FSC Foundation

The FSC Foundation provides financial support for programs that help the educationally disadvantaged.

About FSC Foundation

The De La Salle Christian Brothers are delighted that the FSC Foundation was able to resume making annual grants in 2016. Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS) remains the Foundation’s primary benefactor.

The Foundation is grateful to CBIS for its generous support.

The FSC Foundation (A title taken from the three first letters of Fratres Scholarum Christianarum - Brothers of the Christian Schools) was established by seven provinces of the De La Salle Christian Brothers in the United States together with Manhattan College (N.Y.). Resources of the Foundation are provided by CBIS – the company has committed, since its founding, a significant portion of its profits to be used to support and advance educational services for the poor, especially victims of systemic injustice.

About Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS)
CBIS is a global investment management firm that has been a trusted partner for Catholic institutions and their consultants worldwide for over four decades. The firm manages more than $10 billion across a broad range of Catholic organizations, including dioceses, schools, hospitals, and religious institutes. Specializing in Catholic Responsible Investing, a distinct investment approach that combines research-driven stock screening with active ownership, CBIS helps Catholic organizations align their investments with Catholic beliefs. Using Catholic Responsible Investing as an overlay, CBIS actively blends complementary institutional managers to sub-advise its diverse investment strategies. CBIS is a Registered Investment Advisor owned by the De La Salle Christian Brothers in the United States and the Center of the Institute in Rome. CBIS has offices in Chicago, Rome, and Madrid.

The FSC Foundation invites proposals to initiate and/or support educational projects which will serve the poor, the handicapped, and others victimized by society. It hopes that ultimately such projects will become self-reliant and their participants will be enabled to help themselves.

This is the principal goal of the foundation. It represents yet another effort to continue and expand the three-hundred-year-old Lasallian tradition of serving the poor through education, extending the caring vision of St. John Baptist De La Salle into the future.

Funding Approval Criteria
Through a clear, concise and objective presentation the application should show how the project:

  • Reflects the philosophy and objectives of the FSC Foundation.
  • Can achieve the specific goals and objectives envisioned in the service(s) to be offered.
  • Evidences the need for financial support while it documents requests from other funding sources.
  • Explains that there is an administrative or organizational structure, adequate for the success of the project.
  • Involves the project’s participants in planning and implementing it.
  • Includes the possibility of replication by other individuals or groups.
  • Attempts to network with other fitting agencies, groups, businesses, etc., in the delivery of services.
  • Will expand the Grant funds being requested and describe briefly its methods of financial record keeping and reporting.
  • Envisions the time frame for initiation and duration of services, and the process of evaluating its success in achieving stated goals.

Philosophy and Objectives
The FSC Foundation has been established to promote and support educational services directed to the poor and disadvantaged.

The FSC Foundation seeks to discover and support "new and adapted forms of education for those poor who are most neglected."

The FSC Foundation hopes to encourage and energize through financial assistance organizations which wish to accept the challenge to assist the poor and marginalized in our societies by providing effective educational services for them.

Project Parameter Guidelines
The FSC Foundation will support educational activities, projects and services that attempt to respond creatively to the needs of these poor and/or handicapped in the following ways:

  • Structured educational training centers, such as schools, community service centers, vocational training centers, etc.
  • Alternative educational services such as training for independent living, counseling and personal support services, family training and employment skills training, etc.
  • Making small grants not to exceed $4,000.
  • Making grants to help projects get started.

The FSC Foundation will accept proposals from organizations that are in accordance with its philosophy and objectives, and that are in compliance with its guidelines. The FSC Foundation will not consider:

  • Making grants for ongoing salaries, and administrative expenses, tuition scholarships or endowments
  • A proposal for a project that received FSC Foundation funding within the past three years
  • Multiple proposals from the same organization within the same year. Applicants are asked to limit themselves to one proposal per year.
  • Proposals for capital campaigns

Board of Directors
Brother Johnathon Emanuelson, FSC
Chairman of the Board
Racine, WI

Brother Thomas Hetland, FSC
Romeoville, IL

Sister Margaret Dempsey, RSM
Brooklyn, NY

Brother John Montgomery, FSC
Los Angeles, CA

Sister Barbara Nelson, IBVM
Wheaton, IL

Sister Karen Nykiel, OSB
Lisle, IL

Emily Vogel
Chicago, IL

Brother Raymond Papenfuss, CSC
Notre Dame, IN

2023 Welcome Letter


Dear Applicant,
Through the continuing generosity of Christian Brothers Investment Services, the FSC Foundation is again able to invite applications for its Foundation Grants Program. Although the Foundation's funding is limited, the impact of the many grants made since its beginning has been very significant.

The FSC Foundation makes grants only to Roman Catholic organizations and primarily to those who are clients of Christian Brothers Investment Services.

In addition to the guidelines stated in the "About Us" section of our website, applicants will adhere to the following:

  • Proposals must have an educational orientation.
  • Proposals must be submitted by August 31, 2023. NO PROPOSALS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THIS DATE.
  • The FSC Grant Application Form is an online form and must be used to apply for funding. Please limit your application to the space provided on the form. There is no way to submit additional supplementary material and it will not be reviewed.
  • It is necessary for a Foreign Catholic applicant to secure a United States Catholic organization to act as its fiscal agent and follow the procedure outlined in the application form. The fiscal agent must be listed in the Official Catholic Directory of the United States.

We suggest that, when writing your application, you first download the fillable-form Word document on the website, enter your text into the Word document, and then copy and paste entries to the online application. This is a safeguard in case there is an error in the online submitting process. You will have all your information in a saved Word document as a backup and will not need to retype everything.

Board decisions will be made in November, 2023. Decisions referring to each applicant will be sent prior to January 31, 2024. Affirmative decisions will be accompanied by grant funds.

Grants will be limited to $4,000 or less. Applicants are urged to specify the exact amount requested and to indicate the specific use of the funding.


Sincerely,
Br. Johnathon W. Emanuelson, FSC
Brother Johnathon Emanuelson, FSC
Chairman, Board of Directors

Grants by the FSC Foundation in 2022.


In 2022, the FSC Foundation distributed $132,500 in small assistance units to 46 recipients. Twenty were for programs in the United States, while 26 were for programs conducted overseas. They are as follows:

  • English language learning and community engagement opportunities for refugees and immigrants- Cedar Rapids, IA, USA
  • Immersion retreat program in New Space- Chicago, IL, USA
  • Retreat mission fund- Plano, IL, USA
  • Science & Technology: Investing in Immigrant Children's futures- San Antonio, Texas, USA
  • Digital learning program- Yakima, WA, USA
  • Learning projection tool- Glendale Heights, IL, USA
  • LEAD Retreats, Twin Cities Outreach- Marine on Saint Croix, MN, USA
  • La Salle Academy- Fine Arts Program- New York, NY, USA
  • Tablets for elementary school students- Bryan, TX- USA
  • San Miguel School Chicago- High School Bridge Program- Chicago, IL, USA
  • Education services for homeless pre-schoolers- Bridgeton, Missouri, USA
  • Virtual Adventures- Brooklyn, New York, USA
  • John XXIII Educational Center: A Ministry of St. Patrick's Parish- Racine, Wisconsin, USA
  • Technology as a learning tool for students from low-income families- San Antonio, TX, USA
  • Purchase of books for educational success of disadvantaged adults in inner-city- Reading, PA, USA
  • Youth Achievement Year (YAY) Program- Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • One to One Learning, Inc.- Sparkill, NY, USA
  • Bridge to CBA Brothers summer and school year program- Syracuse, NY, USA
  • Closing the Gap with Math Manipulatives project- Taylor, Texas, USA
  • Projector and sound system for gym/auditorium- Rochester, New York, USA
  • Financial aid for the education of fifty immigrant children- Didnigul, Tamilnadu, India
  • School funding project- Prestea, Western region, Ghana
  • The St. Catherine of Sienna After School Program in Colonia Once- Colonia, El Salvador
  • Multimedia classroom facilities for Holy Cross School, Rajshahi, Bangladesh- Dhaka, Bangladesh
  • Funding for the purchase of computers for St. Stephen Secondary School- Bungoma, Kenya
  • Skills for life and employment for young people- Myitkyina., Kachin., Myanmar
  • Purchase of classroom equipment in the form of 50 desks to facilitate the learning of students at Bukulula Farm School- Masaka, Bukulula, Uganda
  • Wireless connectivity and printing capacity for computer lab- Lukulu, Western Province, Zambia
  • Books and school supplies for St. Gertrude’s- Kilimahewa, Tanzania
  • APON (A Drug Rehabilitation Center of Holy Cross Brothers)- financial assitsance for street children at Mirpur slum area- Dhaka, Bangladesh
  • Purchase of educational technologies for effective teaching and learning- Ondo Town, Ondo State, Nigeria
  • 2022-2023 Guatemala textbook expansion, on behalf of implementation partner Cooperative for Education (CoEd)- Guatemala
  • Counseling and school support to 300 children internally displaced from the crisis communities of the North West Region, Cameroon- Bamenda, North West, Cameroon
  • Computer education for poor children- Patna, Bihar, India
  • Financial support to purchase desks and chairs for St. Claire of Assisi Primary School at Emboreet Simanjiro District in Tanzania- Arusha, Tanzania
  • Welding machines for welding and fabrication department and projects for ICT laboratory- Takoradi, Western Region, Ghana
  • Installation of solar system at Sartori Memorial High School as a cheaper and more reliable source of energy- Arua, Uganda, Uganda
  • Academic empowerment of marginalized Madagascar girls through computer access- Madagascar
  • Funds to make the building compatible for our formation sisters, including furniture for bedrooms and meeting rooms- Oshakati, Oshana Region, Namibia
  • A kindergarten to build peace in Bethany, Palestine- Palestine
  • Aste Tekleghiorgis Catholic School- Ethiopia
  • Purchase of classroom furniture for 265 orphaned and needy children of St. John Nursery and Primary School- Masaka, Uganda
  • Resourcing the computer laboratory with computers and power batteries- Rohtak, Haryana, India
  • Equipping the vocational sewing training center of Bukuliro, Butembo, DRC- Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Financial assistance to buy 400 chairs for a multi-purpose hall at St. Agnes Secondary School, Chipole- Magagura, Songea, Tanzania
  • Enhancing digital learning of children from underserved communities in rural village school in Ghanpur, through visual aids by replacing/shifting blackboards with interactive digital boards for a classroom transformation- Bangalore, India

The funds for the Foundation come from Christian Brothers Investment Services. Since 1988, the Foundation has distributed $4,104,545 in 1,613 grants selected from among 4,535 applications.

Contact Us

FSC Foundation (Brother Johnathon Emanuelson, FSC, Chair)
1109 Douglas Avenue,
Racine, WI 53402
fsc-foundation@cbmidwest.org