One year into his presidency at Milwaukee’s Catholic Community Foundation, Anthony Nguyen not only gets to celebrate the foundation’s 25 years of giving to Catholic efforts within the 10 counties of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, he gets to share the bounty from expanding the foundation’s giving to a watershed level.
“This year, we’ll increase our giving to $3 million right back to the communities of the 10 counties of the archdiocese, which is really cool,” he said.
That ability to give partially comes from how in the first year of Nguyen’s presidency, the CCF team has grown its overall assets under management from $150 million to $200 million. The total stands as a far cry from the $10 million that was first given to launch the CCF 25 years ago, and Nguyen credits the work of Mary Ellen Markowski, its former president, and John Blickle, the group’s controller.
“They already helped build the structure over the past 25 years,” he said. “I’m very fortunate to get a solid structure, a solid foundation to continue to grow it for the next 25 and beyond.”
He explains that grants it makes to Milwaukee-area parishes, schools and nonprofits specifically come from the approximately $80 million that foundation donors have given, while parish money, about $120 million, makes up the rest of the foundation’s assets under management.
“You’re not granting from all $200 million because 60 percent of that is not your money. You can’t grant what’s not yours,” he explains. “But the 40% which are donor advisor funds, donor-designated funds, etc., that’s where money is granted from.”
Nguyen has had a chance to share time with many of the efforts the foundation donates to, including a recent visit with a group called Vision Forward, a West Allis-based group that helps vision-impaired people from birth through adulthood.
“We actually had our board meeting there, so our board got to experience it,” Nguyen said of one of more than 100 recipients of CCF grants during a calendar year.
“To have something tangible that you can touch, see, feel, listen and understand, it’s a whole different ballgame for us. It brings our grant committee and our board closer to the impact that the foundation has.”
That steadily increasing imprint on southeastern Wisconsin marks a quarter-century of empowering God’s love where it is needed, one which Nguyen and company only plan to grow.
“It’s been such a blessing,” said Nguyen, “to see the impact the foundation has in the community.”
Anyone interested in helping the foundation is encouraged to call 414-431-6402.
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