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Catholic Service and Ministry Appeal

CSMA Name Change

By LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

“Making Christ visible in southern Illinois” — The Diocese of Belleville fulfills its mission of serving the needs of the people of God through a variety of ministries and agencies across the diocese, and funds some of those ministries through its annual appeal.

Now in its 37th year, the appeal has undergone a number of changes, including its name, proposed allocation of the funds collected and the individual parish goals.

Its name — Catholic Service and Ministry Appeal (CSMA), formerly called the Annual Bishop’s Appeal (ABA) — is the third name it has been given during its history. First called the Diocesan Services Appeal (DSA), it was changed in 1996 to the ABA and now CSMA, to better reflect where the money is allocated, and the intended use of the money — to serve the needs of the people in southern Illinois.

The name is accompanied by a theme: “We Are His Disciples,” and a line which links the appeal to the mission of the diocese: “Making Christ visible in southern Illinois.” This phrase is part of the diocese’s mission statement, and remains the mission of every office, every department, every person working in the diocese whether they receive money from the appeal.

An AD HOC committee was formed with members from across the diocese, including priests, marketing and finance people, those who minister to the poor, members of agencies that received appeal funds in the past and those who do not receive money from the appeal.

The committee’s goal was to look at the existing appeal and formulate recommendations to present to Bishop Edward K. Braxton that could be implemented in the 2007 appeal.

After meeting as a group in September, the AD HOC committee members were divided into three groups: marketing, allocations and parish goals. A final meeting in January brought the entire group back together to finalize its recommendations to send to Bishop Braxton.

The bishop accepted the committee’s recommendations which will be discussed here.

Marketing
The dates to begin this year’s appeal — the second Sunday in Lent, March 3-4 — will remain the same. The appeal now has an end date of December 2007. In the past, no end date was given. New this year are marketing materials designed for specific geographic locations in the diocese that are being placed in parishes to give a thumbnail sketch of some of the agencies receiving appeal allocations.

Progress charts will be given to each parish so that parishioners can monitor results.
A new giving society is being formed called Lumen Orbis (Light of the World). Four giving levels will be established with names not yet finalized. This society will replace the Crosier Society and Bishop’s Circle.

Allocations
The AD HOC committee also proposed a committee be formed to review the work of those agencies and ministries receiving funding and make recommendations for future allocations. Called the Agency Review and Allocation Committee, the 15-member committee will consist of six priests — one from each deanery — and nine lay people. Priests will be selected by the Priest Presbyteral Council and lay people will be selected after a job description and nomination form is developed.

Members of the allocation committee will visit the various agencies and ministries receiving appeal money. Besides visiting the sites, the allocation committee will review year-end reports from the agencies and ministries to insure accountability for the appeal money that was used during that year.

The allocation committee will present an annual report to the Diocesan Pastoral Council, the Priest Presbyteral Council and provide materials for publication of the report in The Messenger.

Goals
The parish goals’ committee also made recommendations to Bishop Braxton.

This committee determined that parish goals needed to be examined in light of the way the goals were calculated and how to handle contributions that exceed parish goals.

In researching how other dioceses determine parish goals, the committee found the model used by the Diocese of Rockford, Ill., to be a more objective way to calculate parish goals.

The Diocesan Finance Office has recalculated all parish goals using information from the United States Bureau of Census which lists the amount of wealth in a geographic area by using postal zip codes. Called Median Household Income, the data is then translated into a parish MHI by multiplying the MHI by 35 percent of parish households. The 35 percent figure is used because it is estimated that 35 percent of parish households contribute to the annual appeal.
The goals’ committee determined that using MHI and this formula to determine parish goals provides a more objective assessment of a parish’s attainable goals.

In many cases, a parish’s goal was adjusted downward. Each parish received a copy of all parish goals. The chart gives the name of the parish, the number of households (established by what the parish turned in to the diocese), 2006 parish goal and the 2007 parish goal.

For example, St. Mary Parish in Carlyle had a 2006 goal of $33,900.00. In 2007 St. Mary’s goal is $31,522.00. Other parishes will experience reductions in goals. For example, St. Joseph Parish in Ridgway had a 2006 goal of $7,400.00 and in 2007 it is $7,298.00.

By the same token, some parishes will see an increase in their goals. St. Boniface Parish in Germantown had a 2006 goal of $24,380.00, and the parish has a 2007 goal of $33,007.00.
“If the changes are 50 percent more or less, we will adjust them 20 percent per year until the correct amount is reached,” William Knapp, diocesan chief financial officer, said.

For example, in 2006, St. Mary Parish in Chester’s goal was $45,422.00, and the parish 2007 goal is $36,338.00, 20 percent less than the 2006 goal. It will be reduced each year for the next five years, beginning with 2007, until the final goal — $19,073.00 — suggested by the MHI indicator is reached.

The same is true for Holy Cross Parish in Wendelin, which had a 2006 goal of $24,350.00. The parish’s 2007 goal is $19,480.00. This amount, like that of St. Mary’s in Chester will be reduced for the succeeding five years.
St. Augustine Parish in Breese had a 2006 goal of $10,770.00. Using the MHI formula, the goal would be $19,193.00. In 2007, the parish goal will be $12, 924.00, which moves it up 20 percent but not to the final goal of $19,742,00, which will be achieved over a five-year period, Knapp said.

Knapp said many parish goals “were close to what the MHI indicator suggested, and 61 of the total number of parishes will have to be adjusted over a five-year period.”

The question of what to do with funds that were collected over and above a parish goal. While several recommendations were discussed, the goals’ committee decided to recommend that excess contribution remain in the appeal fund until more discussion could be held about the disposition of funds in excess of parish goals.

Finances
This year’s appeal goal has been set at $1.75 million as opposed to the previous $1.96 million goal that has been in place for at least the last two years. The appeal goal was reached in 2004 and has not been reached since that year.

Of the 2006-2007 $1.96 million goal, the appeal realized $1.73 million in donations from 11,748 donors, according to records from the diocese’s finance office.

In the allocations chart on page B4, the amount allocated is $1,866,600.00 which is more than the money collected in the 2006-2007 appeal. However, since money comes into the appeal throughout the calendar year, additional money can be allocated to cover expenses from one calendar year into another. Interest income on the money collected and a transfer of funds from a custodial account cover any additional shortfall of the appeal.

The appeal is presently has a deficit of about $600,000 which is carried over from one year to the next.
Funds that are transferred to the agencies and ministries that receive appeal money to meet any shortfall do not come from parish assessments, according to the finance office. The fund maintains a cash-flow deficit which the finance office would like to eliminate in the coming years.

The deficit was incurred and increased in years when the appeal goal was not met and/or expenditures exceeded revenues.

Agencies and ministries prepare budgets for the July to June calendar year, and then may have to adjust their budgets based on the amount of money collected from the appeal.

When the budgets have been set and accepted by the finance office, the agencies and ministries are given an amount of money they will receive throughout the year, often on a monthly basis, from the diocese, and the finance office said they will stand by those allocations.

Through the efforts of diocesan agencies and ministries and the stewardship being practiced by the finance office, the diocese makes Christ visible every day in southern Illinois.

If you have questions about allocations to agencies and ministries from the appeal, please e-mail those questions to cathnews@peaknet.net.