A simple estate gift can transform a diocese for generations to come.
What if it were possible to . . .
- Love our neighbors in ways that strengthen our entire community?
- Have the blessings of our lifetime continue growing the faith of future generations?
- Become an example of sacrificial love that sets hearts aflame for the Lord?
- See every parish’s operating expenses fully covered — year after year, without end?
This is not an impossible dream. It is within reach — and it begins with understanding how endowments work.
When you leave a gift to an endowment at the Foundation for the Diocese, the principal is never spent. It grows. And through that growth, funds from earnings are distributed quarterly to your parish or ministry. Your estate gift doesn’t just make a one-time impact — it keeps giving, forever.
The numbers are transformative
We ran the numbers — and the potential is staggering. Our diocese is home to 16,369 families. If every family’s estate reflected Montana’s median value of $273,000, and each committed just 5% of that estate to an endowment, the resulting corpus would exceed $220 million. That would generate more than $10 million in annual distributions — enough to sustain every parish and ministry in Western Montana, in perpetuity.
“An estate gift is not a line item in a budget — it is a seed planted in sacred ground. It is the gift that keeps on giving, earning returns that fund the sacramental and charitable life of the Church without end.”
Your legacy begins with a decision
Consider what your estate gift could mean: a community strengthened, a faith carried forward, a heart enlarged by the grace of sacrificial giving, and parishes and ministries sustained long after you are gone. The gift you leave behind has the power to transform our diocese.
If you have already named the Foundation in your estate plan, we invite you to complete the gift notification form on our website or scan the QR code provided. Your generosity deserves to be celebrated and honored.
If you haven’t created an estate gift yet, or if you don’t have a will, please use the Foundation’s online will writing service at FreeWill.com/fdoh. It’s a pleasure to offer this service to our parishioners at no cost.
Learn more or take the next step
Contact Dan Thies at (406) 389-7051 or dthies@dohmt.org to explore how you can leave an estate gift to your favorite parish or ministry in our Diocese.