SMART Philanthropy Field Guide

Catholic Philanthropy and the 10X Leader:

Catholic lay apostolates, Newman Guide Catholic colleges, and Catholic seminaries exist for different purposes.

But they share something fundamental:

Their missions are carried by people.

A compelling mission, faithful Catholic identity, excellent programs, and beautiful facilities all matter.

But ultimately, the fruitfulness of a Catholic institution depends upon the people entrusted with its mission—and the culture in which they serve.

That raises a different question for Catholic philanthropy:
What if the highest-leverage philanthropic investment is not always in what an organization does or the tangible assets it possesses, but in the people and culture that enable it to fulfill its mission?

The 10X Leader

In the Book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar tests Daniel and his companions. After examining them, he discovers that they possess extraordinary wisdom and understanding.

Scripture says:
“He found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.”
Daniel 1:20

The king did not simply discover better programs.
He discovered better-formed people.

This raises a compelling question for Catholic philanthropy:

What would happen if we intentionally invested in developing 10X leaders—leaders whose formation enables them to multiply the effectiveness of everyone and everything around them?

A 10X leader doesn’t simply accomplish ten times more personally.

A 10X leader multiplies the people around them.

A leader develops a team.

A team strengthens an organization.

An organization advances a mission.

An institution forms people who influence families, communities, professions, and the Church.

The return multiplies.

Catholic Philanthropy for a 10X Return

In collaboration with Father Boniface Hicks, OSB, the Human Formation Coalition is writing the SMART Philanthropy Field Guide, scheduled for release in late 2027.

Before we write it, we want to listen.

We are conducting conversations with people who have actually carried the responsibility of Catholic leadership and philanthropy.

We are especially interested in:

Catholic philanthropists and major donors

Executive leaders of Catholic lay apostolates

Presidents and senior leaders of Newman Guide schools

Rectors and senior leaders of Catholic seminaries

Catholic foundation and philanthropic leaders

Your experience can help us understand where philanthropic investment can create the greatest lasting fruit—and help shape the SMART Philanthropy framework.

Why 10X?

The idea of a 10X return is not primarily about financial return.

It begins with a biblical observation about human capacity.

Daniel 1:20 describes Daniel and his companions as being ten times better in wisdom and understanding than those tested by the king.

The extraordinary result came through the formation of people.

That gives us a provocative question:

What if the most powerful investment we can make is in the people who carry the mission?

Consider the multiplication:

A 10X leader develops a team.

A strong team strengthens an organization.

A healthy organization advances its mission.

A flourishing institution forms people.

Those people influence families, communities, professions, and the Church.
The initial investment may be made in one person.
But the fruit can extend far beyond that person.

Not: “How can I get a 10X financial return?”

But: “Where can I invest the resources God has entrusted to me so they produce the greatest multiplication of human and apostolic fruit?”

What Makes Catholic Philanthropy Multiplicative?

Our forthcoming Field Guide is exploring whether there are identifiable characteristics that make a Catholic organization more capable of multiplying philanthropic investment.

Healthy Leadership
Are those responsible for the mission capable of leading, developing, and inspiring others?

Healthy Culture
Does the culture support human flourishing, collaboration, accountability, and mission?

Human Formation
Are the people carrying the mission themselves being formed and developed?

Mission Alignment
Are people, structures, resources, and activities aligned around the Catholic mission?

Renewal
Does the organization continually develop its leaders and prepare the next generation?

Organizational Capacity
Does the institution have the systems necessary to convert resources into sustainable impact?

Perhaps these are characteristics of fertile, multiplicative soil. That is one of the questions we want to explore.

The Question Behind the Project

Traditional philanthropy often begins with:
“What should we fund?”

We want to explore a deeper question:
“What must be strengthened for this mission to flourish?”

That might mean a building, program, technology, or infrastructure.

But it might also mean:

Developing an executive leadership team

Strengthening organizational culture

Forming faculty and staff

Developing future leaders

Building succession capacity

Providing executive coaching and accompaniment

Creating stronger mentoring systems

Strengthening governance

Developing human formation capacity

The answer will be different for every institution.

The principle may be the same:
Invest where the mission is carried.

The SMART Framework

Our emerging framework looks at five dimensions:

Stewardship

Are we placing the resources entrusted to us where they can produce the greatest lasting fruit?

Mission Effectiveness

Are people, culture, structures, and systems enabling the institution to fulfill its mission?

Anthropology & Accompaniment

Does the institution understand and intentionally develop the human persons entrusted with its mission?

Renewal

Does the organization continually form, develop, and renew the people responsible for carrying its mission?

Transformation

Is the investment producing greater human flourishing and greater capacity to advance the mission?

Together, these dimensions form the basis of the emerging SMART Philanthropy Score™.
But the Score™ is not the starting point.
Listening is.

What We Want to Learn From You

We are especially interested in what experienced Catholic leaders and philanthropists have learned that may not appear on a traditional financial or organizational scorecard.

Philanthropic Discernment
How do you decide where to invest? What gives you confidence that an organization can steward a significant investment?

The Human Dimension
Where have you seen investments in people produce an outsized return?

Organizational Culture
How important is culture to long-term effectiveness? How do you recognize healthy—or unhealthy—culture?

Leadership
What distinguishes leaders and leadership teams that multiply impact from those that simply maintain an organization?

Underinvestment
Where do Catholic organizations most commonly underinvest?

Measurement
What should Catholic philanthropists measure that they are not currently measuring?

Transformation
Can you recall an investment that produced significantly more fruit than expected? What made it possible?

We Want to Learn Before We Write

We are intentionally conducting these conversations before writing the Field Guide.

We don’t want to write this in isolation.

We want to learn from people who have:

Made significant philanthropic investments

Led Catholic organizations

Built leadership teams

Navigated organizational growth

Invested in human formation

Seen philanthropy succeed

Seen philanthropy fall short

We believe there is wisdom in those experiences that can help shape a better approach to Catholic philanthropy.

Share Your Perspective

We are asking for approximately 30–45 minutes of your time.

The conversation will be informal and confidential.

There is no preparation required.

There is no fundraising ask.

We simply want to hear what you have learned.

Share Your Perspective

The Bigger Question

Catholic philanthropy has enormous potential.

Perhaps we have sometimes been asking the question at the wrong level.

Instead of asking only:
“What should we fund?”

Perhaps we should also ask:
“Who should we strengthen?”

Because when you strengthen the person who carries the mission, you may strengthen everyone that person influences.

A leader can form a team.

A team can strengthen an organization.

An organization can transform an institution.

An institution can influence a community.

And a community can help renew the Church and the culture.

Person

Team

Organization

Institution

Community

That is the multiplication behind SMART Philanthropy.

That is the possibility behind the 10X Leader.

Help Us Explore the Possibility

Daniel 1:20 reminds us that extraordinary human capacity can have extraordinary consequences.

The question for Catholic philanthropy is whether we can become more intentional about identifying, forming, accompanying, and investing in the people entrusted with carrying the Church’s mission.

What if one investment in one well-formed leader could multiply its impact across an entire organization—and far beyond it?

That is the possibility we want to explore.

Would you be willing to share your perspective?

Schedule a Listening Conversation