This foundation concentrates nearly all of its funding on supporting the local Roman Catholic diocese and its activities in the Oakland area, providing large, repeat grants to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland for religious and church-related purposes. A very small portion of funding goes to other philanthropic organizations, indicating occasional support for grantmaking or related civic activities. Overall the foundation acts as a focused, place-based supporter of Catholic institutional operations and programs.
Highly concentrated — very few, large grants with repeat funding to a single flagship grantee (the Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland); limited diversification across recipients.
Catholic Church Support Services gives most of its funding to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland, with three large general-support grants recorded in 2023, 2024, and 2025. That pattern shows a funder built around ongoing support for diocesan operations rather than one-off project grants. The organization also uses its grantmaking to back Catholic institutions beyond Oakland, including a $200,000 general-support grant in 2025 to Wilcox Family Foundation and smaller general-support awards to seminary, charity, retreat, and Catholic media organizations. The mix points to a focused Catholic institutional funder with a local center of gravity and selective support for related organizations. Its stated programs add another dimension: capital funding, cemetery management, funeral home acquisition, and cash-flow support for dioceses and Catholic cemetery organizations. Those program descriptions align with the grant record by emphasizing operational sustainability, succession planning, and ministry infrastructure. In practice, Catholic Church Support Services appears to function as a regular funder for church-related operating needs, with occasional support extending to other Catholic philanthropic entities.
A central theme is diocesan operating support. The largest grant in the record was $3,000,000 to Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland for general support, and that same recipient also received $1,371,065 in 2025 and $824,096 in 2024. Smaller awards extend that church-centered pattern to other institutions: Sacred Heart Major Seminary received $10,000 for general support, showing attention to formation and education within the Catholic ecosystem. Catholic service organizations also appear in the mix. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Oakland received $10,000 for general support, while St Vincent De Paul of Contra Costa County received $5,000 for general support. The foundation also supported Annunciation Heights with a $10,000 general-support grant, indicating selective backing for Catholic ministries and related community programs outside the Diocese of Oakland.
Typical grants are modest at the lower end but highly skewed upward: the p25 is $7,500, the median is $10,000, and the p75 is $417,048. That spread reflects a small number of very large operating grants alongside many smaller awards. The recipient pattern is repeat-driven rather than one-off; Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland appears in multiple years with large general-support grants. Catholic Church Support Services is classified as a regular funder, and the available record shows no grants to individuals and no program-related investments. Application details are not indicated in the grant data or program descriptions.
$783K
$5.8M
$9M
$8M
Most grants fall between $8K and $417K, with a median of $10K.
25th Percentile
$8K
Median
$10K
75th Percentile
$417K
About 57% of grants go to recipients in CA.
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Notable grantees: Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland, Wilcox Family Foundation
Grantmaking is concentrated in California, which accounts for 57% of grants to recipients in the HQ state and is also the top state by grant count. Oakland is the main recipient city, with large awards going there repeatedly. Other California recipients include Pittsburg and Catholic organizations elsewhere in the state. Outside California, the record reaches Detroit, Estes Park, Kansas City, and Pennington, but all grants in the dataset are to U.S. recipients. The geographic scope is regional rather than national or international.
The foundation supports Catholic institutional operations and programs. Recent grants include general support for the Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Oakland, Sacred Heart Major Seminary, St Vincent De Paul of Contra Costa County, and Annunciation Heights. Its active programs also point to cemetery ministry, funeral home acquisition, and diocesan capital support.
The grant-size distribution is uneven. The lower end is modest, with a p25 of $7,500 and a median of $10,000, but the upper quartile rises sharply to $417,048. That pattern reflects a mix of small awards and a few very large operating grants.
Yes. Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland appears multiple times in the recent grants list, including $3,000,000 in 2023, $824,096 in 2024, and $1,371,065 in 2025, all for general support. That is a clear repeat-grant pattern rather than a single isolated award.
California receives the largest share by grant count, and 57% of grants go to recipients in the HQ state. Oakland is the main recipient city, with additional California grants going to Pittsburg. The remaining grants in the data go to U.S. recipients in Michigan, Colorado, Missouri, and New Jersey.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF OAKLAND | OAKLAND, CA | $1,371,065 | 2025 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
| WILCOX FAMILY FOUNDATION | PENNINGTON, NJ | $200,000 | 2025 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
| ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF OAKLAND | OAKLAND, CA | $824,096 | 2024 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
| ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF OAKLAND | OAKLAND, CA | $3,000,000 | 2023 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
| CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE DIOCESE OF OAKLAND | OAKLAND, CA | $10,000 | 2023 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
| SACRED HEART MAJOR SEMINARY | DETROIT, MI | $10,000 | 2023 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
| ANNUNCIATION HEIGHTS | ESTES PARKS, CO | $10,000 | 2023 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
| ST VINCENT DE PAUL OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY | PITTSBURG, CA | $5,000 | 2023 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
| THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER | KANSAS CITY, MS | $740 | 2023 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF OAKLAND
$1,371,065GENERAL SUPPORT
WILCOX FAMILY FOUNDATION
$200,000GENERAL SUPPORT
ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF OAKLAND
$824,096GENERAL SUPPORT
ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF OAKLAND
$3,000,000GENERAL SUPPORT
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE DIOCESE OF OAKLAND
$10,000GENERAL SUPPORT
SACRED HEART MAJOR SEMINARY
$10,000GENERAL SUPPORT
ANNUNCIATION HEIGHTS
$10,000GENERAL SUPPORT
ST VINCENT DE PAUL OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
$5,000GENERAL SUPPORT
THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER
$740GENERAL SUPPORT