Recent Memo to our Clients

Thoughts on the Economy and your Appeal

 We are recommending that all clients move forward with their campaigns or offertory appeals as planned.

 While the state of the economy and the stock market and the bailout package are uncertain, there is no assurance that in the coming weeks that the situation will improve, grow worse or even become clearer.

 Panic creates its own momentum and stopping all fundraising sends a signal that the situation is terrible and thus leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy as people respond to that signal.

 All offertory enhancement appeals derive success from hundreds of families making personal and individual decisions to make moderate increases in their weekly/monthly giving. While a weakened or uncertain economy makes this decision more difficult, a $5, $10, $20 or even a $50 per week increase in giving is not as significant a commitment as a multi -year, multi-thousand dollar commitment for large purchases such as homes and automobiles.

 Families are asked to do the best they can. The church certainly understands that circumstances may change requiring an adjustment to that commitment.

 Keep in mind that the average Catholic family contributes just over one percent of his/her income to the church; so there is, for most parishioners, some room to adjust their giving without undue stress to their household budgets.

 Be forthright in all pulpit talks. We strongly urge you to acknowledge that you understand the market and the economy are in a period of uncertainty and that you also understand the rising price of fuel and health care is hurting many families. Mention that you would not be conducting the appeal if the parish needs were not significant.

 Encourage families that “CAN” to increase and those that cannot to just respond by saying they are doing as much as they can considering present economic pressures. There are enough families in your parish that “CAN” make a modest
increase in giving without undue financial hardship to make your appeal a success.

 Mention that the appeal is not designed to pressure or judge people who are unable or who simply are uncomfortable increasing at the present time. The appeal is designed to help the parish; to keep the parish on a solid financial footing. It is not meant to make the lives of the people it serves more difficult.

 We urge you not to apologize for asking. Appeals do not succeed when the organization makes an awkward apology for asking. Your parish made the decision to move forward with an offertory appeal because you analyzed your present finances and concluded that to be a good Steward of your parish increased funding was essential.

 Apologizing about the need to fund the mission of your church, even in difficult times, is not required and will only hurt your appeal without providing much comfort or understanding to the donors who may be struggling financially.

 It is important to note that in troubled economic times, the demand for pastoral resources increases. Ministries that distribute food and goods will need greater resources not fewer and increased budgetary flexibility will enable the parish to expand its counseling and support structure.

 There is a tendency in these times to wait for the “ideal” moment or time to proceed. Identifying such a time is an illusory thought. No one can accurately predict what economies or markets will do. Prudent stewardship is the answer at all times and in all economic markets. Most of the churches and schools we attended growing up were built by people with far fewer resources in considerably more desperate economic times.

 Please call your local director if you have any additional questions or concerns. Please do not hesitate to call me directly at 800-842-4488 if I can be of further assistance.

An unexpected source of inspiration...

Sitting here struggling to craft a letter to 16,000 Catholic pastors in an effort to motivate them to conduct an offertory enhancement appeal this fall I have been assaulted by the incessant interruptions of the drudgereport.com updating the news about the country's financial crisis.

How do you raise money during uncertain economic times?
How do you instill a sense of optimism, boldness and leadership in pastors who spend their days assisting real people on real financial, family and personal crisis?

The answer? I am not sure! but I came upon this odd gem, I found it oddly uplifting, hopeful, I believe it says more than it says when you consider the source.

"No one has ever become poor by giving".
- Anne Frank

There are many ways to become poor and I think Wall Street and our government may even be inventing some new ones at the moment but giving, quite simply, isnt one of them!

Interestingly, I now know what I am going to say! Stay tuned.

Pax at bonum

Peace and all good (be with you)

Does a greeting get any better then that? I picked this up from my good friend and colleague Harry Colin over at his awesome blog http://solinusonstewardship.blogspot.com/

Good stuff and don't be shocked if I "borrow" this and make liberal use of it!

"Pax et bonum" is the traditional Franciscan welcome and goodbye. Francis himself favored its use, and often began and ended his sermons and letters with the words. Translated from the Latin, it reads "peace and all good [be with you]."

Update on The Cunneen Company

Business here at The Cunneen Company has been bristling! We are quite busy with the launch of our fall campaigns. Having just reviewed the calendar with Jim Cunneen, my brother and partner in this business, he informs me that we will be breaking the 100 Stewardship/Offertory appeal mark in a week or so. Of these 100 appeals fully a quarter of them will be promoting electronic giving.

In addition to this business we will be guiding almost two dozen capital campaigns in the coming months. These campaigns range from small renovation campaigns to major building efforts. We have over 70 clients currently utilizing the firm for Pledge Redemption.

Most of our clients are currently Catholic parishes and Catholic Dioceses but we have an interesting mix of secular non profits currently making their way through the RFP/sales process.

Being in business in 2008 is a challenge! I always grind my teeth when the economy is weak in a presidential election year-this happened in 2004. The party seeking to unseat the incumbents exploits and exaggerates every bit of bad news for political advantage (I don't blame them but it does begin to have an impact on the economy, and the donors who we seek to motivate on behalf of our clients). The economy isn't great but it isn't nearly as bad as the politicians or the media will have us believe.

On my list of interesting "to do's" in the coming months I have:

9/29 A speech on Stewardship to the Catholic Diocese of St. Cloud, MN.
10/7 A speech to CT. Assoc. of Non Profits on Annual Fundraising and Major Gifts.
10/11-10/14 International Catholic Stewardship Conference in Chicago.
11/13 A speech to the CT. Philanthropy Day sponsored by AFP on "The Ask"-major gifts.
11/14 Remarks at Hamden Hall's "thanks to major donors" event.

There are a million additional items on the list including another trip to the mid-west for a major presentation on a Diocesan-wide offertory enhancement appeal as well as trips locally supporting our sales team and maintaining relationships with our core Diocesan markets.

Just figured I would take a few moments to give the reader a peak into a day in the life of our awesome company!

CATHOLIC STEWARDSHIP!

An awesome post that expresses my views on Catholic Stewardship far better then I could ever do. Harry Colin our Vice President of Consulting and my most trusted resource on all things Catholic, Stewardship and a good bit of politics too!

Check it out below!

http://www.solinusonstewardship.blogspot.com/2008/09/dipping-into-countercultural-pool.html

Great stuff just great! If only I could get the Finance and Stewardship Committee's of 18,000 Catholic parishes to read it.