Of Gratitude and Generosity

The Ave Maria Foundation may well be the single most generous contributor to Catholic causes at the close of the 20^th and the opening of the 21^st Century. According to IRS 990 form, from 1998-2005, the Foundation gave away close to ¼ of a billion dollars, most of it to Catholic education, which has been suffering since the decline of vocations in the wake of rising liberalism in the 60’s and 70’s. A close examination of the data demonstrates that salaries have been quite generous at these institutions. For example, a number of professors at Ave Maria School of Law have recieved annual compensation of over $130,000 since the law school opened in 2000. The whole church in the U.S. has been the beneficiary of this generosity, and, we suggest a spirit of gratitude should be our response. Thank you, Thomas Monaghan.

Over 85 organizations have recieved a portion of the $235,000,000.00 donated by the Ave Maria Foundation through 2005. A partial list is below:

Ave Maria University, Inc.	$116,869,641
Ave Maria School of Law	$45,314,959
Ave Maria College	$22,590,368
Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist	$14,140,552
Spiritus Sanctus Academy	$6,742,053
Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing Michigan	$4,100,000
Thomas More Law Center	$4,099,712
Ave Maria University	$4,084,665