Mount Saint Benedict Endowment Grants

Step 1. Carefully review the grant criteria and read the letter from the Sisters of Saint Benedict expressing their hopes for the use of the MSBE Grant Fund.

Step 2. Send a Letter of Request (LOR) to the Executive Director of the Diocese of Crookston Catholic Community Foundation, Attention: Mount Saint Benedict Endowment Grants, PO Box 610, Crookston, MN 56716.

Step 3. The LOR sub-committee of the grants committee will review the LOR with the Executive Director of the Catholic Community Foundation. If the proposal is of interest to the MSBE Grants Committee, an application will be mailed to the applicant in electronic and paper form.

Step 4. Once the application is received, it will be reviewed by the grants committee at the next MSBE Grant Committee meeting. They are held twice a year in September and February.

Note: LOR’s that are received early will receive applications early. Notice of declined LOR’s will be sent as soon as a determination is made.

Note: Multi-year grant applications or applications that are requesting funding for more than one project will NOT be considered. 

The traditional ministries of the Sisters of Mount Saint Benedict Monastery can be understood broadly to include any effort, usually collaborative or institutional for:

1. The education of the whole person at any age (e.g., basic skills, foundational knowledge, human development, higher learning, arts, sciences, etc.)

2. Formation and growth in the Catholic faith (e.g., catechesis, spiritual retreats, spiritual direction, participation in liturgy and sacraments, etc.)

3. Meeting healthcare needs for the general population (e.g., medical, dental, geriatric, etc.) within Catholic ethical guidance; and

4. Welcoming the stranger and including the marginalized (e.g., respect and service to Native Americans, Hispanics, immigrants, the poor, and the struggling, especially disenfranchised women, children and minorities).

5. Respecting natural surroundings and stewardship of land (e.g., implementations of Laudato Si’, care and conservation of natural resources, campus beautifications, etc.)

Priority may be given to institutions (e.g., Catholic schools, health care facilities, etc.) and localities in which Sisters of Mount Saint Benedict have served (e.g., specific locales in specific diocese). However, grants may be awarded to other 501(c)(3) institutions and locales serving similar ministries.

Preference will be given to applications for funding that are designed to build capacity and strengthen a ministry, service group organization, school, parish or diocese. It is desirable to assist groups and organizations to become financially independent and self-sustaining. Funding requests that are innovative, creative and progressive as well as service and mission oriented will be given special consideration. Entities planning multi-year projects may apply for funds annually.

Exclusions: No grants will be provided to the following:

1. Organizations that do not have a 501(c)(3) status

2. Organizations whose mission is not in keeping with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

3. Political organizations

4. Annual fund drives, capital campaigns, benefit events, endowments or debt reduction.

5. Personal growth/education programs including sabbaticals, except those directly related to ministry

6. Individuals, including personal travel

7. Projects already accomplished

8. Requests that do not follow the procedures for grant applications of CCF.

9. Payments of fines or settlements of civil suits.
   
   

2025 Calendar
Deadline for LOR: July 25, 2025
Invitations for applications sent no later than: August 11, 2025
Deadline for application submission: September 6, 2025
Grants Committee meets: September 16, 2025
Funding dispersed: Mid October 2025

We, the Sisters of Mount Benedict Monastery, entrust to the Catholic Community Foundation the Mount Saint Benedict Endowment Fund. The Mount Saint Benedict Endowment Fund (MSBE Fund) originated with the now dissolved Mount Saint Benedict Foundation to carry on one of its major purposes, namely, to support the traditional ministries of the Sisters of Mount Saint Benedict Monastery. The Mount Saint Benedict Endowment Fund holds the past and future donations of hundreds of generous people who contributed for the purposes endorsed by the Sisters. We intend it to serve as part of our legacy for future generations.

We are grateful for the willingness of the Catholic Community Foundation to receive and manage the MSBE Fund and oversee the distribution of grants from the MSBE Fund in accordance with the Gift Instrument signed on March 8, 2023. The Gift Instrument recognizes the MSBE Fund to be a donor-advised fund and clearly states the guidelines governing the distribution of grants. A dedicated MSBE grant committee is entrusted with the responsibility to adhere to the guidelines for recommending grants.

We intend the MSBE Fund to be an enduring fund whose earnings will be prudently distributed every year for purposes consistent with the guidelines stated in the Gift Instrument. We specifically do not want MSBE to become the fallback option for budget shortfalls of the diocese or other institutions.

In addition to the stated guidelines, the hopes that have inspired and energized the ministries of Mount Saint Benedict Monastery are listed below. We commend to you the same hopes as you make an application to the MSBE Fund.

• We hope the MSBE Fund will offer direct support for gospel-inspired endeavors to begin and to thrive.

• We hope it will honor and explore diversity, community, stability, hospitality-all Benedictine values.

• We hope it will be used to contribute in ways that benefit the total well-being of people.

• We specifically hope that it will promote the dignity and agency of women.

• We hope especially that it will respond to the needs of the stranger and the underserved in our population.

• We hope that the fund will grow with continued donations and with good investment management.

Our Benedictine Community was established in Crookston over one hundred years ago in response to the request of its first bishop and we have responded in many ways to the needs of the church in the Crookston diocese. Our sisters have taught and administered in Catholic schools and supported parish life with musicians, catechists, pastoral administrators, and assistants.

Given the history of our ministries, we would approve MSBE Fund grants to meet needs within this diocese.

It is important, however, to note that we are neither a parish nor a department of the diocese. We are an autonomous monastery within a monastic congregation under papal jurisdiction. This position has allowed us also to choose ministries that complement but are not compelled by a diocesan focus. We have responded to the needs both within and beyond this diocese. Our Sisters have ministered in eleven states and three foreign countries.

Given the history of our ministries, we would approve MSBE Fund grants to meet needs beyond this diocese.

We have initiated, expanded, and invested in ministries not directly sponsored or perhaps envisioned by local church leadership. For example, we have built, owned, and staffed and underwritten Catholic nursing homes and several Catholic hospitals, music studios, a dental practice, Mount Saint Benedict Academy, a center for children and families and Mount Saint Benedict Center. In addition, our sisters have shared their interest, talent, and involvement in organizations and initiatives that promote peace and justice, culture and the arts, and the use and care of the land.

Given the history of our ministries, we would approve MSBE Fund grants requested by institutions which may be independent of specifically Catholic sponsorship.

Historically, Mount Saint Benedict Monastery has tried to build up the Reign of God mainly through the prayer, attention and labor of the sisters themselves. We see that we cannot continue to show up in person as we once did. We are happy that by grants from the MSBE funds, we can assist and encourage others to do God’s work for years to come.