Detroit — There’s no way around it: the Church, to do the work of Christ, needs to raise money.

But just because an annual fundraising campaign is a necessity doesn’t mean it needs to be all about the bottom dollar.

In fact, the Archdiocese of Detroit has been successful year after year with its Catholic Services Appeal by keeping the focus squarely on the ministries and services that provide help, support and spiritual growth for thousands of local Catholics and non-Catholics.

“We try to get across the idea that stewardship is more than just the money raised; it’s the way you live your life, understanding that everything is a gift from God,” said Tom Scholler, associate director of the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Department of Development and Stewardship.

For the second year in a row, the archdiocese’s CSA efforts won a first place Award for Excellence at the International Catholic Stewardship Council’s annual conference in Atlanta, which recognizes diocesan appeals for their creativity, message, materials and effectiveness.

The conference, which took place Sept. 17-20, gathered more than 1,000 representatives from dioceses across the United States and Canada to focus on better ways to reach out with the message that “stewardship” isn’t a bad word in the Church.

Now in its 36th year, the Detroit archdiocese’s Catholic Services Appeal has long been recognized as being ahead of the curve for diocesan fundraising appeals, Scholler said.

“The CSA done by the Archdiocese of Detroit is the largest one in the country. We raise over $20 million each year — and that’s over and above the offertory,” Scholler said. “Parishes get a target they have to meet, but still it also gives an opportunity to reflect that the Church is beyond my local parish. Support of the seminary is a good example of that.”

The CSA raises money for more than 115 different offices, ministries and programs each year — many administered by the archdiocesan Central Services — including youth and young adult programs, Hispanic ministries, evangelization outreach and the “Mass for Shut-Ins” broadcast each week on the Catholic Television Network of Detroit. A large portion of the CSA also supports Sacred Heart Major Seminary, which forms and educates priests, deacons and lay ministry leaders.

While the 2017 Catholic Services Appeal has raised more than $20 million — surpassing its annual goal of $17.8 million — Scholler said declining participation rates are still a cause for concern. Only about 25 percent of active archdiocesan households contribute to the CSA each year — meaning the money raised is coming from fewer and fewer donors.

In late 2016, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron convened a new CSA steering committee to examine ways to improve communication about the benefits of the ministries and programs the campaign supports.

“Some of the first discussions (of the committee) were on the messaging,” said Scholler, who serves as executive secretary of the committee, which also includes priests and laypeople from each region of the archdiocese. “We’re trying to move the understanding of CSA away from the idea that this is just a money-raiser. In order to do Christ’s ministries, you need some resources. But the focus of CSA ought to be on the service side, and the money is a way of making sure they get delivered.”

Another focus of the committee is to ensure donors understand their gifts are appreciated, Scholler said.

“For instance, when we would interview people (for the CSA video), we wanted to make sure those people said a ‘thank you’ to the donors. I think that resonated with the committee, but it also helps those of us in the archdiocese realize that there ought to be an attitude of gratitude when people support these efforts with their funds,” Scholler said.

In getting that message out each year, the archdiocese relies on a host of communication methods, including posters, videos, brochures, prayer cards, bulletin items and articles in The Michigan Catholic.

Those materials — as well as the overall message and success — factored into the International Catholic Stewardship Council’s awards, which were judged by a committee of diocesan development directors. In addition to a first-place award for its total annual appeal effort, the Archdiocese of Detroit also won first place for its 2017 CSA brochure.

While the archdiocese provides the materials to parishes for use with the campaign, parishes are free to decide what works best for them. The archdiocese’s job is to make sure all the materials are fresh, accurate and convey a message that the dollars donated will go to a good cause, Scholler said.

“Part of it is to help people understand the good that comes from all the programs that are funded by CSA,” Scholler said. “It’s a total annual appeal effort, but it’s also a total archdiocesan effort. We in development rely on the other departments to furnish us with information on programs they’d like featured in the video and brochure so they can tell their story of how these departments help people.”

Parishes meet CSA goals

As of late December, more than 156 parishes have met or exceeded their 2017 CSA targets. To see which parishes have done so, see the ad in The Michigan Catholic’s Dec. 15 edition.