Parish Catalyst

What it reported doing in 2020

Parish catalyst encourages catholic pastors and parish leaders to think creatively and act courageously so that they can renew the church. We do this through learning communities, on-site workshops, webinars and presentations. With the changes and challenges of 2020, we were able to take all of our offerings online and offer them in a virtual format.1. Learning communitiesthe heart of parish catalyst's work is its learning communities of pastoral leaders. Parish catalyst identifies pastors across the country who are serving vibrant catholic parishes and who are eager to grow their parishes in innovative ways. These pastors and key members of their leadership teams are recruited to join learning communities, which consist of no more than 12 parishes. Participants meet four times over eighteen months. Each of the four sessions is strategically organized with speakers, facilitation, and exercises. The process allows time for parishes to capitalize on one another's insights and lived experiences, igniting new ideas and strategies for parish ministry.the theme of each learning community is dynamic discipleship. Parish teams are encouraged to view their ministries, first through the lens of discipleship. This theme carries through all of our learning communities, some of which focus specifically on ministry to young adults, some on ministry to multi-cultural parishes, and some on general parish discipleship. This year we also launched our first learning community focused on helping under resourced parishes in los angeles.as it was for most organizations, 2020 was a challenging year that required creative thinking and courageous action. In total we facilitated 4 learning community sessions. Prior to the pandemic we held two learning community sessions in person in los angeles. After the quarantine was declared we shifted to a virtual format, hosting two more learning community sessions online. The schedule was as follows: dynamic discipleship 4 (fourth session - feb 27-29, 2020)under resourced la parishes (first session - march 9-11, 2020)dynamic discipleship 5 (third session - may 27-28) virtualunder resourced la parishes (second session - sept 21-22, 2020) virtual2. Parish on-site workshopson-site workshops bring the parish catalyst experience on location to individual parishes or diocese, addressing their specific needs. For an additional fee, parish catalyst personnel travel to provide custom workshops for staff and volunteers. These site visits have proven to be extremely helpful in advancing the strategic plans developed in learning communities, and have become a substantial part of our process. Some parishes have hosted multiple on-site workshops.in addition, parish catalyst staff also conduct workshops for parishes or diocese that are not yet members of a learning community, as a way of introducing them to our work. As a result of the pandemic, we offered on-site workshops virtually for the first time.in 2020 we facilitated 7 on-site workshops. Three were in-person and four were virtual(v).jan. 2019 growing volunteers workshop st. Vincent martyr, madison, njjan 2020 dynamic discipleship workshop st. John vianney, houston, txjune 2020(v) virtual staff retreat st. Monica, santa monica, cajuly 2020(v) advent & christmas innovation archdiocese of newark, njaugust 2020(v) ministry innovation workshop holy apostles, mchenry, iloctober 2020 staff health & harmony holy spirit, las vegas, nvoctober 2020(v) annual ministry training day diocese of rockford, il3. Webinarsin 2020, parish catalyst continued our webinar series. These are free to all and have attracted listeners from across the country and around the world. The webinars feature one-hour conversations with practitioners and experts focused on topics relevant to making dynamic disciples. Webinars are a great opportunity for staff development and a resource for equipping volunteer leaders. With the challenges faced during the pandemic, we shifted our content to address the spec

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 83.1%; rating input score 83
• Program expense ratio: 80.1%; rating input score 80
• Fundraising efficiency: $50.9 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -3.7%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
• Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -36.1% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -29.6% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -38.4% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings