Twelve Wicker Baskets

Michael Hoffman has years of financial services and diocesan development experience and, in this episode,  draws on that experience to share important tips for any diocese considering a capital campaign. “We knew we needed to do something… nothing was not an option,” Michael said of the diocesan financial needs at his previous position as the Director of Stewardship for the Diocese of Davenport. Priest retirement and vocations supp...

“The Church is the hope of the world, and the local parish is the hope of the Church,” says Tom Corcoran, co-author of ChurchMoney, a book that is part of the Rebuilt series. Tom’s experience in helping his own parish to be a thriving, vibrant community of faith inspired him, along with his pastor, Father Michael White, to help other parish communities throughout the world to experience the same renewal. Tom encourages parishes to ...

After completing her M.B.A., Jennifer Baugh went through a soul-searching period while waiting to start a new consulting job, asking God to deepen her faith. She came to a new and profound realization of God’s love and the mission to share that love with others. Not long thereafter, Jennifer established Young Catholic Professionals (YCP), an apostolate that has grown exponentially, signaling that Catholic professionals in their 20s...

Responsible for faith-based and secular non-profit markets at Innovest, Sarah brings to bear her rich experience of non-profit development, marketing, and business development along with her faith and sense of stewardship in managing clients’ investment portfolios. In this episode, Sarah explores how building a morally conscious investment portfolio is more than avoiding “sin stocks,” but requires a deeper due diligence to ensure f...

Lino Rulli, aka “The Catholic Guy” on Sirius XM Radio, came into a greater appreciation of his Catholic faith in college after experiencing a tragedy that prompted life’s big questions. A communications undergraduate major with a graduate theology degree, Rulli later discovered an opportunity to start a tv show at a local parish, which later was syndicated across the US and won Emmy awards. His broadcasting career on matters relati...

In this episode, Ian Rangel describes the history, mission, and impact of The Papal Foundation, the only charitable organization in the United States exclusively dedicated to fulfilling the requests of the Holy Father for the needs of the Church. The foundation aims at providing the resources to address capital, humanitarian and vocational needs throughout the developing world or, as Ian puts it, to serve “the underdogs of the Chur...

Bishop Andrew Cozzens is the Bishop of the Diocese of Crookston and currently Chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, in virtue of which he is tasked by the bishops to spearhead the three-year National Eucharistic Revival. In this very theological episode, Bishop Cozzens explores how Christ’s gift of himself in the incarnation is perpetuated in his gift of self in the Eucharist. “The Eucharist is the hea...

In this episode, Twelve Wicker Baskets shifts from the philanthropic focus of supporting the Church’s mission to the perspective of those who generate the resources for that support through entrepreneurial business ventures. David Niccolini, a husband, father, and innovating founder of four successful companies, shares his career journey from the perspective of faith, noting that entrepreneurial work is very creative and, when done...

Matt Vuorela became Chief Executive Officer of the Steier Group in August 2023. In this episode, Matt shares his perspective that many of the discouraging trends we see in the Catholic Church in the United States today are actually opportunities to be bold and creative. From his seat at the head of the firm, he also speaks to other trends in the fundraising/development sector that point to some very positive news.

The bish...

In this episode, Jamie Crane describes the impact someone can have when stewardship is understood, embraced and lived as part of one’s Christian discipleship. Looking to Bishop James Golka, Bishop of Colorado Springs, as a prime example of someone endowed with a stewardship heart, Jamie recounts the ways his pastoral leadership has impacted the life of the diocese and each parish community therein. Emphasizing a Eucharist-focused p...

With both of his grandfathers as Nazarene ministers, Mark Petersen grew up knowing the gospel and the work of ministry. He also grew up inspired by the example of his parents who determined to freeze the assets from their business upon reaching a certain point of success, dedicating any future growth from the business to a philanthropic foundation they established to support noble causes and make a difference in the world. After se...

John Cannon’s unique background in business, finance, political science, monasticism, philosophy, theology and spirituality has equipped him well for launching SENT Ventures. In this episode, John speaks to how God has redirected the course of his life more than once, moving from a business and political career to several years as a Carmelite monk, to establishing SENT as an entrepreneur.

From an early age, John sought to make a dif...

The mission to teach is at the very heart of the Church; a mission she received from the Lord himself: “Go, therefore, and teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19). At Hayden Catholic High School, where Shelly Buhler serves as President, fulfilling that divine mission is something integrated intentionally into everything they do.

Flowing from the school’s strategic planning process and an evaluation of its Catholic identity, the...

As the great-granddaughter of John and Helena Raskob, and a lifelong member of the Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities, Kerry grew up involved in philanthropic support of the ministries and good works of the Catholic Church throughout the world. It wasn’t until Father Bob Beloin, Catholic chaplain at Yale University, invited her to lead a capital campaign in support of the St. Thomas More Catholic Chapel and Center at Yale, h...

In this episode, Meg Hunter-Kilmer, author of Pray for Us: 75 Saints Who Sinned, Suffered and Struggled On Their Way to Holiness, shares how she left her position as a high school theology teacher and set off to be an itinerant speaker, witnessing to the love of God, inspiring deeper faith, and sharing the universal attainability of sanctity by demonstrating how the saints in every age cooperated with grace. 

Meg heard the baptismal...

In this first anniversary episode, a clip from each guest of the past year is woven together to provide a montage of collective wisdom, reflecting on the themes of God’s abundant and astounding generosity, personal relationship as the foundation for fundraising, the connection of discipleship and stewardship, to name a few.

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In this episode, Mother Mary Clare, Mother Superior and foundress of the Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus, along with Sister Annunciata, share how God has proven to be astoundingly generous to each of them in their own vocational journey, but also in the life of their community. Relying upon divine providence for all their material needs (the sisters have no income beyond free-will offerings), the Handmaids have experienced first-ha...

Father Jarrod was introduced to the stewardship as a way of life from childhood, calling it “the context for my Catholic formation.” Stewardship “became the lens through which we understood how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ,” recognizing that everything we have is a gift we have received. And once we recognize the giftedness we each possess, then we start recognizing the response. The stewardship way of life, which began at St. ...

Quentin Schesnuik grew up in the rural prairies of Saskatchewan and, after graduating from university, began his career in banking. After moving to Toronto for work, he helped an inner-city charity establish a planned giving program to assist the poor. Listening to their stories, he discovered their great wisdom about what matters most in life. Encountering the Lord powerfully in the sacrament of penance and in a return to the fait...