By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Nine months into the Bishop’s Circle 2018/2019 appeal, the campaign has collected just over $200,000 of its total $350,000 goal.
The campaign is hoping to reach that goal with a second mailing hitting island mailboxes in the first week of March, “to coincide with the beginning of Lent,” said Mark Clark, director of the diocesan Office of Stewardship and Development, which is running the appeal.
“Please be generous,” said Clark.
“Donations are behind 11 percent” compared to the same time last year, he said, “due in large part to the first mailing in October going to a smaller, targeted audience.”
The Bishop’s Circle is the annual diocesan campaign that emphasizes the third leg of the stewardship’s “time, talent, treasure” refrain, asking for monetary contributions, primarily large ones.
This year’s goal of $350,000 is the same as for the last three years. The diocese is hoping for 1,000 donors. Last year, the campaign raised $293,400 from 764 contributors.
This year’s campaign runs from July 2018 through June 2019.
The campaign offers six gift categories, though any amount is welcome. The categories are as follows:
- Stewards of the Gospel, for gifts $20,000 or more
- Our Lady of Peace Society, for gifts $10,000-$19,999
- St. Damien/St. Marianne Society, for gifts $5,000-$9,999
- Joseph Dutton Society, for gifts $2,500-$4,999
- Witness to Jesus Society, for gifts $1,000-$2,499
- Catholic Ohana Society, for gifts $500-$999
This year, Bishop Silva has put the spotlight on Youth and Young Adult Ministries, which he described in the initial appeal letter as “a top priority that I hear about at every parish I visit.”
Since the office for Youth and Young Adult Ministries opened in 2010, it has been funded entirely by money from the earlier With Grateful Hearts capital campaign.
With those funds nearly expended, Bishop Silva said, “we need to find alternative sources for this important initiative.”
Other areas needing funding, the bishop said, are those headlining the diocese’s strategic plan: leadership development of clergy and laity, strengthening marriage and family life, and faith formation.
The diocese will host an appreciation event for donor society members. All contributors will be remembered in a special Mass celebrated by Bishop Silva.
Since Bishop Silva reintroduced the Bishop’s Circle as an annual diocesan fundraiser in 2013, the number of donors has grown from 312 to 764. Donations have fluctuated over the past five years, from $201,400 in 2013-2014, to $307,600 in 2015-2016.
Donations may be made online at catholichawaii.org. For more information, visit catholichawaii.org/stewardship or call the Office of Stewardship at 203-6723.
