Duchesne High School raised the most for the third year in a row, exceeding $300,000
Donors gave more than $900,000 to parishes, schools and ministries in the Archdiocese of St. Louis through this year’s #iGiveCatholic campaign.
#iGiveCatholic is a national effort to raise funds for Catholic organizations on Giving Tuesday, the Tuesday following Thanksgiving. Now in its fourth year in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, 76 entities in the archdiocese participated in the campaign, which encourages people to donate directly to parishes, schools and ministries, often to support specific projects or needs.
This year, 1,726 donors gave $954,235 in total online and offline, an increase over last year’s $883,915.
Duchesne High School in St. Charles topped the leaderboard for the third year in a row, surpassing the school’s goal of $300,000 with $340,696 in donations from 197 donors. That total placed Duchesne seventh in the nation for #iGiveCatholic participants.
Each year, Duchesne has increased its goal by $100,000, and the community keeps stepping up to meet the goal and beyond, president Paul Boschert said.
“It was nonstop phones ringing, people walking in,” Boschert said. “That’s the way the Duchesne community is — when you reach out to them, they answer the call.”
Duchesne once again hosted a 12-hour livestream on Giving Tuesday — this year, run entirely by the students in the radio and television production class — featuring a variety of student clubs, staff and alumni speaking about their Duchesne experiences and encouraging donors to give. The campaign wasn’t just online, though; alumni class representatives were in the building making phone calls to classmates, and the campus was open for people to stop inside the school while dropping off a check.
“We had a father from the class of 1968 (drop by), and then one of his classmates also came in. They had not seen each other for years, and they happened to pop in at the same time and got to rekindle an old relationship,” Boschert, a class of 1977 alumnus, said. “It’s a social event too, which is what we really enjoy doing.”
Boschert took the helm as Duchesne president this summer, and his relationships with alumni were key in both reaching new donors and increasing gifts from established donors, director of advancement Becky Williamson said.
“He has history at Duchesne. He definitely bleeds Pioneer blue, and with him coming in as new president, he’s really reached out to a lot of alumni and re-engaged a bunch of them, which translated into a bunch of new donors,” Williamson said. “He’s had a lot of alumni tours come through and is really just getting people back on campus.”
Duchesne High School students from a video production class at the school helped run the school’s 12-hour Giving Tuesday livestream.
The money raised from this year’s #iGiveCatholic campaign is planned for renovations to the school locker rooms, education enrichment like guest speakers and off-campus experiences, and investing in the school’s endowment. This summer, Duchesne established its first endowment fund with the Roman Catholic Foundation.
“It’s important for our future, for the next generations,” Boschert said. “We’ve had 100 years of existence of St. Peter/Duchesne High School, and we want to be able to survive over the next 100 years.”
The Affordable Housing Fund of the Annual Catholic Appeal raised the second most, with $177,072 from 45 donors. The Affordable Housing Fund was created following the 2023 Annual Catholic Appeal, which set aside $1 million in overage funds for agencies serving those in need of safe, stable and affordable housing.
The first round of Affordable Housing Fund grants were awarded in the summer of 2024, dividing the funds among Assisi House, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Peter &Paul Community Services, Room at the Inn, Sts. Joachim and Ann Care Service, St. Joseph Housing Initiative, St. Patrick Center and Hearts, Hands and Homes.
Another $1 million in overage funds from the 2024 appeal was allocated to the fund, and the donations from #iGiveCatholic will be added to that total for the next round of grants, which are expected to be reviewed by the Affordable Housing Committee and approved by Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski in spring 2025.
The archdiocese’s All Things New social outreach subcommittee identified in a 2023 report that affordable housing is among the most pressing unmet needs for struggling families.
Chesterton Academy of St. Louis, a classical high school in the Catholic tradition, participated in #iGiveCatholic for the first time this year. The school, which is part of the national Chesterton Schools Network, opened in fall 2023 in the former St. John Bosco school building in Maryland Heights. Thirty donors gave $68,800 to Chesterton Academy, putting them third in this year’s campaign.
St. Clare of Assisi Parish in Ellisville placed fourth on the leaderboard with $42,840 from 135 donors. The parish was raising funds to install a new water drainage system for the church.
The Oratory of Sts. Gregory and Augustine in Richmond Heights came in fifth, raising $41,310 from 84 donors, surpassing its $40,000 goal. The funds will go toward new vestments for the oratory’s priests and deacons, adding figures to the nativity set (purchased with donations from the 2023 #iGiveCatholic campaign) and updates to the church’s baptistry.
St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in St. Louis received $8,109 from 56 donors, surpassing the parish’s goal to fund new chairs for the church hall. The parish earned this year’s Social Media Buzz award for its humorous videos demonstrating the merits of the new chairs over the current ones.
The Annual Catholic Appeal covered #iGiveCatholic registration costs for archdiocesan participants and awarded $9,000 in prizes, added to winners’ total funds raised.
