Solidarity Campaign: Going well, thanks! And how can you help?

By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Feb 25, 2015

When I decided to stress solidarity as the theme for February fundraising, I did not know how popular it would be. The idea is to stress participation rather than wealth. It is not so much how much you can give, but whether you are willing to lend a helping hand to our mission.

To emphasize this point, February fundraising has focused on receiving a certain number of donations—regardless of size—instead of meeting a particular financial goal. Last year we received 607 donations in February, which was not enough to make ends meet. This year we decided to set the goal at 700 and see what happened.

The results have been good. With four days left in the month, we’ve received 631 gifts. As of this writing, we have just 69 to go to meet our goal. The beauty of this approach is that, in terms of solidarity, a small gift helps just as much as a large gift. Each gift brings us one step closer to our goal, just as each helping hand furthers the Catholic mission.

This is an especially important concept for those who interact with CatholicCulture.org through social media. Facebook and Twitter users may not have registered on CatholicCulture.org. This means we may not have their email addresses, and cannot write to them personally to acquaint them with our financial needs and request their support.

But there is a great deal of potential solidarity in social media and, as I’ve been fond of repeating lately, it does not have to cost the farm. However you interact with CatholicCulture.org, please show your solidarity by donating whatever is comfortable this month—whatever works for you—without worrying about the amount.

Of this you may be certain: One of the most important elements of successful Catholic mission is solidarity.