clergy at every stage — episcopal transitions, ongoing priest formation, seminarian preparation, and one-on-one leadership coaching.

Product overview

Catholic Leadership Institute offers a comprehensive suite of parish and clergy formation programs centered around three pillars: Ignite the Parish, Embolden the Clergy, and Forge the Future. The core offerings include Next Generation Parish (a two-year parish transformation experience), Called for More (two-year revitalization process), and the Disciple Maker Index (DMI) survey tool for data-driven ministry assessment. Priest formation programs include One-On-One Leadership Coaching, Eius Ongoing Priest Formation, Episcopal Ongoing Formation Support, and Episcopal Transition Service. The Disciple Maker Index serves as the foundational data tool across all programs, providing parishes and dioceses with objective feedback on attitude, participation, and satisfaction. Additional offerings include Parish Missionary Disciples (PMD) for evangelization training, the CLI Portal for online access, and thought leadership resources including DIAL newsletter and Via Magazine. The organization operates primarily in the United States serving bishops, priests, parishes, and dioceses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Called for More: A two-year revitalization process using data and analysis of ministry to provide Church leaders with focus and courage to engage the culture with an apostolic mindset.
• Disciple Maker Index (DMI)
• Eius
• Episcopal Ongoing Formation Support (EOFS)
• Episcopal Transition Service (ETS)
• Next Generation Parish
• Parish Missionary Disciples (PMD)

Products and services

• Next Generation Parish A two-year experience that transforms parish life through prayerful discernment, leadership formation, and accompaniment. Helps parishes meet contemporary challenges through visionary models that foster spiritual maturity, share leadership, offer a vibrant Sunday experience, and embrace a missionary impulse. Structured in four phases: Invitation, Discovery, Accompaniment, and Reflection.
• Called for More

Quantifiable outcome

• Parishes in Next Generation Parish see measurable improvements in ministry initiatives and parish life, with key drivers exceeding national DMI averages.
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Hallow AppcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2025Hallow, the leading Catholic prayer app, launched Catholic Leadership Daily - a new daily audio series in collaboration with Dan Cellucci and Catholic Leadership Institute. This partnership extends CLI's reach through Hallow's platform to prayer app users seeking leadership and life insights.
• Various Dioceses and ArchdiocesescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCLI partners with dioceses and archdioceses across the United States to deliver Next Generation Parish, Disciple Maker Index surveys, and leadership formation. Partner dioceses include Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Tulsa, Covington, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Orlando, Youngstown, Fort Wayne-South Bend, and others.
• Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO)minorOthersPANO provides Standards for Excellence accreditation to Pennsylvania nonprofits, including Catholic Leadership Institute, recognizing adherence to high standards of nonprofit management and governance.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Hallow: Hallow is CLI's content distribution partner via Catholic Leadership Daily; it is a leading Catholic prayer and formation app with overlapping audience and mission in Catholic spiritual formation.
• V Encuentro / SEPI (Secretariat of Evangelization and Catechesis, USCCB): USCCB's evangelization and catechesis secretariat supports parish-level missionary discipleship initiatives across the U.S. Catholic Church, making it a thematic peer to CLI's PMD and NGP programs.
• Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA): ECFA provides accreditation and standards for faith-based nonprofits similar to PANO's Standards for Excellence that CLI earned, serving as a comparable governance/credibility body for faith-based organizations.

Direct peers

• Catholic Extension: Catholic Extension funds ministry and leadership formation in underserved U.S. dioceses, making it a directly comparable Catholic nonprofit that supports parish vitality, clergy formation, and diocesan capacity-building through philanthropy.
• RENEW International: RENEW International designs parish-based Catholic renewal and small faith-sharing programs for dioceses and parishes, overlapping directly with CLI's Next Generation Parish and Parish Missionary Disciples offerings.
• National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management: The Leadership Roundtable promotes excellence in management, finance, and leadership across the Catholic Church in the U.S., sharing CLI's focus on strengthening diocesan/parish leadership capacity.

Emerging players

• Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA): CARA provides research and demographic data on U.S. Catholic life, paralleling CLI's data-driven approach with the DMI and offering complementary research and consulting services to dioceses.

Broad incumbents

• Barna Group: Barna Group conducts faith-based research and consulting for churches and ministries, comparable to CLI's DMI-based data services and parish consulting, though Barna serves across Christian denominations rather than Catholic-only.
• Fuller Theological Seminary (Maxwell Institute / Church Leadership): Fuller's church leadership and formation programs train clergy and lay leaders, making it a comparable leadership formation provider, though operating from an academic/Protestant evangelical perspective rather than Catholic.

Regional players

• Compassion International: Compassion International is a large faith-based nonprofit that combines donor-funded program delivery with church partnership networks, comparable in operating model to CLI though serving global child sponsorship rather than U.S. Catholic leadership.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/CatholicsLead
• Facebookfacebook.com/CatholicLeadershipInstitute

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Catholic Leadership Institute