Follow-up Letters to Go Out Soon in Annual Campaign to Fund Diocese-wide Services
30 Parishes Reach Stewardship Goal

By Amanda Hudson, News editor

DIOCESE—Thirty parishes of the Diocese of Rockford have reached their Diocesan Stewardship Appeal goal this year.

Pledge weekend for this annual collection for the administrative operations of the diocese was held May 2.

Each year at this time, the diocesan Office of Stewardship Development reports to the people of the diocese how the collection is going.

Besides the 30 parishes who have reached their goals, another 11 are at 90 percent or more of their goal, and 19 are at 80 percent or better.

Once a parish reaches its goal (which is set based on its ordinary parish income), additional pledges received are routed right back to the parish.

“I’m very happy about this (good showing) because we are moving into the follow-up phase of the campaign,” says David Hougan, director of the Office of Stewardship Development. “Our overall goal this year is $6.3 million, and we are at 83 percent of that with total pledges of $5,316,466.”

Follow-up letters are scheduled to be sent over the next couple of weeks. About 14,000 people who have had a history of giving to the collection but who have not pledged this year will receive personalized letters with a detachable coupon.

Those without a history of giving to this collection in the past three years will receive a standard pledge card.

The mailing and a late August telephone follow-up are “not meant to be nagging, but an attempt to say that everyone’s participation matters to the health of the diocese,” Hougan says. “It’s also meant to communicate how the donations do a lot of good and to ask why should the diocese rely on just a few to carry the load for everyone else? Participation is critical.”

Even in this time of recession, certain parishes in the seven deaneries of the diocese are shining examples of generosity and of improved numbers of donors. Hougan notes a few examples of parishes that remain steadfast or that have improved this year.

For example, St. Mary Parish in Aurora is at 120 percent of its goal, Hougan says. “The people there are learning and growing in understanding the system of planning and pledging,” he says.

An even more dramatic leap is found at Sacred Heart Parish in Aurora. Last year at this time, 25 people from the parish had pledged support. This year, 329 people have done so, pledging $64,542, which is leaps and bounds over last year’s $2,200 of pledges to this point. Hougan sees that change as “just stupendous.”

A bit farther north, in the Elgin Deanery, St. John Neumann Parish in St. Charles experimented a bit this year, linking the final portion of its building debt to the returns it hopes to received from the Diocesan Stewardship Campaign. Once it meets its diocesan goal, all additional pledges will go toward the parish debt. They are $30,000 ahead of last year’s pledges to this point, Hougan says, and the average gift went up 26 percent.

A few parishes are communicating a similar scenario to their parishioners, he says. “The parishes looked at the numbers and figured out that if this-many people give this-amount, they can pay off a debt (or pay for a needed project) and meet their stewardship goal. And they won’t have to do all the extra work of a special collection for their debt or a special parish project.”

Returning to the collection’s summary to date, Hougan points to St. Patrick Parish in Hartland (McHenry Deanery) as a parish that is “always strong, and this year is no different. They’re hard working, very committed people, and it’s time to affirm them.”

Hougan names a number of other parishes in other deaneries that show similar commitment, including St. Catherine’s in Genoa, Christ the Teacher in DeKalb, and parishioners in both Maple Park and Elburn, as well as Durand and Irish Grove.

“St. Bernadette (Rockford) is another bedrock in spite of its smaller, aging population,” Hougan adds. “And they don’t have a powder-puff goal.”

Hougan is excited about the response this year from a few “far-flung” parishes in Lena, Warren, Apple River and Scales Mounds who, he says, are “newly seeing their connections with the diocese.”

Looking at the Sterling Deanery, Hougan notes that West Brooklyn parishioners are over their goal, and that those in Sublette are close, with 20 more donors to date than last year. He talks a bit about benefits from gifts of grain, cattle and other commodities. “The market price that day is the value of the gift,” he says.

“There are all kinds of parishes that make their diocesan stewardship goal in any given year,” Hougan says. “Some are small, some large, some have schools and others don’t.

“Our focus is to move people closer to the one-percent sacrificial gift,” he says, explaining the overall 10-percent stewardship model as five-percent to one’s parish, one-percent to the diocese and four-percent to other charities. “If just 33 percent of the diocese gave that one-percent of income, the annual appeal would raise $22 million. And all the extra would go back to special parish projects,” he says.

“That’s our goal. That’s our hope.”

For more information about stewardship, the annual appeal or planned giving, see www.stewardshiprockford.org, or call the Office of Stewardship Development at 815/399-4300.

Follow-up Letters to Go Out Soon in Annual Campaign to Fund Diocese-wide Services
30 Parishes Reach Stewardship Goal

By Amanda Hudson, News editor

DIOCESE—Thirty parishes of the Diocese of Rockford have reached their Diocesan Stewardship Appeal goal this year.

Pledge weekend for this annual collection for the administrative operations of the diocese was held May 2.

Each year at this time, the diocesan Office of Stewardship Development reports to the people of the diocese how the collection is going.

Besides the 30 parishes who have reached their goals, another 11 are at 90 percent or more of their goal, and 19 are at 80 percent or better.

Once a parish reaches its goal (which is set based on its ordinary parish income), additional pledges received are routed right back to the parish.

“I’m very happy about this (good showing) because we are moving into the follow-up phase of the campaign,” says David Hougan, director of the Office of Stewardship Development. “Our overall goal this year is $6.3 million, and we are at 83 percent of that with total pledges of $5,316,466.”

Follow-up letters are scheduled to be sent over the next couple of weeks. About 14,000 people who have had a history of giving to the collection but who have not pledged this year will receive personalized letters with a detachable coupon.

Those without a history of giving to this collection in the past three years will receive a standard pledge card.

The mailing and a late August telephone follow-up are “not meant to be nagging, but an attempt to say that everyone’s participation matters to the health of the diocese,” Hougan says. “It’s also meant to communicate how the donations do a lot of good and to ask why should the diocese rely on just a few to carry the load for everyone else? Participation is critical.”

Even in this time of recession, certain parishes in the seven deaneries of the diocese are shining examples of generosity and of improved numbers of donors. Hougan notes a few examples of parishes that remain steadfast or that have improved this year.

For example, St. Mary Parish in Aurora is at 120 percent of its goal, Hougan says. “The people there are learning and growing in understanding the system of planning and pledging,” he says.

An even more dramatic leap is found at Sacred Heart Parish in Aurora. Last year at this time, 25 people from the parish had pledged support. This year, 329 people have done so, pledging $64,542, which is leaps and bounds over last year’s $2,200 of pledges to this point. Hougan sees that change as “just stupendous.”

A bit farther north, in the Elgin Deanery, St. John Neumann Parish in St. Charles experimented a bit this year, linking the final portion of its building debt to the returns it hopes to received from the Diocesan Stewardship Campaign. Once it meets its diocesan goal, all additional pledges will go toward the parish debt. They are $30,000 ahead of last year’s pledges to this point, Hougan says, and the average gift went up 26 percent.

A few parishes are communicating a similar scenario to their parishioners, he says. “The parishes looked at the numbers and figured out that if this-many people give this-amount, they can pay off a debt (or pay for a needed project) and meet their stewardship goal. And they won’t have to do all the extra work of a special collection for their debt or a special parish project.”

Returning to the collection’s summary to date, Hougan points to St. Patrick Parish in Hartland (McHenry Deanery) as a parish that is “always strong, and this year is no different. They’re hard working, very committed people, and it’s time to affirm them.”

Hougan names a number of other parishes in other deaneries that show similar commitment, including St. Catherine’s in Genoa, Christ the Teacher in DeKalb, and parishioners in both Maple Park and Elburn, as well as Durand and Irish Grove.

“St. Bernadette (Rockford) is another bedrock in spite of its smaller, aging population,” Hougan adds. “And they don’t have a powder-puff goal.”

Hougan is excited about the response this year from a few “far-flung” parishes in Lena, Warren, Apple River and Scales Mounds who, he says, are “newly seeing their connections with the diocese.”

Looking at the Sterling Deanery, Hougan notes that West Brooklyn parishioners are over their goal, and that those in Sublette are close, with 20 more donors to date than last year. He talks a bit about benefits from gifts of grain, cattle and other commodities. “The market price that day is the value of the gift,” he says.

“There are all kinds of parishes that make their diocesan stewardship goal in any given year,” Hougan says. “Some are small, some large, some have schools and others don’t.

“Our focus is to move people closer to the one-percent sacrificial gift,” he says, explaining the overall 10-percent stewardship model as five-percent to one’s parish, one-percent to the diocese and four-percent to other charities. “If just 33 percent of the diocese gave that one-percent of income, the annual appeal would raise $22 million. And all the extra would go back to special parish projects,” he says.

“That’s our goal. That’s our hope.”

For more information about stewardship, the annual appeal or planned giving, see www.stewardshiprockford.org, or call the Office of Stewardship Development at 815/399-4300.