What’s this about a Solidarity Campaign?

By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Feb 16, 2016

Some may think CatholicCulture.org always has a gimmick to raise funds. I don’t know how gimmicky it is; mostly I just beg incessantly because we need a certain amount of revenue each and every month. We don’t have any financial angels. We rely entirely on those who actually use CatholicCulture.org, taking advantage of the resources we offer. This brings me to our February Solidarity Campaign.

The idea behind what I call the Solidarity Campaign is to encourage broad participation in the task of supporting our mission. In talking with our users over the years, I have found that many people regret they cannot contribute as they would like. Sometimes this feeling makes the fundraising messages seem even more annoying. I always tell people that our resources are free, so we rely on user support, but anyone who can’t donate in response to a particular appeal should just say a quick prayer for the Church while hitting DELETE.

This simple technique makes every email a positive experience; it supernaturalizes everything. But many still regret they cannot do something more. The Solidarity Campaign is designed with that problem in mind.

The emphasis in this campaign is not on the amount of the donation, but on the number of people who pitch in. In the Solidarity Campaign, I regard a $5 gift to be just as important as a $1,000 gift. What we are looking for is the encouragement of broad participation.

It is discouraging to constantly run behind financially. It can get our staff down. But the Solidarity Campaign buoys us up because it puts the emphasis not on personal wealth but on working together. We use this February campaign to boost our hopes for the entire year. How many people out there really care about what we do?

The Solidarity Campaign answers that question, because it asks so little of any one donor. If the participation numbers go up each year, we know we’re on the right track. Last year we received 738 individual gifts in February. This year we are hoping for 1,000. The gifts are typically not as large as those we receive during our matching grant campaigns. But the numbers can be very encouraging.

So please make as small a one-time gift as you like. It is true that $5 is the minimum by credit card because of processing fees, but you can always mail a check for less to Trinity Communications at P.O. Box 582, Manassas, VA 20108, USA.

The Solidarity Campaign is also a demonstration of what can be accomplished when large numbers of Catholics join together to do something good, even if they are not rich. Solidarity in any cause makes a huge difference. That’s why it is a basic principle of Catholic social teaching.

So after the inevitable January slump, we take the pulse in February. Who’s with us this year? How are we doing? What are our prospects? You can answer those questions for this year by participating in this month’s Solidarity Campaign. Or if you don’t participate, that’s a kind of an answer too—perhaps equally valuable.

It goes without saying that we would prefer a positive response. If you would as well, remember that no gift is too small. Show your solidarity with the mission of CatholicCulture.org.