History

of the Idaho Catholic Foundation

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The Foundation was established by Bishop Tod D. Brown on December 24, 1990. One of the first gifts came from retired Boise Bishop Sylvester Treinen who made a $150,000 donation to establish the Bishop Treinen Memorial Fund to aid retired priests. The Foundation quickly grew to over one million dollars in assets.

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By 1995, the total value of the ICF had grown to almost $3.5 million. That year, Bishop Brown designated May 20th and 21st as "Idaho Catholic Foundation Sunday." As the economy grew, the assets of the foundation grew. In 1996, Bishop Brown reported, "Since its inception…the ICF has realized an increase of 93.4 percent on its investments.…The 1995 investment gain was 31.2 percent."

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In February of 1998, Bishop Brown announced the official appointment of Father Riffle as executive director of the Foundation. At this time, assets were in excess of $8 million.

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On Sept. 10, 2007, Articles of Incorporation were filed with the State of Idaho making the ICF its own 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

The Foundation has continued to grow. By June 30, 2011 assets were $14.7 million, spread across 57 funds. With the launch of the Capital Campaign in 2012 by Bishop Michael Driscoll, more funds were added and assets rose to $26.7 million by the end of June 2013 with distributions totaling over $2.8 million that year.

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​As of April 30, 2021, the Idaho Catholic Foundation holds $32,884,310 in funds and trusts invested to support parishes, schools, ministries, and outreach programs long-term. We now have 70 endowed and managed funds. Multiple funds do not take out annual distributions. Last calendar year, $1,150,674 was taken out of the ICF for distributions to further the mission of the Church.