The archdiocese has 205 schools under its umbrella and runs 170 of them. The archdiocese's total expenses for 2018, the most recent year available, were $1.25 billion. It lost $145.7 million in that same year. Schools that can't get full funding from their parish get help from the archdiocese via scholarship funds, an education trust and other donations. Alongside Big Shoulders' roughly $50 million pledge, the archdiocese estimates it will commit close to $100 million to its schools over the next decade.

Under the new arrangement, Big Shoulders will take the lead in hiring and evaluating principals at the 30 schools, and a more pronounced role in academics, enrollment, development, marketing, and finances. The nonprofit is already involved at varying levels at 75 schools serving 20,000 students.

"They need us," says Monsignor Kenneth Velo, Big Shoulders' co-chair, who still celebrates Mass at Old St. Patrick's, "to keep the doors of the schools open but more than that, to enhance professionalism" and academic results.

Says Big Shoulders CEO Josh Hale: "This is a big change in control between the two entities. A massive change."

One of the schools targeted in this transformation is the Academy of St. Benedict the African School. Principal Pat Murphy says the nonprofit has been a stabilizing force since the 1990s. Without them, "there would be no Catholic or private school left in Englewood or West Englewood."

Every Friday, Murphy sits down with someone from Big Shoulders to talk budget, marketing, and academics. Murphy estimates over the years, the fund has contributed millions, "probably up to $400,000 a year," plus footing the bill for staff professional development."

"This particular agreement grew out of a months-long conversation about how we could work together at a deeper level," says Jim Rigg, superintendent of Catholic schools for the archdiocese, who calls the partnership a first-of-its-kind effort. "It helps these particular schools know that they have 10 years of security and staying open. For us, it allows us to potentially reallocate some resources to other schools that might need support."

The archdiocese has been closing and consolidating schools and parishes for years, including five closures announced in early January, most outside Chicago.

ACCELERATING TREND

There's a long history of organized private philanthropy in American dioceses. Given common financial challenges nationwide, the trend of business chipping in to help churches—financially and with management to help—is accelerating.

Big Shoulders is likely the largest organization of its kind, with $81 million in net assets and $30 million invested in schools in 2019. It's raised close to $400 million since its founding. Unlike Big Shoulders, many around the country are directly affiliated with their local diocese and focus solely on tuition aid.

The Inner-city Scholarship Fund, run by the Archdiocese of New York City, awards roughly $12 million in scholarships to 11,000 students annually. New York is also home to Partnership Schools, a charter-like "network of seven urban Catholic schools in Harlem and the South Bronx" that is managed by a 26-member board, including business leaders.

Seattle's Fulcrum Foundation, with $54 million in assets, is active in 73 schools serving 22,000 students. It spent just under $5 million on tuition assistance and school and leadership grants in 2019.

Business Leadership Organized for Catholic Schools, an independent Philadelphia nonprofit, granted partial scholarships to 16,000 students in the 2017-18 school year, and raised close to $20 million. Philadelphia is also home to Faith in the Future, a group of businesspeople and academics who took over management of 17 high schools and four special education schools from the archdiocese.

Centaur Capital Partners President John Schreiber, who donated $5 million for this new undertaking, says the fund has a big task: raising enough money to keep their programs going, and making sure academic accomplishments continue. "It's one small step in a whole process that has got huge ramifications" for the city's neediest students.