During a year when scandal rocked the Catholic Church, many were unsure of how successful the 2019 Annual Diocesan Appeal would be, especially following 2018 when our new bishop engaged parishioners throughout the diocese and gave the appeal great momentum.
Alex Previtera, director of development and operations for the Catholic Community Foundation, increased this year’s appeal goal to $3.262 million, a figure many questioned. As of Friday, Sept. 13, $4,166,991 has been raised.
Previtera said that although the number of donors has decreased by almost 5,000, the average gift is the highest it’s ever been and that many people participated in the appeal for the first time this year.
“It appears by the numbers that more people are going in the direction of, ‘We need to work together to help move our Church forward,’” he said. “That’s been my impression throughout.”
Previtera credits Bishop Knestout and our pastors with explaining the appeal and highlighting how donations to the Annual Diocesan Appeal benefit individual parishes.