Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens

What Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens does

The Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens (CFBQ) is a nonprofit charitable foundation incorporated in 1998 that serves as the primary philanthropic vehicle for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, covering Brooklyn and Queens, New York. Originally formed as the Alive in Hope Foundation following a $30 million capital campaign in 1996, CFBQ today manages 8 core endowment funds plus 90+ additional donor-established endowments and disburses approximately $1.6 million in annual grants across ministries including Catholic education, senior services, immigration assistance, vocations, evangelization, clergy continuing education, lay leadership, and care for retired priests. The foundation also provides staff support to Futures in Education, the diocese's scholarship organization.

CFBQ's product portfolio centers on the Annual Catholic Appeal (an annual fundraising campaign with an $8 million goal), Generations Youth Ministry for faith formation across age stages, My Parish Offertory for online Sunday giving, Grant Programs disbursing endowment income to diocesan ministries, Legacy Planning via the FreeWill platform, and targeted relief funds such as the Ukrainian Refugee Relief Fund. The foundation operates without proprietary technology, relying instead on third-party infrastructure: Blackbaud's Raiser's Edge donor database, GiveCentral for online donation and payment processing, and FreeWill for estate and legacy planning. Distribution is executed through both digital self-serve channels and a parish-based field force of three Parish Field Representatives engaging 90+ parishes across the diocese.

Revenue mechanics are entirely donation-based, comprising one-time gifts, recurring (sustaining) donations, planned and legacy gifts, designated emergency-relief contributions, and endowment investment returns. The foundation is governed by a Board of Directors drawn from finance, law, and media industries, operates as a private nonprofit entity without public ownership or external equity funding, and is headquartered at 243 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY 11215. CFBQ maintains a multilingual digital presence (Chinese, English, French, Haitian, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish) reflecting the linguistic diversity of its Brooklyn-Queens donor base.

Name

Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens

Legal name

Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens

Website

https://catholicfoundationbq.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens is a nonprofit foundation serving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, managing 90+ endowments, running the $8M Annual Catholic Appeal, and disbursing grants to parish ministries across Brooklyn and Queens.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Philanthropy / Charitable Foundation

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN)

Keywords

• Charitable foundation services
• Endowment fund management
• Annual giving campaigns
• Planned giving programs
• Religious philanthropy

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Annual Catholic Appeal Donations: Annual fundraising campaign soliciting donations from parishioners and supporters across Brooklyn and Queens. Donors may give one-time or recurring (sustaining) gifts. The 2026 campaign has a stated goal of $8 million. The 2020 campaign reportedly surpassed its $8 million goal. Donations support vocation supports, chaplaincies, faith formation, and retired priests.
2. Endowment Fund Gifts and Management: The foundation builds and administers permanent endowment funds. Gifts may be restricted to specific ministries or parishes, or expended immediately at donor discretion. The original Alive in Hope Capital Campaign (1996) raised $30 million to form eight core endowments; over 90 additional endowments have been added since. Endowment returns support ongoing grant programs.
3. Planned / Legacy Giving: The foundation offers legacy planning tools (via FreeWill) enabling donors to make planned gifts, bequests, and other legacy arrangements to benefit parishes, schools, youth ministry, or other diocesan ministries.
4. Grant Disbursements to Diocesan Ministries: Grant programs funded by endowment income are distributed to various diocesan ministries including senior citizen services, immigration, continuing education for clergy, vocations, evangelization, lay leadership, Catholic education, and care for elderly priests. The foundation awarded approximately $1.6 million in grants across its eight core endowment funds.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens is a nonprofit charitable foundation serving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. It raises funds through the Annual Catholic Appeal, endowment contributions, and planned/legacy giving, then manages those funds and disburses grants to support diocesan ministries including Catholic education, vocations, evangelization, senior services, immigration aid, and care for retired priests. The foundation also operates youth ministry programs (Generations), parish offertory giving tools, and emergency relief funds.

Product overview

Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens operates as a nonprofit foundation serving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, offering a coordinated suite of fundraising and giving programs. The core portfolio includes the Annual Catholic Appeal (annual $8M fundraising campaign), Generations Youth Ministry (youth faith formation), Grant Programs (disbursing over $1.5M annually to diocese ministries), Legacy Planning (estate planning via FreeWill), My Parish Offertory (online giving via GiveCentral), and Endowments (90+ permanent funds from the original $30M Alive in Hope campaign). The Foundation also supports Futures in Education scholarships and emergency relief efforts like the Ukrainian Refugee Relief Fund through partnered programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Annual Catholic Appeal Annual fundraising campaign soliciting one-time and recurring (sustaining) donations from parishioners and supporters across Brooklyn and Queens. Supports vocation formation, chaplaincies, faith formation, retired priest care, and other diocesan ministries.
• Generations Youth Ministry Youth faith formation program funding initiatives that empower young people across junior high, high school, college, and young adult life stages to encounter Jesus and grow in their faith as active parishioners.
• Grant Programs Annual grant disbursements funded by endowment income to diocesan ministries including Catholic Education, Care for Elderly Priests, Senior Citizen Services, Lay Leadership, Evangelization, Vocations, Continuing Education for Clergy, and Immigration. Total grants across eight core endowment programs total approximately $1.6 million annually.
• Legacy Planning Estate and planned giving tools (via FreeWill) enabling donors to make lasting gifts, bequests, and planned arrangements to parishes, schools, the Annual Catholic Appeal, youth ministry, or other diocesan ministries.
• My Parish Offertory Online electronic giving platform (via GiveCentral) allowing parishioners to donate to their parish Sunday offerings, supporting parish financial sustainability across Brooklyn and Queens.
• Endowments Permanent endowment funds comprising eight core endowments from the original $30M Alive in Hope Capital Campaign plus over 90 additional donor-established endowments supporting various diocesan ministries.
• Ukrainian Refugee Relief Fund Emergency relief fund providing humanitarian aid and spiritual support to Ukrainian refugees affected by conflict.
• Futures in Education Scholarship organization of the Diocese of Brooklyn providing financial assistance to Catholic school students, with staff support provided through a contracted agreement with Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2020 Annual Catholic Appeal surpassed its $8 million goal, enabling support for hospital chaplains, youth ministry continuation, and 2,000% increase in food pantry demand during COVID-19.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Blackbaud, Inc.coreTechnology or Integration · 16 July 2020Blackbaud provides the Raiser’s Edge donor database used by Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens to maintain records of donors to Generations of Faith, Annual Catholic Appeal, Futures in Education, Catholic Migration Services, and other diocesan programs. On July 16, 2020, Blackbaud informed the foundation of a cyberincident (February 7 – May 20, 2020) where a cybercriminal accessed a backup copy of the foundation’s database. Blackbaud paid the ransom and confirmed destruction of the removed file.
• Diocese of BrooklyncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe foundation serves as the primary philanthropic vehicle for the Diocese of Brooklyn. It was incorporated in 1998 (formerly Alive in Hope Foundation) to financially support the spiritual, educational and social needs of the Diocese’s Catholic community. The foundation provides staff support for Futures in Education, the scholarship organization of the Diocese. The foundation’s mission is to assist critical programs, institutions and ministries that further the Church’s mission in Brooklyn and Queens.
• Futures in EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFutures in Education is the scholarship organization of the Diocese of Brooklyn. Through a contracted agreement, Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens provides staff support for Futures in Education, with most current staff devoting time to both organizations. The foundation maintains donor data for Futures in Education programs in its Raiser’s Edge database.
• GiveCentral.orgcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGiveCentral.org is the online donation and payment processing platform used by the foundation for the Annual Catholic Appeal and parish offertory contributions. Donors are directed to givecentral.org URLs for ACA donations and parish offertory giving. The platform handles donation processing on behalf of the foundation.
• Christ the King High SchoolminorOthersChrist the King High School in Middle Village, NY (6802 Metropolitan Avenue) serves as the venue for the Brooklyn & Queens Catholic Youth Day event on November 15, 2025, hosted by the foundation’s Generations youth ministry program.
• Russo's on the BayminorOthersRusso’s on the Bay (162-45 Cross Bay Blvd, Queens, NY 11414) serves as the venue for the Bishop’s Christmas Luncheon 2025, an annual foundation event.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Catholic Community Foundation of the Archdiocese of Newark: Parish-anchored Catholic diocesan foundation serving the Archdiocese of Newark with annual appeals, endowment management, and planned giving — directly comparable in mission, structure, and operating model to CFBQ.
• The Catholic Fund for the Archdiocese of Boston: Diocesan foundation for the Archdiocese of Boston that stewards endowment funds and runs annual giving appeals for Catholic ministries — directly parallel to CFBQ's role in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
• The Catholic Foundation of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia: Diocesan Catholic foundation serving the Archdiocese of Philadelphia with endowment funds, annual appeals, and legacy giving programs — same role and program mix as CFBQ, just in a different geographic diocese.
• Catholic Foundation of the Archdiocese of Chicago: Diocesan Catholic foundation supporting the Archdiocese of Chicago with endowment, planned giving, and ministry grantmaking — a direct structural analog of CFBQ.

Broad incumbents

• Schwab Charitable: Major donor-advised fund sponsor and competitor for planned-giving dollars, including Catholic donors who might otherwise direct bequests through diocesan foundations like CFBQ.
• National Philanthropic Trust: Large independent donor-advised fund sponsor providing endowment- and legacy-giving services to high-net-worth donors — overlapping with CFBQ on planned giving and competing for legacy Catholic philanthropy dollars.
• Fidelity Charitable: The largest U.S. donor-advised fund sponsor, competing for legacy and recurring donors across all faiths including Catholic parishioners — a broad market incumbent in the same donor mind-share as CFBQ's FreeWill-based legacy planning channel.

Others

• Futures in Education: Diocesan scholarship organization of the Diocese of Brooklyn; CFBQ provides staff support to Futures in Education under a contracted agreement, making it an affiliated program partner rather than a competitor.
• Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens: Sister agency of the Diocese of Brooklyn that delivers direct social services (immigration, senior services, housing) that CFBQ funds through grants. Adjacent rather than competitive, but they share donor and ministry overlap in the same geography.

Emerging players

• Jewish Communal Fund: One of the largest U.S. faith-affiliated donor-advised fund sponsors, providing endowment-style giving vehicles for a religious community — overlaps with CFBQ on planned/legacy giving and donor stewardship, though structured as a DAF sponsor rather than a diocesan foundation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/CFBQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/CatholicFoundationBQ?fref=ts

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens