Koch Foundation Grant Program

The Koch Foundation Grant Program, established in 1979, is dedicated to supporting the evangelization of the Catholic faith globally. With priorities in Direct Evangelization, Preparation of Evangelists, and Capital Expenditures, it focuses on projects that strengthen the Church. Funding is exclusively available to recognized Catholic organizations, promoting education, media outreach, and infrastructure development. The Foundation emphasizes equitable funding distribution and prioritizes underdeveloped areas. It does not entertain multi-year commitments or projects outside the U.S. that do not align with its mission.

About the Koch Foundation
In 1979, the Koch Foundation was established by Carl and Paula Koch to fund evangelization activities of the Roman Catholic faith throughout the world. At that time, the Foundation was relatively small with market value assets of $6,914,090. Since then, it has become one of the largest Catholic foundations in the United States.
Our mission is built on the Koch’s vision “to strengthen and propagate the Roman Catholic faith by providing grant support for a wide variety of evangelization efforts.”
The Koch Foundation is international in scope and prioritizes on areas and populations most in need of a Catholic presence.
Our Focus
The Koch Foundation has three (3) primary funding priorities for projects, programs, areas, and population which focus financial support within the constraints of the available budget, time, personnel, and other resources.
These three (3) priorities are:

• Direct Evangelization Preparation of Evangelists
• Capital Expenditures.
• Preparation of Evangelists

The Preparation of Evangelists is central to the mission of the Koch Foundation. From education and religious formation of men and women for missionary congregations, to the spiritual development of lay leaders, we assist programs that prepare individuals for the work of teaching, as Jesus taught, and sharing the wisdom of the Catholic faith. Funding is provided to official Catholic organizations only, not to individuals.
Direct Evangelization
The mission to proclaim the Gospel, which comes from a life-giving encounter with Christ and His Church, is provided by countless men and women who have dedicated their lives to sharing Christ with others. The Koch Foundation provides funding for Direct Evangelization programs and religious activities which directly support, strengthen, or spread the teaching of the Catholic faith. Included in this funding priority are:
Mass Media – Evangelization is accomplished not only through the spoken word, but also through printed media. Radio and Catholic literature carry the Word of God to all parts of the world in each country’s native languages. The Good News is shared through Catholic programming, religious education textbooks, Bibles, pamphlets, newspapers, and digital content. Catholic Schools – In many areas of the world, the local Catholic School is the primary means of evangelization and, due to the presence of the religious men and women who live and work there, it is also the face of the Church in that community. Support from the Koch Foundation provides opportunities for a quality Catholic education and specialized programs that have the potential to provide future Catholic leaders.
Catholic Schools
The Koch Foundation provides funding for Catholic Schools in impoverished areas where the schools are the primary means of evangelization, or for specialized programs that have the potential to provide future Church leaders.
Mass Media
Evangelization is accomplished not only through the spoken word, but also through printed media. Radio and Catholic literature carry the Word of God to all parts of the world in each country’s native languages.
Capital Expenditures
Part of the mission of the Koch Foundation is to provide financial resources in the form of Capital Expenditures for the development of Catholic organizations in promoting the Catholic faith. Construction projects must have at least 50% of the total cost of the project in hand. Monies pledged but not actually received or contractually committed do not satisfy this requirement.
Starting with the 2015 grant cycle, requests for capital expenditures will be by invitation only. The Foundation will invite Letters of Request for construction projects only by directly contacting organizations. General solicitations or unsolicited Letters of Request for construction projects will not be accepted.
The Koch Foundation receives more requests each year than we are able to fund with our limited resources. Unfortunately, we are not able to fund requests that do not fit our funding guidelines. To this end, we will concentrate our efforts by focusing on projects that the Board determines propels and strengthens the Catholic Church.

Eligibility

Applicants must be Catholic organizations as recognized by the Catholic hierarchy of Rome.The Koch Foundation is international in scope with no geographical preference. Koch Foundation provides grants to Catholic organizations recognized as such by the Holy See that are engaged in evangelization.Organizations in the United States must be listed in the US Official Catholic Directory and/or have a letter from the IRS proving their exemption from federal taxes.Requests from Catholic organizations outside of the United States must provide a fiscal agent, listed in the United States Official Catholic Directory, who is willing to accept responsibility for the distribution of funds.Koch Foundation’s Board of Directors is dedicated to ensuring an equitable distribution of funds and to that end has imposed certain limits on application requests.Organizations such as dioceses, archdioceses, eparchies, archeparchies, apostolic vicariates, and religious institutes of Pontifical Right are allowed to submit more than one application request per cycle.Individual parishes, schools or Catholic non-profits are permitted one application request per cycle.Funding is provided for one (1) year only.Dioceses, Eparchies and Religious Institutes of Pontifical Right are allowed to submit up to six (6) requests annually.No organization may receive more than a total of three (3) grants within a five (5) year period.Requests and supporting documentation must be in English.Requested amounts must be in U.S. ($) currency.

Ineligibility

The Koch Foundation will not consider Capital Expenditure projects outside of the United States and its territories.The Koch Foundation does not support multiple year commitments.The Koch Foundation does not support the following projects:

Projects requiring multi-year commitments Endowments or Capital Campaigns
Marketing campaigns
Anything completed, purchased, or accomplished prior to the annual meeting that occurs in February of the following year of submission of the application
Funding of other Grant-Making organizations
Non-Evangelical Programs (Vocational-Technical Training Schools and Programs; Lobbying, Legislation, or project/programs dealing with or related to politically charged issues)
Purchase of equipment, computers, outside of the United States and its territories