Suzanne Wheeler, one of the organisation\u2019s trustees, said investment managers also have a role to play.<\/p>\n
People making investment decisions frequently rely on professional advisers, she noted, yet \u201ctheir faith isn\u2019t aligned with that of the donor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they have an investment manager who\u2019s also aligned with their faith, then it\u2019s going to be more harmonious,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\n Listen to an excerpt of the interview with Suzanne Wheeler\n <\/p>\n
A \u00a33 billion opportunity <\/p>\n
The scale of Catholic giving revealed by the research is significant.\u00a0 Of the estimated \u00a33 billion donated annually by Catholics in Britain, around \u00a3500 million goes to Catholic causes.<\/p>\n
For Matt Parkes, a fellow trustee, the difference points to an opportunity for Catholic organisations to strengthen their engagement with donors.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have \u00a33 billion being given by the Catholic community in the UK, but only half a billion … is going to the Church, to Catholic charities, Catholic education,\u201d he said, \u201csurely we can begin to increase that.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, he added, the report does not place responsibility solely on donors. Catholic charities and Church leadership, Parkes said, also need to examine how effectively they work together and how they approach fundraising.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe collectively could be doing much better than the fundraising,\u201d he said, adding that the findings have implications for philanthropists, investment professionals, trusts and foundations, charities and Church leadership.<\/p>\n
\n Listen to an excerpt of the interview with Matt Parkes\n <\/p>\n
Beyond the \u201chigh-value\u201d donor <\/p>\n
The trustees also stressed that Catholic generosity cannot be measured simply by the size of an individual donation.<\/p>\n
Parkes recalled two encounters that made a lasting impression on him: one with a donor who had given \u00a310,000 and apologised for not being able to give more, and another with a parishioner who had given \u00a310 and expressed the same regret.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter what your scale of giving is … there is often for people a sense that \u2018I wish I could do more\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That experience, he added, also raised questions about the language used in Catholic fundraising. \u201cWe need to make sure that we\u2019re not thinking about \u2018high value\u2019 … but we\u2019re actually engaging the mass,\u201d Parkes said.<\/p>\n
The same principle applies to legacy giving, he said. A gift left in a will can be part of estate planning for someone with considerable wealth, but the invitation to remember the Church, a parish or a Catholic charity can also be extended to those with far more modest means.<\/p>\n
![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/www.vaticannews.va\/content\/dam\/vaticannews\/multimedia\/2026\/settembre\/17\/img-1182aem.jpg\/_jcr_content\/renditions\/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg\" "\\"Matt")
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\n Matt Parkes, John Green and Suzanne Wheeler at Vatican Radio\n <\/p>\n
Stewardship and accountability <\/p>\n
For Catholics in Fundraising, the report is not intended simply as a snapshot of charitable giving, but as a starting point for further work.<\/p>\n
Green said the organisation is launching a series of webinars called \u201cThe Good Steward\u201d, aimed at Catholics considering investment, giving and estate-planning decisions in the light of their faith. The initiative will draw on Catholic social teaching, including Rerum novarum<\/a> and its reflection on the responsibilities attached to wealth.<\/p>\n In particular, referring to paragraph 44 of Leo XIII\u2019s Rerum novarum and to the teachings of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Green recalled that \u201cthe wealth I have at the end of my life, I will have to give an account to God as to what I have done with it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBy bringing this teaching to the Church in this country through these webinars,\u201d he said, \u201cwe hope that we will all be able to stand before God at the end of our lives, and that he will say, \u2018Well done, good and faithful servant.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n A wider Catholic conversation <\/p>\n The trustees believe the questions raised by the British research have relevance beyond the United Kingdom, and Parkes said they would welcome similar studies examining Catholic giving and wealth in other countries as well.<\/p>\n \u201cThe need is huge,\u201d he said, suggesting that the opportunities identified in Britain could also be reflected in Catholic communities elsewhere.<\/p>\n For Wheeler, the findings have also helped clarify the future direction of Catholics in Fundraising. The organisation originally focused on supporting people working in Catholic fundraising, she noted, and the research has broadened that mission to include investment managers, funding bodies and dioceses.<\/p>\n \u201cThe report has confirmed it, and now it\u2019s set the direction for us and the work we want to do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The encounter with Pope Leo XIV, they agreed, offered an unexpected moment of encouragement.<\/p>\n Green said Pope Leo listened as the trustees handed him the report and described its findings. He recalled a \u201cwry smile\u201d from the Pope when the trustees spoke about the challenge of bringing Catholic teaching on wealth and generosity more fully into the life of the Catholic community.<\/p>\n \u201cThese things take time,\u201d they recalled him saying.<\/p>\n Thus, for Catholics in Fundraising, the report is less a conclusion than an invitation: to reconsider not only how Catholics give, but how they invest, plan for the future and understand the resources entrusted to them.<\/p>\n
![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/www.vaticannews.va\/content\/dam\/vaticannews\/multimedia\/2026\/settembre\/17\/img-1175aem.jpg\/_jcr_content\/renditions\/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg\" "\\"Matt")
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