The Catholic Initiative’s role is to ensure that a property and its finances are on sound footing, so that the Parish/School and the Diocese can focus on their core missionary work.
Legally, the nature of the collaboration is akin to a renter and a landlord. With a major difference—in this case, the landlord (i.e. The Catholic Initiative) is not collecting rent and instead works in partnership with the renter to remove any barriers or obstacles that would inhibit the renter from using the property for their missionary purpose.
In the same way that a typical landlord would not interfere in the day-to-day activities of a tenant, The Catholic Initiative is not intervening in the day-to-day activities of the Parish or School. The “renter” will continue to be responsible for the operation and successful Catholic faith formation of the community.
In addition to responsibility for the physical property, The Catholic Initiative will take responsibility for fundraising for an endowment through professional philanthropic activity to sustain the operational expenses of the school, church, or parish. By raising and holding this endowment, The Catholic Initiative will grant money each year back to the “renter” as needed, and assuming the grants are being used responsibly, to ensure the long-term success of the mission.
Lastly, The Catholic Initiative and the “Renter” both have protections to ensure that the properties will always be used for their missionary purpose, and the Landlord is expressly prohibited from terminating the lease, except if the local Catholic diocese decides that the church, school, or parish should no longer exist. The Catholic Initiative is focused on evangelization in perpetuity for each and every school, church, or parish. The combination of private philanthropic support plus a growing endowment will allow the pastor, principal, or leadership team to spend less time fundraising and more time tending to their flock.
