The Catholic Foundation of the Archdiocese of New Orleans was organized under the leadership of Archbishop Philip M. Hannan as a nonprofit corporation in 1976 to create a means for Catholic donors to strategically give of their blessings to church parishes, schools, organizations and causes important to themselves and their families. Archbishop Hannan, in his recommendation to establish the foundation, declared “while the organization is designed to support the entire archdiocese, it will also respect rigorously the intentions of donors. Thus, if a special donor wishes his or her gift to benefit a specific institution or program of the archdiocese, that intention will be fully honored.” Last year alone, the foundation distributed nearly $16 million in grants to the community on behalf of our donors and partners.

In 2019 we proudly built upon this trusted reputation by adding the word "community" to our name. This addition reflects not only the foundation’s merger with the Office of Stewardship and Parish Services, but also the scale of services we provide: We offer our Catholic donors personalized philanthropic expertise along with morally and socially responsible investing, and we offer our archdiocese and its ministries stewardship resources, leadership formation, and development support.

 The Catholic Community Foundation is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of lay persons, religious, and clergy from throughout the Archdiocese of New Orleans.