It takes a big shovel to fill an even deeper hole!

Approximately eighteen months ago, we were given the unique opportunity of conducting a diocesan-wide offertory enhancement appeal for the Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg, NY. Under the guidance of then Most Rev. Bishop Robert Cunningham (now Bishop of Syracuse) and with the careful attention of Vicar General Murphy and the Development office, we successfully raised the offertory by an average of 25% across their 113 parishes.

While I would love to spend the next several paragraphs expounding about the outstanding Cunneen process, that is not what this newsletter is about. We are proud of our work in Ogdensburg and they are very pleased with Cunneen. The purpose of this article is to challenge you, the reader, to think a bit bigger about parish and diocesan finance.

What impact would a 25% increase in giving have not just on the parishes in your diocese but on the entire diocese including all the programs and services funded through the Cathedraticum and diocesan assessment. A 25% increase in offertory at the parish level translates to a 25% increase in revenue derived from the Cathedraticum or assessment (without having to ask parishes for an even greater sacrifice).

Referencing the Diocese of Ogdensburg, they negotiated a 25% decrease from the regular fee and agreed to subsidize the remaining fee by one-third. This left the parishes with two-thirds of a greatly reduced fee. The diocese took it one step further and advanced this money to the parishes with the parishes reimbursing the diocese once their appeals were conducted. At that point, the new income was already flowing into the parish and the Cunneen guarantee met.

√ 100% of the parishes participated, and
√ 100% of the parishes realized a significant increase

Eighteen months later, pastors completed a survey and indicated that their increases were holding. The base was solidified, all parties benefited greatly, and the Church in Ogdensburg is stronger.

We, as a Church, as well as The Cunneen Company cannot keep trying to solve the same problems with the same solutions. We need to move beyond just fixing individual problems at individual parishes. Local solutions just aren’t big enough. If the will to conduct an appeal, diocesan-wide, does not exist, perhaps it does city-wide, deanery-wide or regionally. If the parishes who need it the most won’t or cannot conduct an appeal, perhaps the diocese can under- write the fee or subsidize its most needy parishes.

Cunneen remains ready to partner with your diocese, your parish, your deanery, or all of the parishes in your city on BIG solutions that solve BIG problems.