Catholic lay women organized the Association with chapters in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, St. Louis, and other major U.S. cities. Brouillet served as its director-treasurer and Ellen Ewing Sherman served as its principal organizer and fundraiser. Through its "Catholic Indian Mission Fund", it raised $48,700 in donations and bequests for the Catholic Bureau and reservation-based Catholic missions and schools. $6,000 was the most raised in a single year and it ceased when the Catholic Bureau succeeded in acquiring government contracts for the Catholic schools.