Rob and Jodi Heinzen remember exactly when giving became an intrinsic part of their family life.
Jodi had just left her teaching job to stay home with their young children full time, and she and Rob had recently purchased a home. Then one morning at Mass, another young couple shared a testimonial about tithing. Rob and Jodi were making good strides as a family, but they knew they were called to do more.
They made the decision to entrust their finances to God — assured that he would provide for them always.
Decades later in 2020, Rob and Jodi established the Heinzen Family Foundation Fund at CCF. Their example inspired two of their children to start their own donor advised funds with CCF, extending their legacy of philanthropy to the next generation.
Giving Time and Treasure
Throughout their lives, Rob and Jodi’s own parents modeled the importance of giving both time and treasure. Rob and Jodi followed suit with their six children, who now range in age from 20 to 37, involving them in tithing and volunteering along the way.
“The kids knew giving back was part of who we were. It wasn’t a special thing — it was just part of our life,” Rob says.
Vacation bible school was a natural place for the Heinzen children to share their time and talents. After seventh grade, they transitioned from participants to volunteers, working alongside Jodi in service to others. Rob volunteered annually with Habitat for Humanity, and the children joined him on the job sites as teens.
Now adults, the Heinzen children continue the tradition of giving to others. In fact, you’ll find them serving meals as a family on Thanksgiving Day at Higher Ground Saint Paul Shelter.
Aligning Finances, Family, and Faith
Rob spent his career managing retirement and pension plans for a large financial services firm, and discovered the donor advised fund model while researching giving tools. Not long after, he learned about CCF’s role as a steward and partner in philanthropy from the family’s parish, St. Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi. He liked how CCF would simplify their family giving and provide oversight to ensure that grants from their donor advised fund would align with their Catholic values.
Around the same time, Rob and Jodi’s son Luke was doing his own research on donor advised funds. The father and son compared notes on a phone call and came to the same conclusion: CCF’s donor advised fund option was the right choice for each family’s finances, philanthropy, and faith. Soon after, Luke’s brother Ethan followed and opened his own fund.
Members of St. Odilia in Shoreview, Luke and his wife, Rachel, are both engineers. “We have been blessed with talents and treasures,” says Luke. “We want to share the gifts we’ve been given with not just the corporate world, but with the people who need it most.
The generosity of the Heinzen family sows seeds in countless ways. To date, Rob and Jodi have made 60 grants in support of causes ranging from social justice to education and the local Church.
Luke and Rachel direct their gifts toward similar efforts. As parents to a three-year-old and a one-year-old, they also aim to support Catholic education and environmental causes.
For the entire family, it’s about making the world a better place while instilling that same spirit of generosity in the next generation. “We’re just getting started!” Luke says.