Become Involved in Our Mission

There are numerous ways your support impacts the work we do.

The Annual Fund provides operating expenses—opening the doors each day, conducting numerous academic programs, providing tuition assistance and housing to seminarians, maintaining technology for teaching, learning and administration, and maintaining the physical plant.  Simply put, the Annual Fund and its Bishop Fenwick Society enable Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology to meet daily operating needs.

THE BISHOP FENWICK SOCIETY 

The Bishop Fenwick Society honors the legacy of Cincinnati’s first bishop, Edward Fenwick (1822–1833).  These important benefactors support the education of tomorrow’s priests, deacons and lay ministers, financially and spiritually through significant annual gifts to the Seminary’s operating funds.

Members who give minimum of $1,000 annually are:

  • Invited to the annual Archbishop’s Thank Your Dinner, hosted by Archbishop Schnurr
  • Invited to be honored guests with reserved seating at the Advent Lessons and Carols service, including a pre-performance reception
  • Extended lending privileges through the Maly Memorial Library
  • Invited to lectures and other events associated with Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology
  • Listed as Bishop Fenwick Society members in the annual Honor Roll in The Athenaeum magazine

Annual Membership Levels:

Cornerstone Circle: $25,000 & above

Founder’s Circle: $10,000–24,999

Chancellor’s Circle: $5,000–9,999

President’s Circle: $2,500–$4,999

Fenwick Society: $1,000–$2,499

Membership in the Bishop Fenwick Society is for individuals and parishes and follows the Seminary’s fiscal year of July 1 to June 30.

SPECIAL GIFTS 

Special gifts provide support for the Seminary infrastructure to sustain its long-term health and academic vitality, improve facilities and provide for special programs.  These investments in bricks and mortar projects or other needs beyond normal operating expenses are fundamental for the long-term sustainability of the Seminary as a premiere center for theological studies.

Special gifts, which are usually in addition to a donor’s gift to support operating expenses, typically are made from a donor’s assets.  Gifts of a certain magnitude may be sued for naming opportunities—for example, a classroom or a scholarship fund (burse) may be named for the donor or in honor of another person of the donor’s choosing.

Special projects include:

  • Buildings and campus improvements
  • Technology
  • Endowed funds to support faculty, students, programs and projects

Endowments

Endowed gifts ensure the long-term excellence of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology by establishing/funding in perpetuity burses (scholarships), chairs, professorships, faculty initiatives, academic programs and campus ground/building permanent upkeep.

To establish an endowed fund requires a signed agreement witha minimum commitment of $25,000.  Once established, donors may continue to give to a fund throughout their lifetime and through their estate.

Endowment Opportunities/Priorities

An endowment agreement between the donor and the Athenaeum/Seminary permanently defines the purpose of the fund.  Endowment assets are invested, and each year, a portion of the value of the fund is paid out to support the fund’s purpose, and any earnings in excess of this distribution are used to build the fund’s market value.  In this way, an endowment fund can grow and provide support for its designated purpose in perpetuity.

Income from unrestricted endowment is a permanent and predictable source of revenue that funds and supports every dimension of the Seminary.  As the unrestricted endowment grows, we can rely more on endowment income, relieving our dependence upon tuition revenue and providing the flexibility to shift those dollars to more pressing needs like financial aid, faculty support, information technology and deferred maintenance.

Gits to unrestricted endowment help support and sustain the excellence of academic and programs at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology.

Restricted Endowment

A restricted endowment fund is limited to a specific purpose or cause.  In an ever-changing world, restricted funds provide a stream of permanent income to safeguard the programs and organizations that matter most to you.

Scholarships (Burses)

  • $25,000 will establish a scholarship endowment, also known as a burse.  A portion of the income from the fund each year will help offset the cost to educate our students, and in the case of our seminarians, also provide room and board.  To fully fund the cost of one year of seminary requires a burse of $700,000.

Endowed Positions

  • Endowed chairs and professors recognize exceptional faculty and academic leaders. The extra funds generated by such an endowment allow Mount St. Mary’s Seminary to attract and retain faculty members of great prestige. Such faculty provide an enhanced experience for their students and a richer collaborative environment for all faculty.
  • $1,500,000 will establish an endowed chair to support a full professor.
  • $2,00,000–3,000,000 will establish an endowed chair to support a faculty member holding the distinguished designation of chair of an academic studies/department or dean of an academic division/institution.

Legacy Gifts

What are your ultimate philanthropic goals?  What legacy do you want to leave?  We invite you to prayerfully consider supporting Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology through a bequest designation or another estate gift.  Your gift allows you to make a statement of support during your lifetime which will benefit countless generations to come.

There is no minimum gift amount required from your estate, only a firm belief in the mission of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology.  Your charitable gift also may benefit you and your family by providing an income tax deduction, helping you to avoid capital gains, reducing your estate taxes or providing a steady stream of annual income.

Popular Legacy Gifts

  • Include the Seminary in your will for a specific amount or percentage of your estate
  • Create a Charitable Gift Annuity or Charitable Remainder Trust
  • Make a gift using Retirement Assets, a Charitable IRA Rollover or Life Insurance

For simple language to use for designating Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology in your will, click here.

THE ST. GREGORY LEGACY SOCIETY

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Luke 12:34

The St. Gregory Legacy Society was established to remember and honor those who have made Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology a beneficiary of their estate plans, either through a bequest, life insurance policy, charitable annuity or trust or gift of real estate or other property.  The St. Gregory Legacy Society currently has approximately 350 members dedicated to keeping our Catholic faith alive and vibrant.

The St. Gregory Legacy Society allows you to change the lives of people you may never meet, by serving as the instrument to provide the future means to educate people to serve our Church and spread our Catholic faith.

Members of the St. Gregory Legacy Society are

  • Invited to an annual event at which new members of the Legacy Society are recognized
  • Invited to be honored guests with reserved seating at the Advent Lessons and Carols service, including a pre-performance reception
  • Extended lending privileges through the Maly Memorial Library
  • Invited to lectures and other events associated with Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology
  • Listed as St. Gregory Legacy Society members in the annual Honor Roll in The Athenaeum magazine.