Most Catholic funders have heard the phrase "preferential option for the poor." Fewer have tried to write it into an actual grant policy.

That is understandable. It is a big idea, and grant criteria are small, specific things. How do you get from "see the world through the eyes of the poor" to "we will consider proposals that meet the following requirements"?

This article tries to bridge that gap. It is written for small family foundations and DAF holders who want their giving to reflect this part of Catholic social teaching, not as a slogan, but as a working filter for real decisions.

What the preferential option for the poor actually means

The phrase took shape in the Church in Latin America in the late 1960s and 70s, and St. John Paul II brought it firmly into universal teaching. In Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (1987), he described the option or love of preference for the poor as a special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity, one that should shape how we use our goods. Pope Francis put it plainly in Evangelii Gaudium: I want a Church which is poor and for the poor.

A few things are worth noticing:

• It is a preference, not an exclusion. The Church is not saying only the poor matter. It is saying that when we decide, we should give special weight to how our choices affect the poor and vulnerable.

• It is about perspective. We are asked to see the world from the margins, not only to look at the margins from a comfortable distance.

• It is about more than material poverty. The Church speaks of the poor in many forms: those in economic need, and also the unborn, the sick, the lonely, the imprisoned, the newcomer, and those without faith.

• It is about dignity and participation. The goal is not only to help poor people, but to help them take their rightful place in the community.

Why it belongs in your grant criteria

A lot of Catholic giving goes to beloved institutions: parishes, schools, universities, cultural and devotional causes. Those gifts are good. Some of them serve the poor directly.

But without intentional criteria, giving tends to drift toward the people and places closest to us. That is human. Grant criteria are how you counteract the drift. They make your values operational, so that when ten proposals land on your desk, the option for the poor actually tips the scale.

Step 1: Decide how much weight to give it

Before writing criteria, decide what role the option for the poor plays in your overall giving. A few honest approaches:

• A dedicated share. For example, "At least 40% of our annual grants will go to organizations primarily serving people in poverty."

• A lens on everything. Every grant, whatever its area, is weighed partly on how it affects the poor.

• Both. A dedicated share and a lens across all grants.

Many families find the "both" approach clarifying. Even a gift to a parish can be weighed on whether it supports the parish's outreach to struggling families.

Step 2: Define who you mean by "the poor"

Vague criteria produce vague decisions. Get specific about who you are trying to serve. For example:

• Families earning below 200% of the federal poverty line in our county

• Children in under-resourced Catholic schools where most students receive tuition aid

• Women facing unplanned pregnancies without financial or family support

• Newcomers and refugees in our diocese

• The incarcerated and their families

• Communities in the developing world served by Catholic missions

You do not need to cover everyone. In fact, you should not try. Pick the people you feel called to serve and can serve well.

Step 3: Write criteria that reflect the principle

Here are sample criteria you can adapt. Not every one will fit your situation.

Reach

- What share of the people served are poor or vulnerable by our definition?

- Does the organization work where needs are greatest, or where it is easiest to operate?

Dignity

- Does the organization treat the people it serves as persons with gifts, not just needs?

- Are services delivered in a way that respects privacy, culture, and faith?

Participation and voice

- Are people with lived experience of poverty involved in leadership, design, or feedback?

- Does the organization ask the people it serves what they need, and act on it?

Lasting change

- Does the work help people move toward stability, not just through the next crisis? (Both kinds of help matter. Emergency relief is a real work of mercy.)

- Does it strengthen families and local community, in keeping with subsidiarity?

Accompaniment - Does the organization stay with people over time, or is it purely transactional?

Proximity - Is the organization rooted in the community it serves? Are its staff and leaders known there?

Step 4: Adjust how you give, not just what you fund

The option for the poor also shapes how you give. Organizations serving the poorest people are often the most financially fragile. Some practical commitments:

• Give unrestricted support where you trust the organization. It lets leaders respond to real needs.

• Make multi-year commitments. Stability matters most to those with the least margin.

• Keep applications and reports simple. Long applications favor organizations that can afford grant writers, which are rarely the most grassroots groups.

• Fund the people. Help organizations pay fair wages to frontline staff, who are often near poverty themselves.

• Accept that some outcomes are hard to measure. Accompanying the dying, the addicted, or the lonely does not always fit neat metrics.

Step 5: Check yourself honestly

Once a year, look back:

• What share of our giving reached people who are poor or vulnerable?

• Did our application process screen out small, grassroots groups?

• Did we hear directly from anyone served by our grantees?

• Where did we stay comfortable when we could have stretched?

It is not about guilt. It is about conversion, which is ongoing for all of us.

A sample criteria statement

Here is a short example a family foundation or DAF holder might adapt:

Rooted in Catholic social teaching, our family gives preference to organizations that serve people living in poverty or facing serious vulnerability. We look for partners who honor the dignity of every person, involve the people they serve in shaping the work, strengthen families and local communities, and accompany people over time. We prefer unrestricted, multi-year support, and we try to keep our process simple so that small, community-rooted organizations can apply.

That fits on an index card. It can guide a lot of decisions.

Pairing criteria with relationship

Criteria help you decide. They do not replace knowing people. The best Catholic funders combine clear principles with real relationships: visiting, listening, and letting the people they serve teach them.

If you are building your grant criteria, it helps to talk with others who have done it. In the Philanthropy community, members share their grant guidelines, compare how they have applied Catholic social teaching in practice, and hear directly from leaders serving on the margins. It is a good place to test your thinking. For the broader picture, see How to Align Your Donor-Advised Fund With Catholic Social Teaching, and for putting criteria into practice, Small Catholic Family Foundation Governance.