Here's Monsignor Sullivan's remarks on the enhanced offertory campaign announced this week by Bishop McManus.
As was announced to you in Bishop McManus’ second letter of invitation, the original purpose of today’s meeting was simply to report on the fiscal challenges that we have just reviewed. But that changed and so now we move to the second part of our agenda.
Over the past few months, as we prepared for this meeting, we have simultaneously been discussing the need to find ways for parishes to increase their income so that they can better meet their obligations at the local and diocesan levels, and/or expand ministry in the parishes. Our parishes clearly need to increase their revenue.
Early last spring, some of us began to consider the possibility of an all-diocesan increased offertory campaign to be undertaken by each parish in 2010. Its important to say that an all-diocesan increased offertory campaign is not a capital campaign, where you seek funds to make improvements to the property, or seek funds for new buildings, or to establish endowments, and where substantive donations are requested from individuals, often over a period of years.
The idea for such an increased offertory campaign was first discussed by our Deans at the Presbyteral Council meeting last May and the initial discussion was intriguing and largely favorable. Most of the Deans then had discussions with the priests in their deaneries in the later spring or early fall. Again, for the most part, the discussions were positive.
The Presbyteral Council discussed it a second time three weeks ago, when I offered a more complete description of what it might look like and how it might work, and again the response was favorable. One expressed concern was relative to what company would be chosen to serve as fundraising counsel since we don’t have the necessary staff to conduct it ourselves.
From what we have learned from the Deans, who represent a dozen or so priests in their respective deaneries, it would appear that the priests of the Diocese stand ready to go forward with this undertaking and so I want to explain how something like this would conceivably work.
While an increased offertory campaign is not by any means a panacea or a total solution, by any means, to the complex issues that we have reviewed today, it does represent a serious step in the right direction. Its purpose is to enable parishes to more adequately meet their financial obligations as well as perhaps expand ministry within our parishes.
At this point, I want to insert a parenthesis. Mike Gillespie, my colleague and our Diocesan Director of Stewardship, without whom the Diocese could not nearly have been so effective in Partners in Charity this past year, has knocked himself out for the past couple of years, doing stewardship education programs in scores of parishes, speaking at all the weekend Masses in too many parishes for me to remember, and meeting with parish or finance councils. But with all his efforts, realistically, only a few parishes have taken steps in the direction of beginning a wholistic stewardship approach.
Engaging an overall stewardship approach, which is something we must continue to work at, and should do as a Diocese in the future, would seek to increase the time that parishioners offer to their parishes, would call upon the vast array of God-given talents that parishioners can share with others – and would also ask and receive a larger share of parishioners’ “treasure.”
While few have elected to step into the ‘universe of stewardship,’ just about everyone can relate to the need to increase revenue.Hence, dealing with the more immediate issues and needs we’ve discussed earlier, we’ve studied and we propose an increased-offertory approach at this time, but it can and should certainly rest on stewardship principles.
An increased offertory campaign is a ‘softer approach’ than a capital campaign. It calls upon everyone in the parish to increase their offertory, as they are able. It does not seek large gifts from a few individuals.
It’s also an approach known to be successful, throughout the nation, where it is undertaken in a serious manner at the parish level.
In the past few months we have sought the advice of outside fundraising counsel as to how to proceed. While there are any number of companies which have a history of successfully conducting these campaigns in individual parishes, there are only a couple known to conduct campaigns for a whole diocese at one time.
We reviewed the approach of a number of companies and conducted a couple of interviews and had some telephone conversations, and that having been done would like to engage Community Counseling Service as fundraising counsel for the Diocese. This is the same company that conducted the Forward-in-Faith campaign in 1999. CCS would do the legwork in working with the parishes.
We would begin by immediately organizing a Diocesan Steering Committee comprised of Pastors and Lay Leaders. Generally, they would meet once a month, from now through the conclusion of the campaign a year from December.
Under the guidance given, each parish would form its own committee and the role of the pastor is indispensable. The pastor must provide the leadership necessary for a success.
Each parish would determine what it will do with the increased revenue. For some, it would be to rid themselves of debt. Where there is no debt, it might mean hiring additional staff or expanding ministry. For others, it could mean making capital improvements at the parish. For others, it could mean increased saving or starting an endowment.
In the beginning, each parish assesses the integrity of its electronic data for its parishioners. Are the parish records up to date? Is the software used adequate to the task of conducting this campaign or better communicating with out parishioners? Do we need to improve our software at this time or move to a software package that better addresses the needs of a parish or a Diocese, something like ParishSoft for example? That would be addressed locally. But there is no question that adequate software at the parish is needed.
In the next two-and-half months, fundraising counsel would conduct a meeting with each pastor and the parish leadership team. Their needs, their software, their goals would be discussed.
Common brochures and materials would be designed for use throughout the Diocese but on each brochure one of the panels would reflect the needs and goals of that specific parish, and that brochure would only be used with the parishioners of that parish.
A common DVD or video would likely be produced and used in parishes throughout the Diocese.
Generally, when a campaign like this is conducted, you can expect that revenues will increase from between a low of 15% to a high of 25% to 30%. It is not unheard of, however, and I’ve seen some of the results from other dioceses, where individual parishes, in some instances, could see results as high as 50%, but those cases are rarer and that happens where the motivation levels are extraordinary.
Normally, we could project increased revenue in the range of 25%, sustained over a five-year period, because you renew the program each year, and you’re taught how to do that, which is something you do at the parish level in 2011 and beyond.
Results will vary from parish to parish. Leadership and the leadership team will make the difference. Generally, like politics, increased offertory results are “all local.”
The formal campaign would begin in January and February of 2010 with some ‘pilot parishes,’ a dozen or so parishes, which become the ‘models’ for others and provide enthusiasm and confidence for the Diocese. Thus, they are carefully chosen. In the ‘pilots,’ generally, you have a mix of urban, suburban and rural parishes; a mix of affluent, middle-income, and inner-city parishes.
The pilot parishes would be selected by the Diocesan Steering Committee, working in dialogue with the fundraising counsel. The pilot parishes would complete their campaign prior to the onset of the Annual Partners in Charity Appeal because you’d never conduct two campaigns at the same time.
We would measure the progress of the ‘pilots’ and plan for the general campaign which would take place next fall in all the remaining parishes of the Diocese. There would likely be 3 ‘flights,’ 3 successive waves of parishes conducting the campaign, and there would be some overlapping so that as some are finishing up, others are beginning.
Generally, how is the campaign conducted? At the heart of it are parish-tailored and parishioner-personalized mailings which are sent to the parishioners by the parish leadership team. Usually, 7 letters are sent to active families in the parish and 3 to inactive families. This is done over a period of weeks or couple of months. The crafting of the letters is guided by the fundraising counsel.
At the height of the campaign, a lay leader at the parish speaks to the parishioners at all the Masses on a given weekend. The pastor speaks to the people the following weekend. The parishioners are encouraged, in that way, to increase their offerings and are told why this is necessary and what the increased revenue will provide. Their emphasis is positive, not desperate. The people complete commitment cards that are provided and begin to make their increased donations. All that information stays at the parish. It is not shared with the Diocese.
In studying this campaign, we have also requested, and we hope every parish would elect to attempt this, electronic transfer of funds. This is where parishioners, having pledged a certain amount of dollars per week or month or quarter, automatically have it deducted from their bank account. It is automatically transferred to the parish account.
All of us realize that most parishioners do not “make up their envelopes,” after snowstorms, winter flight to Florida, summer vacations, or periods when they are away from the parish. Electronic Transfer of Funds, ETF, provides income when individual parishioners are away, for whatever reason. Certainly not everyone chooses to do this, but those who do make a great difference, and it will grow in the future because so many of the young meet their obligations this way.
And, that’s basically how it works. Parishes thank and continue to thank their donors. Throughout the year and into the future, they report on how the increased revenue is being used because the need for accountability and reporting is vital. They renew the pledging on an annual basis.
To conduct a campaign like this costs money. I’d like to break-out the costs as we have studied them and talk about a possible ‘formula’ for absorbing the costs. Ultimately, this would be established by the Diocesan Steering Committee in dialogue with Bishop McManus.
We know that the projected overall diocesan-level costs will be $866,500. This will provide for the management of the campaign, and all the guidance provided by the onsite parish counselors for about 15 months. It includes the costs of the brochures, manuals and commitment cards to be used, as well as the miscellaneous office supplies, travel, and meetings at the diocesan level.
The Diocese stands ready to absorb two-thirds of the cost of providing the fundraising counsel and the production of materials. That’s about $572,000.
Recall that I spoke earlier of a portion of our investments called the Diocesan Management Fund, about $6.9 million that we have invested, and the only ‘unreserved monies’ that remain. That is where we would take it from.
This two-thirds would be understood as our own kind of ‘stimulus package’ for the parishes.
The remaining 1/3, or about $286,000, would be absorbed by the 117 parishes and 4 missions in the Diocese collectively. There would be designed a fair-share formula so that all the parishes would be on a level-playing field. One ‘model’ we’ve explored, for example, might be that each parish would contribute 1% of its gross annual offertory. So, if a parish’s income for the year is $85,000 and there are some that small, that parish would pay $850. If a parish’s annual income were $500,000, it would pay $5,000. Something like that could be considered.
There would be additional costs to the parishes, and these are primarily associated with mailings. The parishes would pay for their own stationery to be used for the mailings, just the regular stationery that they now use. The parishes would also pay for the postage for the mailings. The general rule of thumb is that this cost will average between $4 to $5 for every family in the parish. The postage expense could be a little higher in the case of those parishes using 44-cent postage stamps or metered mail, or a little lower for those parishes using a non- profit stamp that looks like a real stamp but isn’t, and which flies for 23 cents rather than 44 cents.
The parish costs expended – the diocesan portion and the local mailings/postage expense – are generally completely paid for by the results of the increased revenue in the first few weeks of the campaign. Obviously, that depends on the success in each parish. After that, everything else “is gravy,” if I may be so bold.
At this time, we’d like to pass out another sheet, which illustrates the costs I’ve just described and how these costs would be completely paid for in the first few weeks of the campaign.
I think that you can see that if parish income is increased between 15% to 25%, there will be an obvious benefit to the parishes.
We also hope there would be a substantive benefit to the Diocese. We hope that parishes would begin to significantly reduce their indebtedness where there is debt, both to the Central Administration and to the DEF because, as you recognize perhaps now more than ever before, we must do so. That would be the greatest ‘pay- back,’ for lack of a better word, to the Diocese.
The Diocese would also hope to recoup some of its outlay of funds for this project through an increase in the overall Cathedraticum we could project.
If the parishes increased their revenues that would mean the Cathedraticum would increase. For every dollar raised by the parishes the Cathedraticum would increase by 71⁄2 cents. If the average of all parishes increased by 20%, which is very realistic, the Cathedraticum would grow by $450,000 a year. If the general increased revenues in the parishes grew by 25% the Cathedraticum would grow by $562,500. That would be very positive for us.
But the greatest benefit will be to the parishes collectively, who could see their collective revenue increase by $6 million to $7.5 million in the first year alone.
In one Diocese, the Diocese of Buffalo, bigger than our own, where an all-diocesan increased offertory drive took place, the result was 30% parish revenue growth in the first year, and they sustained their growth at a level of 25% increase in the next 4 years. In a five-year period, the parishes in the Diocese generated new revenues of $75,000,000. Not to be overlooked, they got 20,000 volunteers doing more for their parishes.
So, it is our hope to begin immediately to conduct this campaign. I assure you that it is a much more passive approach than that of a diocesan capital campaign like Forward-in-Faith, though if we had not done Forward- in-Faith ten years ago, as should by this time be clear, no one could project how much worse we’d be off now.
This campaign will mean work, but nothing of the magnitude of Forward-in-Faith, with its more passive approach. Its an opportunity, at least in part, to renew our parishes. It will help us to correct our negative drifting of the last ten years.
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Parenthetically, I want to say that there is much to be done in the work of evangelization and reaching out to those we know and don’t know and getting them back involved in our churches.
That’s the real sleeping giant in all of this. Before we take any questions on this let me give this one, final anecdote. Recently, a survey on religious practice was conducted in a middle-class neighborhood of the City of Worcester. Historically, religious practice had been strong in that part of the City...but clearly growing weaker in recent years.
In that section of the City, 43% of the people now identified themselves as “completely unchurched.”
When asked if they had any interest in belonging to a church, the results demonstrated that it was a very low priority for those 43%.
In that area, where the local Catholic parish had been losing about ten families a year, thus more than a hundred families in the past ten years, the experiences of the local Protestant churches were probably even worse. The three remaining Protestant parishes in the neighborhood have total Sunday congregations of 55 members, 53 members and 51 members.
For those of us who live in the City, we know the story of Temple Emmanuel, which is really struggling for survival. Not so many years ago, in size, it was one of the top 25 Jewish congregations in the United States. Now they’re struggling to hang on to their building and probably can only do so because they have rented out parts of it to other religious groups.
So, the challenges of a changing culture affect everyone and we need to do much more with evangelization.
