Catholic Answers, Inc.
To Explain and Defend the Faith
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
For decades, the Catholic Church has suffered due to the poor educational development ("catechesis") of its members in the tenets of the Catholic Faith. This has led to great misunderstandings of what the Church actually teaches -- both inside and outside the Church -- causing many members to leave and many outside the Catholic Church to criticize it and its members for things the Church does not actually believe and teach. Catholic Answers, from its humble beginnings, has had as its core mission to explain and defend the Faith to Catholics and non-Catholics.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Catholic Answers Live! Radio
The top-rated show in Catholic radio, Catholic Answers Live! broadcasts live worldwide every weekday from 6-8pm Eastern (3-5pm Pacific) on the Internet and Catholic radio outlets across the US, including the EWTN radio network. Host Cy Kellett and a co-host, from the Catholic Answers studio in San Diego, Calif., answer live call-in questions from listeners during the two-hour show.
Catholic Answers Magazine
Our magazine is the leading magazine of its genre. What is more, it defies the current trend in print publications in that its circulation is actually growing. This year, we established a program by which the magazine is made available at no cost to Seminarians across the country and in Rome upon request. Already 400 seminarians are participating, and we expect the number to grow.
Catholic Answers Seminars/Speakers’ Bureau
Our speakers’ bureau sends some of the top speakers in Catholic evangelization and apologetics all over the world to schools, parishes, and large conferences attended by tens of thousands. Director of apologetics Tim Staples, Trent Horn and Karlo Broussard comprise our traveling speakers team, while senior apologist Jimmy Akin appears regularly on our top-rated radio show and records audio and video content for distribution by the apostolate.
One-On-One Counsel/Q&A
Our staff apologists answer thousands of questions each year by phone, e-mail and over the Internet, helping people at stages of their spiritual journey. We offer this service for free, and it provides valuable help to countless individuals.
Catholic Answers Press
Each year, Catholic Answers Press, our publishing house, increases its output of books, CDs, DVDs, and pamphlets that address topics ranging from apologetics to comparative religion to scripture study to education of Catholics and non-Catholics on the social justice teachings of the Church. We continue to expand our line of short books, the “Twenty Answers” series. These pamphlets are excellent introductions to what the Church has to teach about current issues of the day: Marriage, Life, End of Life, Atheism, the Church and Science, Prayer, etc. Our product production choices are made in light of spreading the orthodox Catholic Faith and generating revenue for the apostolate. Catholic Answers Press products are promoted by our marketing department to Catholic bookstores, parishes, and schools by our full-time marketing team.
Catholic Answers National Conference
Held annually in the San Diego area, the Catholic Answers national conference provides a three-day forum during which attendees can hear presentations on issues at the intersection of Faith, culture, and political life, and be inspired and trained to take their Faith into the public square. The 2019 conference drew more than 900 attendees.
Catholic.com Website
Our largest outreach is our website which sees over 4 million page views per month. Including the largest Catholic forum on the web, our site hosts thousands of articles, video and other resources.
Catholic Answers Studios
Video is one of the most popular ways to reach people today, and Catholic Answers is producing more video content than ever including the online Catholic Answers School of Apologetics. Our video content is distributed in DVD form as well as streaming on our website Catholic.com, YouTube, Facebook Live, and the Formed platform. We also offer video product that can be downloaded digitally.
Where we work
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of products distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Christians
Related Program
Catholic Answers Press
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Catholic Answers produces and distributes print, audio and video products for sale on the Catholic Answers online shop and at conferences. (Amounts listed are total $ amount of sales per year).
Number of adult learners enrolled
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Christians
Related Program
Catholic Answers Studios
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The online Catholic Answers School of Apologetics was founded in 2019 to educate adult Catholics on how to defend their Catholic Faith.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
We strive to be faithful servants to God and his Church. To accomplish this, our focus is to:
- Continue to seek improvements and efficiencies in our existing operations
- Develop new campaigns to address important topical issues as they arise
- Help good Catholics become better Catholics
- Help bring non-practicing Catholics "home"
- Help lead non-Catholics into the fullness of the truth through the Catholic faith
- Continue as good stewards to the financial resources entrusted to us by our supporters.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
First, we teach those inside the Church to understand their Faith more completely, equipping them to evangelize others and defend the Catholic faith on their own.
Second, we provide access to in-house lay Church experts ("apologists") as resources to answer questions and give presentations that explain Church teachings, both virtually and in-person. We also facilitate access to Church experts, lay and religious, who are outside our organization.
Third, we attempt to place ourselves in positions in the public square that allow us to directly evangelize people outside the Church, allowing "seekers" to enter into discussion with us as they look for truth in today's world. This takes place through a variety of media, particularly our top-rated Q&A radio show Catholic Answers Live and our website, Catholic.com.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Catholic Answers revenue comes from product sales, magazine subscriptions, events and special projects, speaker honoraria, and donations to the apostolate.
Below is an approximate breakdown of revenue by source in FY 2020-21:
Product sales: 1.4 million
Magazine subscriptions: .44 million
Speaker Honoraria .16 million
Radio Fundraising: .92 million
Website Fundraising: .21 million
General Fundraising: 4.2 million
Events and special projects: .23 million
Our speakers' bureau sends some of the top speakers in Catholic evangelization and apologetics all over the world to schools, parishes, and large conferences attended by tens of thousands.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In the coming years, Catholic Answers intends to maintain and expand all of the programs and projects described above. A few of our immediate projects for expansion concern online programming, as detailed below.
CATHOLIC ANSWERS PODCAST NETWORK
Catholic Answers has developed and begun to implement a plan to affiliate with and support a select group of budding Catholic apologists that can benefit from an association with the Catholic Answers brand. As part of this effort, which includes three such affiliations as of February 2022, the benefit to Catholic Answers is the creation of a "farm team" of future full-time CA apologists, expansion of the reach of the Catholic Answers brand, and an increase in distribution of our multi-media apologetics and evangelization content.
CATHOLIC ANSWERS PODCAST/WEBINAR STUDIO
In support of the above podcast network initiative, and response the increase in demand for Catholic Answers webinars and other virtual interactions, we are in the design stage of a new studio that will stand alongside our state-of-the-art radio studio. Fundraising is in progress now to build out the studio structure in the existing CA headquarters and purchase the necessary equipment to make it a reality.
OUR NEW & IMPROVED MOBILE APP
To remain in the forefront of Catholic media, Catholic Answers developed an updated Catholic Answers Live mobile app for the Android and iOS platforms in 2021. This allows people to stream our programming, which also includes the Catholic Answers Focus and Counsel of Trent podcasts, in a fresh, updated online environment that competes with the best of the secular streaming services with which many of our listeners are familiar. The app will continue to be updated as necessary with the consultation of the original design team and internal stakeholders.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
-
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
-
What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Catholic Answers, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 06/28/2023
Mr. Anthony Jace
Crisis Prevention Institute
Term: 2017 - 2023
Mr. Charlie Echeverry
Black//Brown Collective
Term: 2017 - 2023
Christoper Check
Catholic Answers
Charlie Echeverry
Black//Brown Collective
Tony Jace
Crisis Prevention Institute, Inc.
Denise Incorvia
UCHealth Longmont Clinic
Sylvia Trumble
Kelsey-Seybold Clinic
Thomas Carney
Weitz Investment Management
Lisa Fischer
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 07/29/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.