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When I started in parish planned giving in 1981, we were running, in effect, the “Wells’” program of the 1950’s: parish dinner, hostess teams, visiting teams, sight lifting, every-person visiting and pledging in the home. I have seen programs change as volunteers diminish in numbers. Today we have in-pew pledging, very little visiting and the very suggestion of a parish dinner provokes outcry and condemnation!

Some changes are to the good, but I think that we have also lost some good fundraising practices.

I sometimes think it strange that when I am directing a capital appeal, I insist on visiting teams and face to face solicitation. Yet when I run a parish program, we usually pledge during Mass. We have fallen into the trap of seeing “church people” as different to “real people”! Yet they are both the same and I have run a capital appeal and a parish program in the same town with differing approaches.

One approach that struck me at a USA Catholic Development Conference, was the Diocesan Program followed by a number of Dioceses. The Diocese actually ran an appeal each year using parish resources. They even pledge over six months.

And, they go to non-Church businesses for donations to fund "universal" programs in welfare and the like.

Two figures that struck me recently: the Diocese of Providence found that single gifts to their appeal averaged $29.02 (in 1990) while pledged gifts averaged $104.48; and, an article in Fundraising Management suggests that a direct mail gift that brings in $1.00 becomes $12.00 in a phone campaign and $50.00 in face to face asking. There has to be a message or two there.

My current thinking is that we need to get back to basics. The Church is hard to change and we have all sorts of hang-ups when talking about money. I think that we should be more aggressive in looking at:

Analysing why we need the money – what is the case for support
Looking at who could give to what cause – we glibly say that the Church needs money; we should be able to list the areas that we now support and the areas of opportunity and the costs and then target potential donors
Having joint fundraising programs across parishes, deanery, diocese – if this means joint financial programs; good!

I can recall the days when a country PP ran the parish from a little black book in his pocket. Our parishioners are no longer docile followers in awe: they will give more readily when they have a share in the shaping of the Church vision and a say in expenditure and a responsibility for results.
Having a “marketing department” or Committee responsible for bringing together all of the parish/diocese needs and visions and marketing them properly as services in need of funding. This mirrors fundraising in major institutions where the best fundraising is when the Development Office is involved in planning and budget setting and not just given a short-fall to find.
Looking outside the “family’ for donors particularly for those services that are not limited by religion but underpinned by Christian charity and social responsibility
Developing continuing fundraising programs interwoven into the life of the Church so that we no longer beg for support every three of so years but teach philanthropy, charity and responsibility as part of our pastoral program
Seeing fundraising in the Church as at least an equal partner with accounting – we spend too much time with ‘bean counters’ and not enough time sowing and harvesting the beans!

Professional fundraising in Australia grew out of church fundraising. We now need to bring the professional fundraising back to the church. Our difficulties are in the nature of the institution, but, as we are now thinking the unthinkable of years ago – priestless parishes; grouped parishes; lay leadership et al – we may be ready to bring ‘new’ fundraising ideas into the Church.