You can learn more about the Catholic Services Appeal and offer your support by visiting their website, https://csafspm.org/givecsaf/.
Why donate to the Appeal?
Whether you live in a rural or urban area in the Archdiocese you benefit from the Designated Ministries of the CSAF. Your support is greatly needed and benefits all people in the Archdiocese by supporting Catholic elementary schools, youth and adult faith formation, marriage programs, the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women, the poor, and our future priests. By donating today, you help serve the poor, support life, and strengthen the Faith!
What happens to the dollars I contribute?
Donated dollars come in and checks to the Designated Ministries go out – it is literally that simple! For every dollar you give, 90 cents benefit the ministries and parishes directly and just 10 cents go to administrative and fundraising costs combined (well below the national average). Just think of all the good that comes out of your dollar! Independent audit reports are available online at www.csafspm.org (under “About”, “Financial Reports”).
Why not give directly to specific charities, like Catholic Charities?
If everyone did this there would be a lot of ministries that wouldn’t get much in the way of donations. First, most people think of the larger charities, like Catholic Charities. They haven’t heard of Prison Ministry or Deaf Ministry. Second, there isn’t any way to give to many of these ministries except collectively. For example, the CSAF funds need-based scholarships to over 300 students who attend Catholic High Schools within the Archdiocese, as well as five separate student scholarships at each Catholic Elementary School within the Archdiocese.
Why not give directly to my parish (they need the money)?
We are called as Catholics to serve our brothers and sisters throughout our larger community and the world. There are many valuable ministries which are larger than any one single parish and they benefit all of us – hospital chaplains, prison ministry, evangelization initiatives, tuition assistance for Catholic school students, support for our seminarians in formation and assistance for those most in need among us. Many of these ministries do not receive additional funding and if CSAF support declines they need to cut back services.
Where does my gift go?
When a gift is made to the Catholic Services Appeal Foundation it is used to support the 20 Designated Ministries, cover Appeal expenses (a lean 10% compared to industry standard fundraising and operational expense rates of 12-20%), and return a percentage to parishes that reach goal and/or increase donations over the prior year.