Parishioners pledge $72 million in history-making campaign

By Julie Sly
Herald editor

The Diocese of Sacramento has raised nearly $72 million in the most successful fund-raising campaign in its history, which will address some of the local church’s most pressing and future needs.

When the capital campaign, “Preserving Our Past, Building Our Future,” ends later this month, total donations may reach more than $73.5 million, far surpassing the $50 million goal set a year ago when the effort was launched.

Fund-raising organizers and diocesan officials say they are overwhelmed by the generosity of thousands of parishioners who pledged funds and volunteers who donated their time to help make the campaign a success.

In the past 11 months, more than 22,000 parishioners have pledged contributions over the next five years, according to Chad Bortle, executive director of the campaign. Bortle works for Community Counseling Services, the consulting firm hired to oversee the diocesan campaign, which has conducted similar successful campaigns in many U.S. dioceses.

Donations range from $50 to $500,000, with the average five-year pledge at more than $3,100, Bortle said. More than 4,000 parishioners have served as volunteers in the campaign, making personal visits or telephone calls to fellow parishioners to ask for their pledge. More than 30,000 parishioners were contacted to consider making a pledge.

The money from the campaign will go toward a variety of programs and projects, including restoration of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, endowments for Catholic education, lay formation and social services, renovation of diocesan schools and parishes, and support for priests’ retirement and retirement housing.

Bortle attributes the success of the campaign to “excellent leadership from pastors and thousands of lay people.”

Though it was a difficult time for the local church because of a national clergy sex-abuse scandal during the past several months, “people showed their loyalty, how much they love their faith,” Bortle said. “They asked others to really think about a sacrificial gift to the local church. And they were embraced by their fellow parishioners.”

Msgr. Robert Walton, vicar general of the diocese, who oversaw the campaign, echoed Bortle’s words.

“Our people were extremely generous, in a climate of some tough economic times for many, and during a time when some were calling the leadership of the church in this country to task,” he noted. “People were able to see beyond these issues to the significant needs of their local church and they were there to support them.”

Nearly all of the diocese’s 98 parishes surpassed their target fund-raising goals, Bortle said, with some exceeding their goals by as much as 290 percent. Each parish began with a target amount as a goal for pledges, based on a formula combining each church’s annual income and the number of registered parish households.

Each parish gets back 25 percent of all funds raised in the parish up to its target goal, and 50 percent of all funds thereafter for parish-specific needs and projects. Parishes with major capital (called combined) campaigns retain a larger portion of funds raised in that parish, after meeting their obligation to the diocese.

One parish, Holy Trinity in El Dorado Hills, raised nearly $4.7 million, the most ever by an individual church in the diocese.

More than $930,000 of those funds will go toward the diocesan campaign. The rest will be spent to build a new parish life center at Holy Trinity, including the first Catholic school in El Dorado Hills, scheduled to open next September.

Pat McClain, co-chairman of the parish’s effort, who also helped to recruit major gifts for the diocesan campaign, noted that “Even in tough economic times, parishioners recognize the role of the church and that it’s a solid institution. They also recognize the importance of Jesus Christ in their lives. They knew it was incumbent upon them to sacrifice monetary wealth in order to spread the good news.”

McClain said national events during the campaign—specifically, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America and the clergy sex abuse scandal—“only strengthened the resolve of campaign leaders and parishioners to succeed.”

“They basically said ‘We’re not going to let these things stop us. We’re going to succeed,’” he said. “People will always say why they can’t give, but they can often come with more reasons why they should give.”

At another parish, Sacred Heart in Sacramento, parishioners raised more than $1.3 million when the target goal was $466,000.

Rita Spillane, a leader in the parish’s campaign, said personal visits to fellow parishioners and pledge-type giving over a five year period were key to the parish’s success. She also said a videotape used in parishes to introduce the campaign, which featured a personal request for sacrificial giving from Bishop William K. Weigand, helped to convince parishioners to give.

The video “instilled a sense of pride for the many valuable institutions and projects already supported by our diocese,” she said. “As a Catholic, after watching the video, I felt that I was already part of a larger, dynamic body of believers working toward a common goal.”

Spillane said parishioners appreciated that diocesan officials made a point of telling them the money for the campaign would not be used for anything except specific projects. “That question was answered from the pulpit,” Spillane noted. Bishop Weigand also wrote to donors explaining that the funds raised would only be used for “Preserving Our Past, Building Our Future.”

One aspect of the campaign not widely publicized was the sacrificial giving by priests in the diocese, according to Msgr. Albert O’Connor, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Elk Grove and priests’ coordinator for the campaign. To date, 69 priests in the diocese have pledged more than $673,000 of their own funds to the campaign. The average gift pledge is $9,765.

“It all comes down to generosity,” he said. “It’s hard to believe how generous the people and the priests are. It shows their love for the church. It was really gratifying to see the priests lead the charge. They didn’t ask their people to do what they were not going to do themselves, and most gave very sacrificially.”

As a result of the campaign, the diocese has recently established a non-profit independent charitable foundation, the Preserving Our Past, Building Our Future Foundation of Northern California, to support the religious, educational and charitable objectives of the diocese.

The foundation will provide a source through which donors can make gifts to the projects of the campaign or make gifts to benefit their charitable objectives and sustain the works of parishes, schools, ministries and outreach programs of the diocese, Msgr. Walton said.

Copyright © 2001 Diocese of Sacramento - All Rights Reserved

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