Fundraising campaign in 2016 beats records as some churches donate four times their goal
Parishes in the Archdiocese of Vancouver have raised a record amount of money through the latest Project Advance campaign.
Appeal coordinator Renata Cecconi said the archdiocese’s 75 parishes raised a total of $7.6 million in 2016, the largest amount in Project Advance history.
“It’s incredible and it really shows the generosity of our community,” Cecconi told The B.C. Catholic.
The 2016 total beats the previous record of $7.4 million raised in 2008.
“We’ve been able to build new schools, new churches, with all of that support. Parishes have been able to renovate their churches and their halls,” said Cecconi, citing Coquitlam’s St. Clare of Assisi, which just finished and dedicated its new church Dec. 12, as a “model parish.”
“I was at the dedication of the church and what was so wonderful was to see the parishioners so excited about their beautiful church. It was all through Project Advance. They used that as their main fundraising mechanism.”
Other parishes, including St. Paul’s in Richmond and Christ the Redeemer in West Vancouver, also raised significant dollar amounts through Project Advance this year.
All parishes exceeded their archdiocesan goals, some by as much as 400-800 per cent. St. Francis Xavier came out on top, raising 822 per cent of its goal.
Other parishes that exceeded the 400 per cent mark included St. Andrew Kim, St. Clare of Assisi, St. Mary’s in Gibsons, Sts. Joachim and Anne, St. James, Holy Family in Sechelt, Blessed Sacrament, and Holy Family in Vancouver.
Brett Powell, the archbishop’s delegate for development and ministries, said 49 parishes raised at least double their goal.
“That tells me that they are committed to the Archdiocesan effort and, at the same time, using this annual appeal to drive their parish projects forward. Some parishes are raising five, six, even eight times their goal. That’s very exciting to hear.”
Once a parish meets its archdiocesan goal, it keeps the rest of the funds it raises for its own projects. In 2015, Project Advance raised $7 million, of which $3.7 million went back to parishes.
Though the appeal beat Project Advance records, Cecconi said the number of donations is actually dropping and only 26 per cent of families donated to Project Advance last year.
Over the last five years, an average of 20,210 donors has raised funds for archdiocesan and parish projects.
The parish with the highest participation rate is Holy Family Vancouver, where 76.3 per cent of families donate.
“It’s part of our duty, but also part of our faith, to support our church,” Cecconi said.
