Reimagining Stewardship for the New Evangelization

A 2013 Notre Dame study found that the most generous church givers were not those who spontaneously responded to a church appeal, but those who “made a prior conscious decision to give more money away and to follow routine, habitual systems of giving,” according to study organizer Brian Starks. When Catholics become “spiritually engaged” with money and fully invested in the mission they financially support, he continued, they give twice as much as those who act on impulse.
 
The same applies to encouraging Catholics to participate in service ministries and apostolates within the Church. Potential donors and volunteers must be carefully cultivated with the right message, say those involved in Catholic stewardship, and are best reached with fresh approaches that differ from those of the past.

Jason Shanks, president of the Our Sunday Visitor Institute and a member of Legatus’ Fort Wayne Chapter, argues that a modern approach to stewardship starts with the clarification that it is “not merely about conservation of the treasures God has given us,” but also “a sense that we’re moving forward with innovative ideas to advance the New Evangelization.”

He also noted the importance of using emerging technology to aid in reaching and messaging donors, describing it as “an important way to share the gospel in the new landscape in which the Church finds herself.”
Here are a couple of examples of diocesan stewardship initiatives that are having success with new and improved methods.

FRESH TERMINOLOGY

Cory Howat, executive director of the Catholic Community Foundation of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, said he avoids using the term “stewardship,” preferring to say “celebrating Catholic generosity” instead. Stewardship has become synonymous with giving money, whereas generosity involves “a full and holistic giving of ourselves,” he explained. 
“This includes such things as offering our spouses and children our full attention when we are home and devoting quality time to prayer as well as volunteering and donating to ministries.”

Over his 10 years of stewardship work with the archdiocese, contributions have gone up significantly, Howat said, but more importantly, “Engagement is up, with our people seeing their role as helping us build a Catholic legacy.”

New Orleans is not a wealthy community, he admits, so fundraising there is a greater challenge, and some are reluctant to give because the archdiocese declared bankruptcy in 2020 due to expensive sexual abuse survivor payouts. However, the foundation was still able to distribute $21 million to ministries in 2021, with about $19 million received in donations.
 
A digital approach using modern technology has been key to success, Howat explained, including the use of emails, and social media, and even a digital legacy seminar, a 28-minute appeal pastors can play for their congregations. Modern technology also allows fundraisers to reach out to individualized donors with customized and personalized pitches to encourage them to continue their generosity.

Waiting for parishioners to come and offer donations due to a sense of obligation no longer works for parishes, said Howat, but instead Catholic fundraisers have to reach out to donors to say, “Here are the good things we’re doing with your gift, such as a priest anointing a dying grandparent and then offering consolation to the family.”

HEART OF THE MISSION

Cande de Leon is executive director of the Diocese of Phoenix’s Office of Mission Advancement and is author of Heart of the Mission: Simple Ways to Bring People to Jesus. He has been involved in Catholic stewardship for 15 years, including the last six in the Diocese of Phoenix.
 
“Stewardship must be a way of life,” said de Leon. “Everything we have is a gift of God, with us as caretakers of those gifts. We are called to use them to bear fruit.”

Catholic fundraisers must convey to donors that stewardship in the lives of Catholics must be “all encompassing,” he said. Successful stewardship begins with one’s identity “that you were made by God, to be loved by God and to serve God.”

He added that we must trust God, be grateful to Him, and choose to love both God and neighbor. “Love is not a feeling, but an act of the will,” de Leon said. “As part of our choice to love others, we must do something to help others.”

His office does not focus on fundraising but on encouraging parishioners to be good disciples and evangelists for the Word of God. This perspective has translated into financial success, de Leon said, with annual diocesan appeal collections increasing by 25 percent over the past six years, while at the same time the diocese has been engaged in a $120 million capital campaign. While the pandemic put a dent in collections, today collections are up higher than pre-pandemic levels, he noted.

As Howat’s foundation does in New Orleans, de Leon’s office makes use of modern technology to reach out to donors with a message tailored to each individual. But “we try to get face to face with people as much as possible,” he added.

All successful Catholic stewardship today, de Leon emphasized, must center on conversion to Christ. 

“Some people talk about tithing, or giving 10 percent of what you earn to God,” he said. “But God doesn’t want 10 percent of you. He wants all of you, a complete surrendering of your life to Him, to love and serve Him as well as your neighbor.”

JIM GRAVES is a contributing writer for Legatus magazine.