Social media users will undoubtedly see the phrase #GivingTuesday coming across their screen on Tuesday, December 3, the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
But from Monday, November 18 until that day of viral charity, many will also see #iGiveCatholic, a phrase that has led to about $6 million being donated to Catholic parishes, schools and social service agencies in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley over the last four years.
“We want to connect donors with the great works that are happening,” said Emily Gambino, the chief partner development officer for the Catholic Foundation of Greater Philadelphia, the point organization for #iGiveCatholic in the region.
“We don’t care which mission strikes you. We’re all together … the fact that it can be a faith-based movement of thousands of Catholics coming together on the same day, at the same time, to give Catholic — whatever that means to them,” she said.
Launched in 2015 and brought to Philadelphia in 2020, #iGiveCatholic is an initiative that helps dioceses to enhance their fundraising efforts. It amplifies the good works of the Catholic Church across hundreds of schools, parishes, and charitable ministries, including 101 of them within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
“If I’m drawn to my Catholic faith and to Catholic causes, this is a very easy way to bring people into a wide range of extremely impactful Catholic schools, nonprofits, all different kinds of Catholic institutions to direct your philanthropic dollars,” said Heather Huot, secretary for Catholic Human Services of the archdiocese.
“#iGiveCatholic is a great way to shed light on the fact that we support over 600,000 people in the region every year,” she added. It’s a great day to bring focus on this incredible work of the church, and to ask for support.”
That support comes at a critical time for so many nonprofit agencies, especially ones that have experienced economic struggles in recent times.
“End-of-year is a really big time for philanthropy. A lot of folks are looking at trying to make their gifts before the end of the calendar year,” said Huot. “#iGiveCatholic is positioning itself in that space very strategically to amplify all the charitable works of the Church.”
That year-end appeal for Catholic charities receives a major boost through #iGiveCatholic. The Catholic Charities Appeal of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia aims to grow on its 2023 monetary infusion from the campaign, when it finished with the largest donation total for any recipient across the United States.
“It’s impacting one in five people in the greater Philadelphia area by providing social services through Catholic Social Services,” said Gambino, referring to the division of Catholic Human Services of the Archdiocese. “It’s making mission parishes possible in communities that wouldn’t otherwise be able to have a thriving parish.”
The St. Charles Borromeo Seminary Appeal had the second-most donations of any national recipient in 2023.
“This program just helps us to keep going,” said Bishop Keith Chylinski, the seminary’s rector.
“Without this assistance, we wouldn’t be able to operate as well as we do. Tuition only covers about 50 percent of our overall operating budget, so we need to supplement in other ways. It has allowed us … through this campaign and our annual appeal, to simultaneously continue our comprehensive campaign which is building up our endowment.”
That endowment will allow the seminary to grow the number of men discerning lifelong service to God and the Church through the priesthood.
“The seminary is truly the heart of the Archdiocese,” said Bishop Chylinski, “because this is the place where its future clergy are formed, and from the clergy through the hands of the priest, that’s where we receive the sacraments. That’s what nourishes the preaching and teaching and the sacramental ministry of the priest and the deacon.”
#iGiveCatholic certainly is about the dollars raised, but it also shines a light on the wide diversity of ways the Catholic Church impacts lives in the Philadelphia region.
“We kind of live in our little bubble of what we know is happening at our parish, or at our parish school or wherever we participate,” said Gambino. “To be able to see 100 organizations who are doing amazing things and each having their own story, I don’t know that we can even quantify the impact that has on a Catholic donor.”
Its meaning also comes across at the beginning of Advent, a time to focus on faithful action as a way to prepare for Christ’s coming.
“Thanksgiving has been commercialized. Christmas has been very commercialized,” said Gambino.
“To be able to take it back to our core, what we as Catholics are called to do, and how we’re called to live, I think it’s a helpful reminder when we’re in the midst of a lot of noise and a lot of time and energy. It’s hopefully an inspiring reminder.”
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