Development Director Father Don Tranel smiles with BAM newsletters from throughout the years.
Many of you are loyal donors to Glenmary, partners in our mission. We know that and deeply appreciate it. You are the deepest reason that we’re updating the name and refreshing the look of our Boost-A-Month newsletter. As you can see, we gave it a new name and look, Cultivate. We’re hoping it will, in its small way, help you to grow, to cultivate, your own life of faith. It will remain, as ever, newsletter of our Monthly Giving Program.
Our Monthly Giving Program is more than a generation old. Decades ago Glenmarians who were pulled from the field to help find funds to support their brothers landed on the idea of monthly giving. These men knew that a predictable source of funding would allow the missioners to develop Church programs that would last. Steady funding helps empower steady mission.
Some of you are longtime Glenmary donors, lending your support and spirit over many years. So much good has come from that! Maybe it’s the funds to start a new mission, or to send missioners into the field to see where needs are the greatest.
The Monthly Giving Program has certainly been a success since the beginning. In earlier years, donors received a “Bank Book” that was exchanged between Glenmary and the donor each month,
It’s different today, of course. Betsy Bown, our Monthly Giving Program director, is devoted to expanding this giving program to meet our mission need even more effectively. To newcomers, she explains how the program works: “Our monthly givers find an amount that they can afford, whether it’s $25, $10, $50 or some other amount. It might be a monthly check, or an automatic bank withdrawal. We are grateful for whatever people can give—the donation is a real boost for all of us.”
That can be a very practical boost for the people in the counties we serve, even beyond the parish into the broader community. The remote counties Glenmary serves are generally on the bottom of the list for other funding sources. “If there is a school program, or a food pantry that needs support, the work of the local parish can do wonders,” Betsy says.
That community support builds goodwill in the mission counties. It’s a step toward building the community ties that will make a parish thrive.
Our monthly supporters are part of how we make that happen. That’s driving us, Betsy says, to bring more people in as Monthly Givers.
It’s a challenging prospect today, but Glenmary is a bright spot in our Church. We have the great newness that comes with mission territory. We have the power of God’s Spirit pushing us forward. And what is Glenmary without a good challenge? We are grateful to have you as a partner.
This story first appeared in the pages of the September Cultivate newsletter, publication of Glenmary’s monthly giving program.